Discover Top Posts Tagged with #idris elba

As much as I love Omar and enjoyed the character of Brother Mouzone, they didn’t have to do Stringer Bell like that. The man was trying to get himself legit in season 3. From the business courses at community college to the front man of B&B Enterprises, String was on the up and deserved more.

#stringer bell #the wire #my thoughts #hbo original #idris elba

Masters of the Universe (2026) // dir. Travis Knight

#Roboto #Idris Elba #Man-At-Arms #Masters of the Universe #Travis Knight #my caps #my edits #*mastersoftheuniverse

“Masters of the Universe” (2026)

-a colorful, goofy adventure brawl; with sincere slants to mutate the genre. Not a complete bullseye, but merrily it goes

-I think the central casting of Nicholas Gazitzine is right on the money. He’s not done evolving into the character yet, but he makes a strong first impression

-I also appreciate the subplot of Duncan aka man at arms (deftly done by Idris Elba) having to recovery his dignity and coherence. Nice parallel journeys

-there’s something amusing about a He-Man motion picture having two “Highlander” shout-outs (although one is more oblique)

-I suspect a few strands of “Barbie” (2023) were injected here to get “Masters” out of development hell

+a (primary) colorful fantasy world, a trip to the mundane real world to find purpose, and constant meta jokes at the expense of how preposterous it all seems

-I think “Barbie” threaded the needle a little robustly; there she was questing her entire existence, wondering whether it was a purgatory for her. Here it’s more impressing your dad (and other father figures)

-also, “Masters” could have used a bit more vivid humor. It’s sensible chuckles, not gut busting

-Jared Leto is ok as the main villain. He comes most alive at the gym and HR variants near the end

-the action is fantastic. The impact of the punches to these toy looking henchmen is exceptionally done

-director Travis Knight comes from a stop motion background; he has a good sense of where to put the camera and how to linger on the hero shots for more texture

-the scenes in the forest chase, the colors popping out; good stuff

-ok, I laughed at the part where the lady in the comic book/nerd store saw He-Man breaking stuff and asked “Hey, are you seeing anyone?”

-I think the attempts to somewhat chide the boy fantasy of this universe gets put on a little too much at the end; it feels like a concession to pod-people executives to allow the more goofy stuff to slide. Not a deal breaker however

-far more successfully, and interestingly, is the picture grappling with the sense of ethics in a world with no trustworthy mentors in youth and a system dedicated to neutering words that bring metamorphosis

-Adam (He-Man’s alter ego) works in Human Resources, and it’s pretty clear he’s quite good at it. He genuinely listens

-the system (and his boss) instead uses buzzwords, lingo and theatre kid acronyms; those don’t mean shit unless there is experience and genuine belief in your fellow humans

+of course all those words (like “empathy” and “growth”) do legitimately mean wonderful human things, but have been counterfeit’ed by corporations protecting their own ass (and money)

-the film has an interesting in for this: Adam never got any sense of vulnerability from his dad or Duncan, so he sincerely desires to lead and include others to equality, he just doesn’t know what that looks like from non/manipulative sources

-“Sorry, Adam; I’ve never been very good at expressing these……..”

‘Emotions?’

“Yeah, those things!”

-quite telling Duncan would rather be seen as a drunk rather than someone that stumbled and admitted to needing help (at first)

-equally notable is where Adam fully goes He-Man, because sometimes actions are what is most necessary;

as Skeletor chides him for not wanting to use his power he curtly responds “trust me, I know how to use it, I just prefer not to”

-there, in part, Adam gets a sense of coherence; he finally knows what he stands for and he’s unabashed in going for it

+he no longer needs to pretend to “not be weird, and fit in”, he enlarges his heart to take up space in the universe

-all of this, the genuine values in someone while battling the bastardization of it by castles of monsters in suits, it’s a little loosey goosey, but it’s fun watching the film figure it out

-even more delightful in tandem with kicking ass (with a guy named Fisto) to “Princes of the Universe” by Queen

+nice bit where a gal blasts the shit out of goons (twirling the whole time) in sync with Freddie Mercury singing “bring on the girls!”

-speaking of, it’s pretty funny how grumpy and irritated the character of Teela is; actress Camila Mendes really nails all the concentrated surly

-how in the fuck did the line “that big long sword dangling between your glorious thighs” get dropped in? That alone makes up for any “real world” malarkey

-anyone else think the theme by Brian May sounds really really really similar “Lay all your Love on me” by ABBA?

(Both rule, to be clear)

-where will they go from here? Well, there are like 60 thousand He-Man toys, and a squad dedicated to chasing and killing Adam for challenging Skeletor would be pretty neat….

-this rises above the sword n sorcery shenanigans of recent years, and its moxie in looking at true strength (solo and village wise) is fruitful enough to tap into for many more adventures; bring them on

#masters of the universe #travis knight #film #nicholas galitzine #idris elba #camila mendes #jared leto #he man #masters 2026

From what little I saw of the new He-Man movie:

Idris Elba was wasted as Man-At-Arms and that sucks so much because he could be a brilliant Man-At-Arms if given the chance.

He was an awesome Heimdall in the MCU and if given the chance could be a really good Man-At-Arms.

So long as Amazon stays away because Amazon sucks at making entertainment it seems.

#idris elba #he man #he man motu #motu 2026 #motu movie #motu #man at arms #fuck amazon