Category: Movies

Well, I just got out of the theater from watching the Masters of the Universe movie no more than a couple of hours ago, and I still can’t wipe the grin off my face. I have seen so many beloved childhood IP’s turned into absolute shadows of their former selves when hitting the big screen, including Masters of the Universe. Though the original movie I hold in a separate category, as it was absolute schlock in the best way it could have been for the time. Both G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra and Retaliation left much to be desired. The Michael Bay Ninja Turtles movies turned the main characters into ninja Shreks. And let’s not forget about other titles like Inspector Gadget, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Smurfs, and Aeon Flux. I enjoyed the first and the third Transformers movies, but the rest were, well, not great. 

When watching movies that were based on cartoons, I usually can’t help but think, why not make it just like the cartoon? Why does everyone have to be wearing all black? Why do characters need to look different? Why do the stories need to change so much? And I think that’s usually the biggest downfall of those movies. They just don’t cater to their fanbase like they should. Say what you will about Marvel these days, but they really changed the landscape in terms of  keeping things accurate to source material and really pandering to the fans. Without Marvel movies showing that silly costumes and stories can work on the big screen, and fans demanding that things like ugly Sonic won’t be tolerated, we probably wouldn’t have this movie. 

Masters of the Universe doesn’t even try to be anything less than an episode of the cartoon, and I love it so much for that. The look, the tone, the goofiness of it all. It was all just so amazing. Of course I’m looking at this through nostalgia goggles, but like, how else would you even want to look at this movie? It isn’t trying to be anything else except for pure nostalgia in all the right ways. There are no, “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” moments shoehorned in, or a scene depicting Devastator with clanking testicles. It was just a straight forward, two hour and thirteen minute episode of the cartoon. The characters looked like they were ripped right out of the animation cells. The vehicles, the locations, even the music. They really put a lot of effort into the details that fans like myself would notice. 

I won’t give away any major plot points, or spoilers, so don’t worry about that. Some of the biggest worries I have heard around the internet was the fact that Adam was on Earth, which was advertised heavily in the trailers. In reality, that takes up a small portion of the movie, and it really doesn’t feel too out of character when compared to the show. I mean, Queen Marlena was from Earth, so it was a bit of a Uno reverse moment. Other complaints revolved around the played out “fish out of water” scenario, but I really didn’t get those vibes. Yes, technically Adam would be a fish out of water while on Earth, but it isn’t played like that. His character and motivation are set up pretty well in the opening scenes, and it stays true to that throughout. 

Skeletor was probably the best part of this whole movie. He was just as goofy and maniacal as he was in the cartoon, and it was so nice to see that. There were so many great villain moments, one liners, quips, and gags that worked so well for the character. Skeletor really stole the show. Man-At-Arms, Teela, Ram-Man, Trap-Jaw, Fisto, they were all so faithful to the source material as well. All the characters were, for that matter. Honestly, I thought Alan/He-Man was great, but I couldn’t help but drift my attention to the background characters, side characters, set pieces and all the easter eggs that were in every scene. As a fan of the cartoon, a collector of so many things, and just a huge nerd in general, I felt like the living embodiment of the Leonardo Dicaprio pointing at the tv screen meme.

Unfortunately, I think the fact that it’s so faithful to the source material might be its biggest downfall. The movie had a $170 million budget, and probably that same amount was spent on marketing. The opening weekend only pulled in $54 million. It probably has another week left in theaters before it gets pushed off to the side for something else, and I just don’t see it being able to even recoup production costs. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this movie was made, and that I was the target audience for it, but at the same time that really limits its appeal to a wider audience. Its a real shame, because the movie does set up a lot for possible sequels. Will we ever get those though? I guess time will tell. 

