Masters of the Universe

Posted on June 3, 2026 at 6:06 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence/action, some suggestive material, and language
Profanity:	Strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Character is an alcoholic, played for humor
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended and graphic fantasy violence including swords, explosions, falls, and guns, scary monsters, sad death of parent, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	June 5, 2026

I’m not sure who the intended audience is for this new live-action version of the popular 1980s cartoon series based on, or, more accurately, intended to sell a group of Mattel action figures. I don’t think the filmmakers were sure who it was intended for, either. That is both the strength and the weakness of this big-budget adaptation from director Travis Knight, founder of LAIKA’s stop-motion animation studio and director of another toy-based live-action movie, 2018’s “Bumblebee,” about the most endearing of the Transformer, cars-into-robots characters.

The cartoon series was for children. This “Masters of the Universe” is rated PG-13 for action, peril, and violence, has a lot of air quotes and callbacks for the fans, and a surprising number of lightweight but unmistakable suggestive references. This indicates that the intended audience is the people who were children in the 80’s, like the woman in my row who brought her He-Man action figures to the theater and set them up on the balcony railing so they could watch the film. This is the group that yelped with pleasure when Dolph Lundgren, who played He-Man in a 1987, shows up to give the He-Man of this movie some advice, and applauded when Orko shows up at the end to explain what we learned from the story. It is also well over two hours, another reason this is less likely to appeal to children.

This is a story about a super-strong guy with huge, oiled muscles named He-Man and there’s a lot of “be a man” talk, meaning be tough, aggressive, fearless, and impervious to pain. But it also tries to deliver a message that it is fine to be sensitive, maybe as long as you have big muscles and skill with a sword.

But there are also elements of the story that are intended to bring in a new generation of young fans. When it starts to get too intense or scary, there is often a joke, sometimes a very silly one, sometimes more ironic, to break the tension. And after all, the story a very basic fairy tale (drawn from a hodge-podge of myths, legends, and fairy tales), with elements that have appealed to children for as long as there have been stories.

Those elements include the small child who fears he will not live up to the expectations of his father and community who is nevertheless the “chosen” one, signified by his being given the magical sword, physical transformation into an exaggerated, gendered, version of the character, and confrontation with a seemingly all-powerful antagonist.

We hear the story of Adam (played as a 10-year-old by Artie Wilkinson-Hunt), a prince of an idyllic planet called Eternia, known as “the heart of the universe.” His parents are King Randor (a regal James Purefoy) and Queen Marlena (Charlotte Riley). We see him being trained by super-soldier Duncan (Idris Elba). Well, Duncan is trying to train him. Adam is smaller, weaker, and less coordinated than the other young students, including Duncan’s daughter, Teela (Eire Farrell), who is a foot taller than he is, very good at fighting, and his closest friend. The King challenges Adam to a sword fight, and when Adam fails, the King does not hide his disappointment. (It turns out that the long voice-over is Adam telling a date his life story, which prompts her to walk out of the restaurant. This is just one example of trying to have it both ways, putting air quotes about the IP.)

Adam is still 10 years olf when the evil, skull-headed Skeletor (Jared Leto) arrives with his army of attackers and they take over Eternia, apparently killing Duncan and the king and queen. Adam escapes with the magical sword and we then see him ten years later, living in Oklahoma with a slacker roommate who does nothing but watch “The Notebook.” Adam (a buffed-up Nicholas Galitzine) is a middle manager working in human resources, drawing pictures of the characters he remembers, sometimes imperfectly, from Eternia, and obsessively doing internet searches for the sword.

One of those searches is successful, and he retrieves the sword just as Skeltor’s minions arrive to grab it, followed by now grown-up Teela, who gets Adam and the sword and “folds space” to get back to Eternia in just a few minutes. As the ensuing adventures and battles and discoveries and imprisonments and discoveries that characters thought to have been killed are still alive go on, Adam figures out the secret of he sword (you have to say, “By the power of Greyskull! I have the power!”) and becomes the Herculean body, loincloth-wearing, super-strong hero he thought he could never be.

As noted, the unevenness of the film’s tone is a strength in that it keeps things pleasantly surprising, but it is also a weakness because it keeps things confusing. It’s about half an hour too long, with some distracting choices, like an extended sequence with fantasy flashbacks combining Adam’s life in Oklahoma with characters from Eternia.

