Super 8

I don't remember 1979, as I was just a baby at the time. I do have a fondness for the era since I grew up on Steven Spielberg movies and imbibed some of his love of the period. Two of his most memorable movies were set during the time; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Apparently, J.J. Abrams is also from the same generation I am, if his homage to Spielberg's masterworks is any evidence.

Super 8, the latest from the director of the Star Trek reboot, is very similar to both those iconic films and shares a lot of the heart. While most science fiction is concerned with what might go wrong in the future, projecting current trends to their eventual apocalyptic culminations, Spielberg's shows always left you more upbeat, telling you that in the end, not all aliens are out to eat you or steal your natural resources.

Abrams' story is set in a small Ohio town where a group of kids is preparing to film their very own monster movie. While filming a big scene at a train station, they witness a horrible derailment. Soon, their sleepy little town is invaded by G-men who are searching for something as people begin disappearing mysteriously.

Frankly, the alien angle is just a sort of catalyst for the drama about two single fathers trying to learn to connect with their kids. Abrams' portrayal of the way American dads relate to their children hits the mark with me. Kyle Chandler as protagonist's Joe Lamb's dad is exactly how I remember the military dads in my old neighborhood; gruff, stern, reluctant to show affection. I love the way the film begins so quietly in the wake of Mrs. Lamb where Jackson is struggling with his wife's death. Only after we're well into the film and familiar with the cast does it ramp up. That's something you see so little of nowadays. Everyone wants to start with a big action scene; reel them in with explosions and gunfire.

Of course, this is a J.J. Abrams film, so the explosions and gunfire eventually show up, but by then you're immersed.

I loved the casting and acting in this film. There's a great supporting cast that includes Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich, and Bruce Greenwood, but the real leads are the kids, ably headed by Joel Courtney (Joe Lamb) and Elle Fanning (Alice Dainard). I wish child actors in the Philippines had this much range.

Another thing I really enjoyed in the film was the music. It's been a while since I've heard a theme that really stuck in chord with me. I think the last was Javier Navarrete's haunting soundtrack for Pan's Labyrinth. Michael Giacchino's score for Super 8 isn't as technically impressive as John Williams', but I love the way it so closely illustrates what's happening on screen. If you closed your eyes, you could still probably understand what was happening.

The storytelling and pacing are also superb. Apparently, Spielberg and Abrams collaborated on the project, knocking ideas back and forth until they came out with this. I wish guys like Michael Bay and M. Night Shymalan would start doing this and get someone to edit their work. People in creative fields really need a sounding board if their art is for mass release, otherwise we get crap like Dark of the Moon or Last Airbender. Imagine if Last Airbender had been handled by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J. J. Abrams.

Super 8 really is a great film that really brings you back to a time when filmmakers didn't bludgeon their audiences to death with squibs, car chases, and computer generated effects. If it's still showing where you are, I strongly recommend seeing it in theaters. If it's not, pick up the DVD as soon as it comes out.

I know I will.

Rise of Cobra Rip Attack Jet Storm Cycle

 When I first saw The Rise of Cobra Rip Attack Jet Storm Cycle with Snake Eyes, boxes of them were crowding several shelves. Within a few days however, that Php 300.00  (about $6.50 US) price tag started attracting casual buyers and the Snake Eyes name on the Jet Storm Cycle virtually guaranteed that it would outsell its wavemate, the Rip Attack Tiger Snake. After putting the toy back about a dozen times over the course of a week, I finally decided to pick it up. They were already down to the last two when I did. I wish I'd gotten a few more when I had the chance.

Now, I'll be upfront with you and say that there are two reasons that this toy gets high marks with me. The first is that it was cheap. The Rip Attack sets are one of those weird items that just sort of appear on Toy Kingdom shelves at bargain basement prices. It just popped up one day at rock bottom prices. It was pretty sweet for a set that includes a both an action figure and a vehicle; both the Rise of Cobra Snarler Cycle and the Pursuit of Cobra Cycle Armor were over Php 1,000.00 and neither had any real action features (the transformation of the armor doesn't count).

The second reason is the aforementioned action feature. There are no unwieldy missile launchers or silly "Kung-Fu Grip!" come-ons. The feature is a ripcord powered flywheel. What's a flywheel, you ask?

"A flywheel is a mechanical device with a significant moment of inertia used as a storage device for rotational energy. Flywheels resist changes in their rotational speed, which helps steady the rotation of the shaft when a fluctuating torque is exerted on it by its power source such as that caused by a piston-based (reciprocating) engine, or when an intermittent load, such as the motion of a piston pump, is placed on it."


Well, blimey! How do you use it for a toy?

"In the event of a flywheel, the flywheel is a weighted wheel positioned within the mobile toy. The flywheel is powered using any suitable mechanism or device for providing a high-rate of angular momentum to the flywheel, a non-limiting example of which includes using a rip cord that is engageable with gears that are affixed with the flywheel. For example, pulling a ripcord along the gears will cause the flywheel to rotate at a high-rate of speed."


In this case, Hasbro's provided you with a ripcord. To use it, you need to place toy into its launcher and thread the cord through the socket. Pulling the ripcord spins the gears and sets the flywheel going. Once you pull the trigger of the launcher, you can watch Snake Eyes ride off into the sunset.

Or at least until he hits a wall.

Note that he usually does this at speed, since the flywheel is pretty powerful even if a kid pulls the cord. I find it fun to put a Microman figure on the bike, rev it up, and watch it slam into the wall throwing the figure into the wall like good old Vince and Larry (I still want 1/18th scale figures of those guys).

