In today's story, we learned that you should always try to go into a movie with an open mind. The critics are quite often wrong (although we kinda knew that already), and some old franchises are, unfortunately, simply past their sell-by-date (cos this ain't down with the kids).
So when I heard about this, I thought there was a high chance it would turn out to be ass. I mean, the entire notion of rebooting the aged He-Man franchise, in the current liberal Hollywood climate, with the abundance of naff-looking CGI, and the fact that superhero movies have had their time, it seemed like a recipe for disaster. The original He-Man movie has since become a bit of a cult classic, or 'so bad it's good', but could a modern adaptation actually be any better?
The Cast: Initially, my fears were cemented when we started to get some casting info and pictures. Straight off the bat, Man-At-Arms was to be portrayed by Edris Elba. Immediately I'm thinking, why do that? Duncan has a very specific design, and he's Teela's father. So unless there was more bombshell casting news coming, why would they needlessly complicate things like that? Other characters also got race-swapped, which I have to admit, bugged me, because why?? But in the long run, in this case, it didn't really matter.
All that aside, the casting in this movie turned out to be a huge pleasant surprise. For a start, Nicholas Galitzine (never heard of him) was absolutely great as He-Man/Prince Adam. I couldn't believe it, they actually found someone who hit his comedic marks, was likeable, and he actually looks like He-Man with his golden curtains. Camila Mendes (Teela) wasn't quite as attractive as her cartoon counterpart, but she was solid. Elba did a stand-up job as Duncan, complete with tash (although not as thick and 70's-esque looking), and although I didn't quite like Skeletor's voice in this, Jared Leto actually worked well here, imagine that!
The Characters: Overall, I thought the entire cast worked, including all the background characters. But what REALLY amazed me here, was the fact that all the characters actually looked like their original cartoon counterparts! I know right! For Eternia we had Fisto (or was that Graham Platner?), Ram-Man, Moss-Man, Mekaneck, Roboto, King Randor, and Sorceress. All these characters looked exactly as they should, exactly as any fan would expect. I was blown away, even Cringer! Although, I must add, Roboto is now a female bot, and didn't actually look accurate until the end of the movie. For Snake Mountain we had Beast Man, Tri-Klops, Trap-Jaw, Spikor, Goat Man, Pigboy, Evil-Lyn, and Karg! Again, some minor visual aesthetic changes aside, all these guys looked correct. My only quibble would be that I wanted to see more heroes and villains; having them in the background would have been fine.
Fanboy Pandering: Yes and yes, and plenty of it. Is that bad? Nope, it was perfect for someone like me. Almost everything in this movie looked pretty accurate, or near enough, to the original cartoon, all the locations, various vehicles, weapons etc...Some characters are easter eggs in themselves. Pigboy? Pretty sure that's the character from the original 1987 movie that was created for a child competition winner? Could be wrong. Karg? They brought back Karg from the 87 movie too! I love it! But why not Blade and Saurod? Some things are hinted at via their names; the comicbook store on Earth where Adam finds the power sword is called 'The Fright Zone', where Hordak's lair is located. Orko pops up at the end, as does She-Ra. Evil-Lyn has her rarely seen white hair. Skeletor using cartoon accurate insults against He-Man. The collective laugh and stance of the good guys, arched back, hands on hips, just like the original cartoon. Did Teela mention Zodac at one point?
Negatives: Alas, a movie is rarely perfect, and despite a lot of goodness, there were some mistakes, in my opinion. First up, I appreciated the fact that Skeletor was simply a villain; he liked being bad, and nothing more. However, they really should have included his backstory as Prince Keldor. This wouldn't have been hard, a quick flashback sequence. I also think they should have included the fact that Teela is the Sorceress's daughter, again, a simple flashback. We didn't get any backstory about Adam on Earth. How was he discovered? What happened? Who raised him? Speaking of Adam, I HATED the fact that he made up all the names for all the warriors on Eternia. Ram-Man, Fisto etc...Those aren't their actual names in this movie, Adam made it all up on Earth. So this begs the question, what are their actual names?
I also thought it was odd that nobody on Eternia came to Adam's rescue on Earth for 15 years. When Teela pops up on Earth, she asks what took him so long (to find the sword), but they knew where he was; why didn't they come to his assistance? Cringer, good old Battle Cat looked great here, but oh boy did they get the voice wrong. Evil-Lyn wasn't evil or sexy enough (if only Sarah Douglas was younger). Finally, I know this will not be taken well but, I didn't like the soundtrack. Yep, trying way too hard to be retro, didn't need that, went overboard. Much like the humour in places, and the gentle but endearing mockery of certain aspects, it went too far and wasn't required. For me, these aspects did spoil the movie at times.
To sum up, I still can't believe it but, yes, I did actually enjoy this rebooted franchise offering. Months ago, I would have put money on this being complete garbage, but every once in a while, Hollywood actually gets it right! There is so much to like here if you're a fan of the original franchise and cartoon, plus, the CGI visuals are actually very good, and the action is actually a bit violent! Unfortunately, going by the box office, it seems that only folks of my age went to see this, resulting in a flop. Typical, because I actually do want more of this, I want to see a trilogy expanding into She-Ra's world, or a spin-off for her.
It is also a shame that some things were clearly left for potential sequels, which now may never happen (Teela getting her cartoon-accurate attire. Cringer as Battle Cat. Roboto looking cartoon accurate, and of course, a multitude of popular characters that weren't used). This was definitely the biggest surprise ever. The fact that Hollywood actually managed to make a movie about, of all characters, He-Man, and it was marvellous! The sad fact it failed kinda puts the kibosh on any 80's retro cartoons getting big-screen adaptations.
7/10
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