Masters of the Universe Features an Actually Great Jared Leto Performance

This article contains spoilers for Masters of the Universe.

Turns out Masters of the Universe doesn’t have the power after all. After getting trounced on opening weekend by Scary Movie, a movie no one seems to want or like, Masters of the Universe will probably not make back its nearly $200 million budget. There’s a lot of blame to go around, and we could point fingers at the fact that someone (probably IP-holder Mattel) thought He-Man could be Barbie, or the fact that the franchise’s target audience is pushing 50 and would prefer to watch movies at home after mowing the lawn.

That said, there’s one person we can’t blame, and it’s the same person who almost always deserves the blame. Masters of the Universe is the latest franchise flop to feature Jared Leto in a prominent role, following Morbius, Suicide Squad, and Tron: Ares. In almost every one of those cases, Jared Leto is a detriment to a movie, a terrible over-actor who seems difficult to work with and whose Oscar win for Dallas Buyers Club ages worse each year. But he is genuinely great as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe, one of the film’s few consistent delights.

So-Called Star Power

The fact that Leto could be good on screen isn’t entirely a surprise. Even his greatest detractors have to admit that he’s great in My So-Called Life and David Fincher collaborations Fight Club and Panic Room (although half the appeal of the former comes from seeing him get pummeled for being too good-looking).

But most of his filmography is defined by poor choices in projects and worse decisions on screen. Lonely Hearts, Chapter 27, and Mr. Nobody sit forever unplayed on Tubi, and his tendency to overdo it stains even Blade Runner 2049, to say nothing of more flawed films like The Little Things. Leto’s off-screen behavior only exacerbates things, making his obnoxious behavior staying in character as the Joker the least of his issues.

On paper, Leto’s casting as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe sounds like a disaster. The franchise first came into existence as a toy line, and everything that followed—including the popular cartoon series that ran from 1983–1985—exists to advertise those toys. Skeletor may have been conceived as the ultimate embodiment of evil, the counter to He-Man’s square-jawed goodness, but he quickly became the paradigmatic cartoon villain: sniveling, comical, and cowardly.

By the time Leto took the part, Skeletor existed mostly as a meme, which means he may have felt the urge to play the character darker and more extreme than ever before. That must have been particularly true given the fact that fellow problematic fave Frank Lengella played the character with Shakespearean flair in the 1987 Cannon film. Before the new movie hit screens, one had to imagine Leto screaming at subordinates or tearing the skin off his face to go method for Skeletor.

The Greater of Two Ultimate Evils

Yet, what we get in Masters of the Universe is Leto being cartoony, self-aware, and genuinely funny. Take the character’s first major scene, after dethroning King Randor (James Purefoy). Skeletor delivers a triumphant monologue to the defeated king and then unleashes an evil laugh, a chilling cackle that builds and builds… until he realizes that neither Evil-Lyn (Allison Brie) nor any of the other minions are laughing with them.

The awkward banter that follows falls a bit flat, one of the many times director Travis Knight and his team of screenwriters get too condescending to the material. But Leto remains locked in, even as the scene itself breaks. He is ultimate evil, and he’s less embarrassed by the fact that he was caught babbling like a madman and more annoyed that his henchpeople don’t respect his power.

Even better is the movie’s stand out scene, when Skeletor invades the consciousness of He-Man (Nicholas Galitzine). As he forces He-Man to relive the various embarrassments he experienced as HR office drone Adam, Skeletor takes the form of onlookers. He suddenly appears in a black suit and tie, sitting across a restaurant booth on Adam’s terrible date. When Adam gets a dressing down from his boss (Sasheer Zamata), Skeletor bursts into the office wearing a short-sleeve button down and holding a mug of coffee, a la Bill Lumbergh from Office Space.

Silly as these scenes are, Leto keeps playing it straight. Skeletor doesn’t think these scenes are ridiculous. He thinks that they are one more opportunity for him to knock He-Man down a peg, to prove his superiority. And so Skeletor continues to growl monologues at his opponent, bragging about how Adam is weak and how only he, Skeletor, deserves to wield power.

Leto’s hardly the only charm that Masters of the Universe has. Generally, the costumes and art direction are delightfully candy-coated, Galitzine and Brie are game in very silly roles, and composer Daniel Pemberton channels peak Queen for something absolutely glorious. But none of these elements can overcome the film’s central flaws, its lack of thematic clarity and its overreliance on humor that’s too self-deprecating and cute.

Only Leto emerges unscathed, and we’re just as surprised as anyone else. Turns out, if you cover Jared Leto in special effects and surround him with a bunch of cartoon monsters, his over-acting fits right in.

Masters of the Universe is now playing worldwide.