This is a synopsis for a story I want to write called “The Otherlanders”. I believe this is a full novel length story, and I might even publish a (spoiler free) outline for this story in the future. Until then, check out my synopsis and feel free to leave some feedback on it below.
THE OTHERLANDERS
Since childhood, we have all been told the stories of Dorothy, Alice, Wendy, the kids from Narnia, along with so many other fantastical tales of children who travel to magical lands to experience exciting adventures. Those wonderful stories always end with the children returning home with a newfound love of their life to live happily ever after. However, what would happen if those children came home and didn’t live happily ever after? That is where the story of the Otherlanders begins.
The Otherlanders are a group of friends who were whisked away to the wondrous land of Paxterra, a land of strange magic and outlandish creatures. From the moment they arrive, each one gaining their own set of extraordinary powers, the Outlanders are compelled to help the denizens of Paxterra fight the Corruption, an evil entity that threatens them all.
But that is not the story being told this day.
This story finds the Otherlanders years after they have returned from Paxterra. From years spent in a mental institution to a decent into alcoholism and PTSD, the Otherlanders have been denied their “happily ever after”, and instead have suffered from their time in Paxterra. One Otherlander, in fact, never even made it home from his “adventure”.
With the lives of the Otherlanders in ruins from their childhood experiences, what happens when the poor creatures of Paxterra travel to the home of the Otherlanders and ask the now grown up children for their help saving Paxterra once again?
To begin with, a little history in regard to my level of fandom for He-Man (and the Masters Of The Universe). As a child of the 80s, I am of course very familiar with both the toyline and cartoon versions of He-Man (and the MoTU), and even the original film from 1987 (which was NOT good by the way!), so I was very much looking forward to this movie. I never really owned many of the toys as a kid, but I had a friend who had pretty much every toy, including the Castle Grayskull playset, and whenever I visited him, I always wanted to play with his He-Man toys (he always wanted to play with my Star Wars toys. Go figure.) I did love the cartoon, and would watch it whenever I could. Taking all of that into consideration, I was initially very excited when the announcement of a new Masters Of The Universe movie was in the works. So began the roller coaster ride that would be my feelings toward the film. Keep in mind the 1987 movie was a complete disaster (just watch it if you don’t believe me. Go on, I’ll wait.), and so I was optimistic about the plan to make a new movie that would be truer to the original toyline and cartoon. Then came the casting announcements…
A relatively unknown actor (to me at least) as He-Man, perfect, love it. Another actress I am not familiar with as Teela, I love when they put lesser known actors in the main roles of movies based on IPs. Morena Baccarin as the Sorceress, I know her, but I like her, so that’s cool. Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, I have actually been a fan of hers since Community, so…very cool. Jared Leto as Skeletor, the main villian of the story…No! No! No! No! No! I REALLY DO NOT LIKE JARED LETO!! He was awful as the Joker, horrendous as Morbius (or so I’m told…I actually still refuse to watch that movie,), and I do not like him at all!
So, that’s strike one.
Next up, the synopsis of the plot was released, and the synopsis mentioned that part of the film would take place on Modern day Earth. Anyone who has listened to my podcast, Keepers Of The Fringe (check it out wherever you find quality podcasts) knows that one of the mistakes that my cohost Chis and I often talk about in regards to bad movies is when someone makes a fantasy movie and brings the characters to “modern day Earth”. That is an instant recipe for disaster for a fantasy film. The 1987 MoTU brought He-Man to “modern Day Earth”, and it is one of the many things that ruined that movie. It’s ALWAYS A BAD IDEA!
So, that’s strike two.
I know what you are thinking, what is strike three? Well, as I mentioned previously, this was a roller coaster ride, not a sportsball game. I was feeling unsure about how the movie was going to turn out after strike one and strike two, and that’s when the trailer was released. The trailer did exactly as it was meant to do, and I was completely won over by it. Maybe…just maybe…this might actually be a movie worth watching after all. Maybe?
So, the movie was finally released, I finally got to watch it after such an up and down ride, and I have to say…hold on! We’re not quite there yet. First, I have to cover the Good, the Bad, and the Nitpicky. If you read my review of The Mandalorian and Grogu, you know what that means.
First, The Bad
To be honest I really don’t have anything bad to say about the movie. I know, crazy, right? But there was nothing about the movie that affected my enjoyment of it in a negative way. With that being said, I think the only bad thing I have to say about the movie is that it hasn’t been doing well at the box office, and that makes me sad…and concerned for the future of the franchise.
