Review: Muscling past a flat script, a big-screen 'Masters of the Universe' embraces its own silliness

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What will today’s kids think of He-Man, the muscle-bound ’80s relic with the most iconic bob after Anna Wintour? Launched in an era where machismo meant a goofy wrestler or metal singer with an eight-octave falsetto, the steroidal beskirted barbarian has always been a bit ridiculous.C’mon, his name is He-Man.

What in the testosterone is that?And so, director Travis Knight (“Bumblebee”) has made his reboot of “Masters of the Universe” a dopey, friendly comedy about modern masculinity in crisis with a He-Man who openly wonders what kind of a man to be.Hurtled out of the kingdom of Eternia as a boy, this Prince Adam (a terrifically game Nicholas Galitzine) came of age in Oklahoma City as a sweet guy who happens to be obsessed with swords.

Instead of transforming into the strongest man in the galaxy to protect his throne from the evil duo of Skeletor (voiced by Jared Leto) and Evil-Lyn (Alison Brie), earthbound Adam parries HR complaints while sitting behind a desk plate that labels his gender identity not as He-Man but He/Him.Times have changed.

Even He-Man’s talking pet tiger (Tom Wilton) asks for consent before giving him a lick.Galitzine’s He-Man is more Clark Kent than Superman, a gentle, funny, under-estimated dweeb.On a blind date, his descriptions of magical griffins and burning deserts sound humiliatingly immature.

Dumped before dessert, he sulks home where his bro-y roommate (Christian Vunipola) secretly watches the weepie “The Notebook” when no one is looking as the soundtrack spins an acoustic cover of the Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry.” Every man in this movie has a public persona and a private one.Even Adam’s irritable female boss, Suzie (Sasheer Zamata), hides under a people-pleasing mask.

“This is my mega-serious face,” she says with an unnerving grin.Movies We’ve mapped out 27 of the best movie theaters in L.A., from the TCL Chinese...