Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of June 1, 2026
Masters of the Universe
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material, sequences of violence/action and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75% at time of writing
In Theaters
I grew up with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. At times it gave me inspiration. At others, severe body dysmorphia. Looking back, you can easily see that it was a franchise designed to sell toys (and possibly protein powder). The Saturday morning cartoon told the story of a handsome young prince named Adam, who upon lifting his sword and saying “by the power of Grayskull! I have the power!,” is transformed into a giant, muscle-bound hero. Together, with his giant tiger and several other gym rats with weird powers, they fight the skull-faced Skeletor and his minion army. Honestly, the show was super dumb, as was the Dolph Lundgren movie in 1987. So hopes weren’t too high going into this one, to say the least. But I try to have an open mind, regardless of the film, and in this case I’m glad I did. Playing the role of He-Man is relative newcomer Nicholas Galitzine, who turns out quite perfect for the role. With Jared Leto as Skeletor and Idris Elba as Duncan, the film made some smart moves with casting, giving the movie much more street cred than you would expect. But what really gives the film its edge is its sense of humor. The movie never takes itself seriously, as it shouldn’t. This is a stupid story and the more earnestness you tell it with, the worse it becomes. The action figures had the dumbest names you can imagine, and to give some rationale behind this, they wrote them in as the names young Adam gave them before he was sent to Earth. Upon his return fifteen years later, he only knows them by their ridiculous monikers from his childhood. What should have been a big budget Hollywood dud finds itself rescued from itself by a smart narrative that makes everything tongue in cheek. While not as clever as the Barbie movie, Master of the Universe manages to impress where it shouldn’t, giving us a much more entertaining two hours than you would ever expect from such a picture. B+
Backrooms
Rated R for some violent content, language and bloody images
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
In Theaters
Based on the viral Youtube videos, Backrooms tells the story of a lonely furniture store owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who discovers a hidden collection of mazes under his store with nightmares lurking around every corner. There are some very scary moments throughout the film, with some decent tension and jolting jump scares. And it helps to have two Oscar nominees starring with Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) to give the film realism and credibility. But honestly, you need a primer for this one. If you don’t know what the movie is before going in, it won’t help you while you’re watching. There is backstory that is important, and personally, I hate it when a movie requires homework before watching it. Maybe in the future I could find this to be a decent horror film, but upon my first viewing, I found the unfamiliarity with the prior videos to be a handicap, making the movie that much harder to understand or enjoy. C+