What does work well in the movie are the performances. Galitzine an exceptionally versitile up-and-coming actor (“Bottoms,” “The Sheep Detectives,” and “Red, White, and Royal Blue”) and here he is game and appealing. The stand-outs, perhaps because of the muddled messages about masculinity, are the women: Mendes as Teela, Sasheer Zamata as Adam’s jargon-loving, confrontation-hating Oklahoma boss in HR, Kristin Wiig as a robot, and Alison Brie having a blast as Skeletor’s enchantress sidekick, Evil-Lynn (names are not very creative in this universe). The production design is also very good, with some exceptionally imaginative details and flourishes in the characters and settings. As one might expect, the fight scenes are dynamic and exciting. It’s more likely to please the former 8 years olds who still have their action figures than newcomers of any age.

NOTE: Stay through the credits for extra scenes.

Parents should know that this film has extended and sometimes graphic violence, with swords, magic, explosives, crotch hit, and gun-like machines. Many characters are injured and killed, including a sad death of a parent. Characters use some strong language and there are several suggestive remarks and double entendres.

Family discussion: What do you think of Adam’s attempt to use his HR skills in Eternia? How are different ideas about what it means to be a man shown in this story?

If you like this, try: the animated series

Swapped

Posted on May 1, 2026 at 8:55 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for action/peril and some scary images
Profanity:	Some schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Characters in peril, scary villain, fire, predators
Diversity Issues:	A metaphorical theme of the film
Date Released to Theaters:	May 1, 2026

“Swapped” is a “Freaky Friday”-style body switch story with lessons of empathy movie, but this time instead of a mother and daughter it is two animals who are at first frustrated and mistrustful and then learn to trust each other.

The setting is a fantasy world with colorful animals. Deer-like creatures who look like they are made out of birch bark have huge antlers made of flowering branches. Ollie, voiced by Oscar-winner Michael B. Jordan, is a cuddly little cub-like creature, a cross between a ground-hog and a teddy bear, from a species called Pookoo. Like his fellow Pookoos, he has an exceptional sense of smell, so vivid they can visualize odors. Unlike his fellow Pookoos, Ollie is curious about the world and in an early scene we see him so determined to explore the world under water that he invents a goggle/breathing mechanism requiring several failures before he figures it out. That scene under water is one of several especially beautiful settings and a lovely way to introduce us to an endearing hero.

Ollie’s grandmother (Táta Vega) tells him their community’s origin myth, with gigantic “walking orchard creatures of wisdom and kindness” called Zoe. They looked like building-sized elephants made out of redwood trees, and they carried special glowing pods that had the power to transform an animal into another species. The evil fire wolf killed some of the Zoe and banished the rest. The animals, no longer able to transform to help them understand each other, became clannish and mistrustful.

Ollie meets a young Javan bird and teachers he how to get the berries that the pookoo give on. His father (Cedric the Entertainer) is furious. The Pookoo consider the Javan their enemies. And then a flock of Javan birds arrive to devour all of the berries. Years later, when Ollie is a young adult, the Pookoo are close to starving. The Pookoo blame Ollie, his father barely speaks to him, and he is crushed with guilt and grief.

And then, he finds a glowing pod and he and a Javan named Ivy (Juno Temple) find themselves in each other’s bodies. They have to learn how to work together to find their way back home , meet a friendly fish who shows them where the glowing pods are (Tracy Morgan) and survive the predators, including the fire wolf and a cave filled with toothy snakes.

The same themes are better explored in films like ‘Hoppers,” “The Wild Robot,” and yes, “Freaky Friday,” but the animation is imaginative and colorful, Temple and Jordan give vibrant, witty performances, and the messages of inclusion and empathy are always welcome.

Parents should know that this film includes some scary predators, including one who is on fire. Characters are in peril, betrayed, and injured. There are two fake-outs when we think that some have been killed. The film also includes some schoolyard language and potty humor.

Family discussion: What human or animal would you like to trade places with? Why was the wolf so angry?

If you like this, try: “Hoppers”

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Posted on April 2, 2026 at 3:06 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for action, mild violence and rude humor
Profanity:	Mild schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Fantasy/videogame peril and violence. kidnapping, imprisonment, fire
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	April 3, 2026

Fair warning. I have never played Super Mario and have only the slightest acquaintance with his world and characters. For me, the best part of the film was hearing the appreciative laughs and gasps of the fans in the theater who were very happy to recognize their favorite elements and anticipate how they would fit into the story.

The story, of course is the issue when a game becomes a film. Instead of the interaction a player has with a game, we need a narrative that puts the story where the game-y parts go. And on that basis, at least to a newbie, like the first one, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” does pretty well.

Rosalina (Brie Larson) is the devoted adoptive mother of the sweet, star-like Lumas, and watcher of the cosmos. They love her bedtime stories about the plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), who rescue Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy).