Now, The Nitpicky
I don’t really have a lot of nitpickies for this movie either, which is a good thing. At most, I would have to say that some of the jokes could be a bit much at times, but overall I found the sense of humor of the film to be spot on. I did find myself laughing quite a few times. The only other nitpicky I can think of, and again, it’s only a nitpicky because it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the movie, is that some of my favorite characters didn’t make the cut. Oh well, hopefully we can see them in the next film…hopefully. One other nitpicky I had is that when Adam finds the Sword Of Power on Earth (which he had been searching a long time for), the place he found it didn’t really make sense for a real sword (that’s all I can sayhwithout spoiling things). That is really all I can think of for nitpickies.
Finally, The Good
I really enjoyed this movie on so many levels. As a fan of the toys and cartoon from the 80s, this movie really hit the sweet spot for me, and I absolutely LOVED that! The filmakers really dove head first into the deep end of the He-Man pool, and I loved every minue of it! As a fan of fantasy films, MoTU also scratched my fantasy itch nice and hard. The part of the movie that takes place on Earth was only in the begining of the movie, and it was such a miniscule part of the movie that I didn’t even mind those parts either. If you are not a fan of He-Man at all, you might find this movie to be a bit…cartoony, but that is actually part of the charm of it. The story was cheesy but fun, the characters were handled perfectly, and the entire experience was just pure enjoyment. The kid in me loved this movie. The adult in me loved this movie. The 80s nostalgia fan in me loved this movie. I loved this movie, and if you are a fan of anything related to the Masters Of The Universe, I think you will find a lot of enjoyment in this movie.
Oh, and one more thing, as far as Jared Leto’s performance as Skeletor…I loved that too! Jared did a spectacular job as Skeletor, and I was quite impressed!
So, there you have my final thought on Masters Of The Universe, I loved it and I want to see more from this franchise! Will we get more? Only time will tell.
This entry is a synopsis of a story I plan to write in the future. It is planned as something longer than just a short story, such as a novella or perhaps a full-blown novel. That will be decided as I write it. In the meantime, here is the synopsis for the planned story:
Henry Reese, a renowned AI researcher, awakens to find himself lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to several life monitoring machines. As panic sets in, he is greeted by a group of doctors and nurses who inform Henry that he has been in a car accident, which had left him in a coma for several weeks. With no recollection of the accident or injuries he had suffered, Henry spends time in the hospital recovering from his injuries with physical therapy while trying to piece together the pieces of his life lost to him during his accident and coma. After a time, Henry is released from the hospital and allowed to return to his home. Once home, finally feeling normal for the first time since waking in the hospital bed, a knock at his door surprises Henry.
Henry is horrified to discover a strange man, his face shrouded behind a hooded sweatshirt and a ski mask, pointing a gun directly at Henry’s head. The stranger hands Henry a small syringe and forces Henry to inject the contents of the syringe directly into his neck. After a few minutes, the contents of the syringe knock Henry into unconsciousness, the last image he sees being the blurry, masked face of the strange man at his door.
Henry awakens some time later, his head swimming in a fog, to find himself tied to a chair in what appears to be some type of warehouse, a gag in his mouth. As the fog lifts, Henry sees the strange man standing before him, staring out a nearby window. As the stranger realizes that Henry has woken up, he begins a conversation with Henry while removing his mask and hood to reveal a face that is shockingly familiar to Henry. As the stranger speaks to Henry, he discusses a strange conspiracy that Henry has been involved with, which Henry has absolutely no recollection of, and refuses to believe in.
As the stranger tries to convince Henry of the conspiracy, the sound of police sirens appear in the distance, quickly drawing closer. As Henry feels relief that he will soon be rescued by the closing police, the stranger pulls his gun out, points it at Henry’s head, and pulls the trigger. The last thing Henry hears before he dies are the words of the stranger coldly saying, “They made you too weak this time. You are useless to me.”
That is the end of chapter one.
Chapter two begins with Henry Reese, a renowned AI researcher awakens to find himself lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to several life monitoring machines.
Thanks for reading this synopsis. Please feel free to leave a comment below. I welcome all constructive feedback. If you havent yet, please suscribe to my site below to ensure that you will never miss a story, podcast episode, or video.
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