Television nostalgia is all the rage in Hollywood. The last 15 years have seen dozens of remakes and adaptations of television shows, prompting many a filmgoer to ask whether there is any originality left in film. To be fair, some of them turn out to be great (\The Fugitive""), but most turn out to be mediocre at best (""Starsky and Hutch"" or any movie about Charlie's angels). Although there seems to be no slowing of remakes of live action television shows, the new trend seems to be transforming children's shows into movies. Last week Variety reported that John Woo was on board to produce and direct a live action film version of ""Masters of the Universe,"" arguably the most successful children's program of the 1980s.
As most children of the early '80s know, ""Masters of the Universe"" revolves around He-Man and his quest to keep the kingdom of Eternia safe from the malicious Skeletor. It originated as toy line from Mattel in 1982, was then made into an animated series designed to sell more toys, and was finally made into movie in 1987 to renew interest in the franchise to sell even more toys. John Woo, on the other hand, is one of the most renowned directors of Asian cinema and has spent most of his career producing highly stylized, ultra -violent action films. Mr. Woo then came over to the United States, and has enjoyed a successful Hollywood career directing such movies as ""Face/Off"" and ""Mission: Impossible II.""
After first hearing of John Woo's involvement with ""Masters of the Universe,"" I scratched my head. The movie's two aspects don't seem to mesh together. Even if Woo is capable of a lot more, it's amusing to think of He-Man dressed in a slick, black suit, diving across the screen in slow motion with a pistol in each hand as a flock of doves fly by.
But upon second thought, I couldn't come up with any reason why John Woo wouldn't be suited to direct such a movie. ""Masters of the Universe"" has pretty simplistic story lines, as its plots are basic polarizations of good vs. evil. It has to rely on visuals more than anything else. John Woo's films are about aesthetics, though it goes without saying that his stories are more complex than the simple notion of He-Man vs. Skeletor.
So even if John Woo is the right man for this project, does this justify yet another remake? Let's say this: ""Masters of the Universe"" deserves better representation than it has right now. Getting past the initial sense of nostalgia many have for the franchise, you have to admit that the original cartoon series has appallingly bad animation, even by the standards of 1980s. The original live-action film from 1987 doesn't fare much better. Even though the visuals are somewhat impressive, the rest of the film is bogged with dreadful direction and cheesy '80s-ness, like time travel, midgets and Courtney Cox. Cartoon Network's 2002 version of the He-Man saga was a remarkable improvement in animation, but essentially just recycled plot lines from the first series.
Maybe He-Man isn't meant to have a quality incarnation. After all, he was just a marketing ploy to begin with, and Mattel was never concerned with much besides moving product. Still, the basic elements of He-Man are as good as any in ""Star Wars"" or ""Superman,"" and it would be nice if John Woo could finally give us that, even if it were darker and geared more for adults. At this point in time that's probably a good idea, as its unlikely He-Man is going to recapture future generation's interest. The second big-screen incarnation of He-Man may not be stellar, but it can't do the franchise any harm. Personally, I'd like to see a live action version of the Masters of the Universe Holiday special, in which He-Man and She-Ra teach Skeletor the true meaning of Christmas.
ddmarfield@wisc.edu.