And then a giant robot attacks and it is Rosalina who has to be rescued. She fights back fiercely until one of her star babies is in peril, and they are both captured by Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), son of Bowser (Jack Black), who was defeated and shrunk down to dollhouse size in the last episode. Bowser Jr. is determines to avenge his father: “From the ashes of his defeat rises a new emperor.”

Princess Peach is having a birthday celebration, but she is sitting alone. Mario arrives to give her a gift, a pretty pink parasol, and she tells him it is not her birthday but the anniversary of the day the mushroom people found her. She wishes she could find her family of origin.

All of this will come together, along with many other Super Mario characters and settings (and in-jokes) all very colorful and more silly than scary. Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach are joined by Yoshi (Donald Glover) and by Bowser Sr., who gets his size back, improves his anger management, and joins the good guys, at least until he is reunited with his son.

Is it essentially an informercial for the games and merch? Of course it is. But is is good-hearted and colorful, and has genuine affection for the fans.

Parents should know that this film includes extended cartoon fantasy-style peril and violence. The issues of adoption and family separation are gently handled but may be upsetting for some children.

Family discussion: Should Mario and Luigi have believed Bowser when he promised to help them? Which version of Super Mario is your favorite?

If you like this, try: the games and the first film

NOTE: Stay ALL the way to the end for an extra scene

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Posted on December 18, 2025 at 5:43 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 intense violence, bloody images, strong language, thematic elements, and suggestive material
Profanity:	MIld language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drugs
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended peril and violence, guns, fire, bombs, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	December 19, 2025

A quick recap: long blue people mostly good, human people mostly not good. Humans from Earth want the resources of the blue people’s planet. The blue people (Na’vi) want to keep it peaceful and pristine. And sometimes the blue people fight with each other. And it takes 3 hours and 15 minutes.

You don’t need to remember every detail of the earlier films; if you have a vague recollection that you liked them, you will be fine because, like its predecessors, the visuals are stunning, the action is dynamic, the story is thin, and the dialogue is painfully basic, just barely enough to let you know who you’re supposed to root for. Cameron, who has said that he makes movies to finance his ocean adventures, loves water, and the water in this movie is simply gorgeous. The long blue people are, too. They all look like supermodels crossed with Mr. Fantastic. So if you did enjoy the earlier films, you will enjoy this one, too.

Next to the visual splendor, the other reason to watch the film is the villain. James Cameron emphasizes that the technique is not motion capture, but performance capture. Every actor playing one of the blue creatures performs every minute on screen, each one’s face covered with dots to guide the CGI. So, all credit to Oona Chaplin, the grand-daughter of Charlie Chaplin and great granddaughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill, for playing Varang, a ruthless bandit queen with magnetically sinuous menace. And with a head like a frilled-neck lizard. She wants to destroy the peaceful community where the hero of the first movie, human turned Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is settled with his wife, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and children, sons Neteyam (killed in the second film) and Lo’ak and a daughter called Tuk. They also adopted Kiri, mysteriously born from a human in an avatar body (the laws of biology as we know it don’t apply here), and they care for a loyal and limber human teenager called Spider (Jack Champion), the son of one of Jake’s most important foes, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Like Jake, Spider is completely at home in the world of the Na’vi, though he has to use a mask to enable him to breathe on the planet. He has no relationship with his biological father. Both of those elements will change over the course of the film, as Jake, Neytiri, and their family have to find a way to defend their community, even after Varang forms an alliance with Quaritch, meaning access to guns.

As this movie begins, Lo’ak and Neteyam are swimming together, at least in a dream of repeated goodbyes. Lo’ak is still suffering from survivor guilt and has a strained relationship with Jake beyond the typical teenage push for independence. Everyone in the family feels guilt along with grief.

There are some powerful emotional themes but they are explored in a not very powerful way. The issue of an outsider giving more powerful weapons to shift the balance of a conflict was explored with more insight in its episodes about the prime directive. Before the next one comes out, maybe they could spend some of the zillion dollar budget on dialogue better than “All this time and you still don’t get it. The world is much deeper than you imagine.” This film is less deep than it imagines. But very beautiful.

Parents should know that this film has extended peril and violence, including arrows, knives, guns, and explosives. Characters are injured and killed. There is a lot of intense family drama, with issues of biological and adoptive families. The military-industrial complex from Earth is represented by rapacious, murderous business employees and soldiers. Scientists are more compassionate. There is a non-explicit sexual situation and some sensual touching.