I have so many memories tied to Masters of the Universe, and have so much nostalgia for the franchise. This movie really brought me back to a time when I would be sitting in my pajamas, eating cereal, watching cartoons and playing with my toys. I guess I still do that, but you get the point. This movie was made for the fans, plain and simple. It’s totally niche in that aspect, and really doesn’t even try to appeal to anyone else. I highly recommend it to anyone that loved the original cartoon, and needs a hardy helping of nostalgia. Outside of that, I feel like it would leave people scratching their heads. All of the amazing attention to detail would be missed, and that’s half the movie, honestly. Also, don’t forget to stay all the way to the end of the credits!

I am an avid movie goer, and have been my whole life. As far back as I can remember my dad was taking me to the theater to see just about anything, and that is a trend that still continues to this day. For the most part. I am a little more choosy these days as ticket prices are getting up there, and I am getting a little tired of sitting through three hour long movies. Streaming has made things a little more accessible, as I can watch those long movies in the comfort of my own home and hit pause to take breaks if I need to. Still though, I prefer the theater experience. 

Being a movie goer does not make me a movie reviewer though. Far from it, actually. I just really love movies, and the experience of going to a theater. I am not one to critique and nitpick every detail, and get myself all up in arms over nonsense outrage for whatever the internet tells me I should hate about something. I don’t mind turning my brain off to watch a movie. To me, that’s kind of the purpose of the whole experience, right? I mean, someone is literally telling me a story and giving me a visual experience to go with it. 

This is supposed to be about Star Wars though, so let me get back on track. As a kid I lived and breathed the original trilogy, watching the entire series weekly. I read the books, the comics, and played all the games. When the Power of the Force line came out in 1995, I was instantly a collector (I still have everything, bee-tee-dubs). I have fond memories of ditching school with my friends to wait in line for thirteen hours to see The Phantom Menace. Sixteen years later, I took my son to see The Force Awakens as his first movie. Star Wars has been the foundation to my pop culture nostalgia for many decades now.

Unfortunately, if I had to describe Star Wars in one word right now it would be, “oversaturated.” I know there has always been various forms of Star Wars media and merchandise available, but it all felt so small scale back then. Outside of the original trilogy, everything was pretty niche up until the prequels. Now there is just so much to consume, and for me that really makes it hard to enjoy Star Wars as a whole. I don’t want to read a series of graphic novels and watch four different Disney+ shows just to understand what went on during a singular event, or why someone did a thing in universe. It’s overwhelming, and the more that comes out the less and less I enjoy everything. Not because of a dip in quality (which is a big problem), but because there is just no magic behind it anymore. 

I recently went to see Mandalorian and Grogu over the weekend. I won’t lie, I enjoyed it for what it was. It was nothing special, but I had a good time watching things explode and Mando wrecking Storm Troopers. The problem with the movie though, it just didn’t feel “special.” When The Phantom Menace came out, it was an absolute event. The fact that there was a new Star Wars movie hitting theaters with George Lucas behind it, it was just something else. The Mando movie, though not bad, just lacked any of the hype. It lacked that Star Wars magic. It was another movie that came out this summer, and that’s about it. 

Watching anything Star Wars just feels as if I am checking a box on my “Seen It!” list at this point (I have just consumed another Star Wars thing, congratulations!). And that’s kind of the concerning state of Star Wars right now. It is no longer a magical event, it’s just mass produced by Disney and shoved anywhere it will fit. Everything is milked more than the Thala-Siren from The Last Jedi.

For something that was once an absolute love of mine, to now be relegated to a mass produced consumable product with no heart, it really bums me out. What can be done though? How can this be fixed? I really don’t know. I fall in the camp of just letting Star Wars take a long hiatus, but I know that the corporate machine is not going to let that happen. So maybe just put out less stuff I guess? Like, way less. Maybe have better planning to maintain coherent character development and story lines? 