Family discussion: What are the options for a community being attacked by enemies with vastly superior weapons? What makes Spider feel accepted and what makes him feel like an outsider?

If you like this, try: the previous “Avatar” movies

Wicked: For Good

Posted on November 20, 2025 at 5:37 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG action/violence, some suggestive material, and thematic material
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Brief alcohol
Violence/ Scariness:	Fantasy peril and violence, character killed
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	November 21, 2025

I liked “Wicked: For Good” a lot. But before I tell you why, let me warn anyone out there who is hoping that part two of the movie based on the Broadway musical, based on the book, inspired by the classic L. Frank Baum story will be a lot like part one that the second half of the story is much darker and less hummable than the first. If you want to revisit the magical college for teenagers, gorgeous songs and dance numbers, and ode to opening your hearts to friendship with those who you might initially consider to be too different, then watch the first one again.

“Wicked: For Good” picks up 12 Ozian years later, long past the days of the dorms, classes, and parties at Shiz University. But Galinda, now known as Glinda (Ariana Grande), is finally something of a teacher’s pet, though in this case she is more of an operative for the powerful Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), the top advisor for the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). So, she’s less “pet” as in favorite as “pet” as in being a convenient (not asking questions) and attractive (yes, popular) spokesperson. As a student, Glinda was unable to get Madame Morrible to teach her. Indeed, she was blunt in telling her would-be apprentice that she had no talent for magic. As an adult, Madame Morrible found her to be an ideal focus of attention for the population, reassuring them that all was well.

Glinda loves being adored by the population and does not think too hard about the cruelty of the Wizard’s reign, even when her one-time friend Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is now public enemy number one, with wanted posters all over Oz declaring her a threat. Fiero (Jonathan Bailey) is now an officer in the Wizard’s guard, feeling conflicted about Elphaba. But when Glinda announces to the crowd, that they are engaged, Madam Morrible’s idea as the latest entertaining distraction, Fiero goes along with it.

Nessarose (Narissa Bode) has now taken over the position of her late father and is governor of Munchkinland. She is still in love with Bob (Ethan Slater), not knowing that he only asked her to the school dance because Glinda told him to and he only stayed by her side after her father died because he still wanted to be a support for her. When he tells her he thinks it is time for him to leave, she impulsively imposes travel restrictions to keep him from going. Both Bok and Fiero do not want to let down the women who love them, though they long to be with someone else.

Glinda tries to get Elphaba to join the Wizard, and she almost agrees, after he promises to release the flying monkeys and allow the animals to return. When she learns he has not been honest, she resolves to become his enemy.

We know where this is going. While some of the details of the very familiar story are changed, including the origin stories of the Tin Woodman and Scarecrow, the little girl in the checked dress from Kansas and her dog arrive in a storm (the origin story of the storm is well handled) and most of the consequences for the characters remain the same. There are even touches from the MGM movie, for example, when Madame Morrible says a line Margaret Hamilton delivers so memorably about what “must be done delicately.”

Almost all of the now-iconic musical numbers are in the first movie. Despite the best efforts of two powerhouse singers, the songs from the play’s second act and a couple of new ones do not reach those soaring heights. Some reprises come as a relief. The new songs are less tied to defining character developments or crowds performing lively dances. The storyline nearly tips over into making unrequited love the motive for the main characters’ anger, hurt, and motivation for bad behavior, before remembering that the real heart of the story is about choosing trust, kindness, and inclusion over fear and grabs for power.

Production design by Nathan Crowley remains stunning, from the most intricate details to the grandest visions. The same goes for Paul Tazewell’s fabulous costumes. Erivo and Grande sing, never less than transcendently spectacular. Jonathan Bailey gives Fiyero a quiet smolder as he goes from dancing through life to thinking about choices to following his heart. It is subtle, not a term that comes to mind when considering the joyful maximalism of the “Wicked” film and therefore exceptionally moving. And, with credit to director John M. Chu and his outstanding cast, somewhere in all of the eye candy and bombast there are some meaningful comments on the path to power through spreading fear and making the population distrust one another. And there is a tender-hearted story of love and loss, of selfishness and the courage to oppose it, and of the people we love because they see our best selves even before we do.

Parents should know that this film has fantasy peril and violence, and a character is killed. There are brief references to paternity/adultery and a non-explicit sexual situation.

Family discussion: Pick a favorite story and see if you can imagine it from the point of view of one of the other characters. Why were Glinda and Elpheba friends? What did they learn from each other?

If you like this, try: “Wicked” and “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Wiz,” and the books by L. Frank Baum, and join the Oz Club!