Star Wars has had a lot of missteps over the last decade. We will never get another chance at a sequel trilogy with the original cast again, and that just stinks. I enjoyed Force Awakens, and felt that it set up a really great premise to pass the torch to a new generation, while providing the fan service us OG’s wanted. Then we got the other movies, and that was that. You know, say what you will about the prequels, but at least Lucas had a vision for those. It wasn’t a great vision, but he told a semi coherent story over three movies. That’s more than I can say about the sequels. But hey, midichlorians are gone now, right? Or…wait…do witches use magic to control midichlorians now? Anakin was created through witchcraft? What?

Honestly,  the best thing anyone could do right now is to just make your own magic for the franchise. I love the original trilogy,specifically the non special editions. That’s what I am going to watch. I really enjoy a lot of the older games, and those are what I am going to play. I will continue to drool over my collection of toys, comic books, and trading cards, because all of those things mean something to me. I have memories attached to all of that, and those memories are the real magic for me.

I’m going to leave all nostalgia aside for this one, and try to be as objective as possible. I know a movie like this is designed to pull on our nostalgic heartstrings, but let’s just explore if this was even worth going to. I am not really sure what people expect when watching a movie like this. The internet is always a buzz with negative discourse for pretty much anything at this point, but seriously, its Mortal Kombat. Have you ever played any of the video games? Have you tried to follow the convoluted mess of a story those games try to weave together? Regardless, they are fun. Every single one of them… **cough** except Sub-Zero Mythology **cough** and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces **cough**. 

This movie was directed by Simon McQuoid, whose big claim to fame was…checks notes… Mortal Kombat (2021). In addition to Ed Boon, and John Tobias, this was written by Jeremy Slater. You may remember him from such classics as Fant4stic Four (2015), Death Note (2017), and Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024). That should pretty much tell you all that you need to know about this.They aren’t going to get Francis Ford Coppola to pen the script, and Christopher Nolan to man the director’s chair of a Mortal Kombat movie. They are going to pay people that can do a competent enough job to sell tickets, put butts in seats, and give the general audience a fun time. And that’s exactly what this movie delivers. 

Mortal Kombat 2 follows our protagonists from the first movie, Sonya Blade, Jax, Cole Young, Liu Kang, and Lord Raiden. Shao Kahn is now the big baddy, and he’s up to his old tricks.You know, forcing a 10th tournament so he can take over Earth Realm. Pretty standard. Since Kung Lao was killed off in the first movie, Raiden is now forced to find a fifth member of their team, as each side needs five fighters to enter the tournament. This is what leads the gods to choose a new champion. 

Enter Karl Urban as Johnny Cage. The wise cracking, arrogant, narcissist, action movie star…errrr…wait a minute. Scratch that. This is an older Johnny Cage. Washed up, hitting the convention scene trying to sell his autographs only to be outshined by popular content creators. He’s down on his luck, depressed, and doesn’t believe in himself. This sets up the perfect redemption arch for him as we progress through the movie.

Other characters new to the cast are Kitana, Jade, Baraka, Quan Chi, and Sindel. Shang Sung, Scorpion, and Bi-Han (now Noob Saibot) make their return, as well as Kano and Kung Lao, who were both resurrected by Quan Chi following their deaths in the first film. 

This movie does exactly what you would expect it to do. It sets up a very basic story that transitions you from one fight scene to the next. The fights are fun, the kills are bloody, and the characters are all likeable. Even Cole Young, which everyone hated in the first movie, has a pretty awesome fight scene that looks right out of the games. Kano really steals the show, delivering much of the comedic relief with some pretty incredible one liners. Johnny Cage was a pretty solid representation that I could see them fast tracking to the special-forcers mentor character we see in the later games. And everyone else just does things their characters have done time and time again throughout all of the Mortal Kombat media. 

Ultimately, this was a really fun movie to watch and a good way to start the summer off. I think the studio made the right choice pushing this back from its original release of October 2025. It’s definitely better suited as a fun start-of-the-summer type of flick. If you have the means and the opportunity, I would definitely check this out in theaters.