As action figures go, this one is a lot of fun. However, like all such features, sacrifices have to be made in terms of design in order to accommodate them. The look of the bike is rather plain. There aren't many fancy details, or exposed engine parts. There aren't any gun ports or storage compartments for equipment. The two missiles that come with it are huge, ugly, and for some reason, yellow. The whole thing looks utilitarian.

Personally, I like it (except for the yellow missiles - what is up with THAT, Hasbro?). It makes a nice change from my Moto-Terminators and all the other 1/18th scale bikes I keep buying. The plainness looks more... "Joe".

The figure is pretty much a crappy kit-bash from various Rise of Cobra figures. I'm pretty sure the majority of the figure are from the Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes, only without the coat. They changed the arms though and gave him that ugly harness from the first Rise of Cobra Snake Eyes; the one with that pistol that hangs down in front of him. Yuck. Just chuck him in your bin and use the bike for your Commando Snake Eyes or City Strike Snake Eyes.

Like I said, this was a great buy not because it's a particularly good looking toy, but because it was great value for the money. If you can still find it at below Php 500.00, I'd say go for it. I wish I'd gotten several more so I could give them as gifts this Christmas or have some extras for the other toys in my collection.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

157 minutes. That's how long this movie runs.

157 minutes. That's over two and a half hours of painfully unfunny jokes, obvious male chauvinism and gratuitous gore. 9420 seconds of distasteful, shallow characters. I would gladly submit myself to science in order to wipe away the memory of this movie from my head.

There are so many things wrong with it that I can't begin to imagine how it was released in this state. Story-wise, it feels like something that comes before the first draft of a script; as if there was a transcriptionist in the room when the director had his first mind fart who wrote it down verbatim. There are numerous subplots that are completely unnecessary, more than half a dozen extraneous characters that take up precious screen time, and scores of wasted minutes on inane little sequences that add nothing to the main plot. In fact, every single bit of human character involvement probably could have been cut out and this movie and it would have been better for it.

Frankly speaking, Sam Witwicky (played by the one-note Shia LaBeouf), is  a complete ass-hat. He spends the majority of the first act trying to convince people that he's somebody they should pay attention to. His credentials? That the President of the United States gave him a medal. Whoo. hoo.

Yes, Sam saved the Earth in the first Transformers movie, and again in the second one, but apparently he did nothing else with his life outside of being a "hero". What did he study in college? Did he undergo any military training? He wants to do something that matters, but he's done nothing to deserve a shot at the title. Maybe it's commentary on today's get-rich-quick culture of American Idol wannabes and Jersey Shore rejects. Or maybe it's a nod to the young slasher crowd who proclaim themselves "professionals" in everything they've ever tried out in their short lives. Then again, this is a movie by the same guys who put testicles on Devastator, so I don't think that's the case.

Instead of über-babe Megan Fox (who apparently torpedoed her own career by bad mouthing Bay and the gang) we get Rosie Huntington-Whiteley playing Sam's new British girlfriend. Unlike James Cameron, whose Avatar at least starred strong women characters, Bay doesn't have the same respect for females. Carly is nothing but the damsel in distress, eye candy for all of the director's signature low angle shots that pan up his actresses leg and under their skirts. He doesn't even bother to disguise his sexism in this installment, editing a scene so that as evil human, Patrick Dempsey's voice over describing his cars' sensuous curves runs over a slow pan up Huntington-Whiteley's ass. Even Frances McDormand's character isn't spared as John Turturro's character tosses out lines that would get anyone in the real world slammed with a sexual harassment suit before they could utter another word.

It's amazing how Bay can attract the level of talent that he does. Aside from Turturro and McDormand, the film boasts other name actors like John Malkovich, Leonard Nimoy, and Hugo Weaving. Other characters from the first two films also return, including Sam's parents, Capt. William Lennox, and Sgt. Robert Epps. There's no real reason they're there as none of them really advance the plot at all. Bay even convinced the actual Buzz Aldrin to come in for a short (and banal) cameo. All those humans take up the lion's share of the screen time. The first two acts (about and hour and a half) are all about Sam whining about the government not handing him a job, or throwing petulant fits when his girlfriend smiles at her debonaire boss.

The robot characters don't come off all that better. Optimus Prime throws a hissy fit as well, giving the NSA the silent treatment like some spoiled child because she didn't tell them about the  downed Autobot shuttle on the moon with an injured comrade aboard. Sam gets two new sidekicks to replace Bumblebee and they're even more annoying than the Twins were. The rest of the Autobots don't even have enough screen time to warrant discussion. You heard the Wreckers where here, right? They don't do anything. They show up once or twice during the final battle and are referred to in way of exposition, but they don't play a real role. Topspin (the blue one) doesn't even have lines.

The worst thing about the movie for me was the editing and the sound design. I've seen amateur videos that have been edited better than this thing. Characters pop in and out of the story at odd moments, with no explanation of how they got there. Voices run on over frames of other characters. Transitions are all over the place, giving you no real sense of how much time has passed.

The first sequence is a massive info dump explaining how the moon landing was a huge cover up of a mission to reconnoiter an alien sighting. The thing zips by like it's on speed, with no notion of rising action at all. We're treated to a montage of news reel footage and slow dramatic pans with that overwrought music that has been part of the Bay experience since The Rock. Then we're on the moon with Apollo 11 as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin investigate the crashed Autobot shuttle.

And then we cut to an upskirt of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. She's wearing black panties.

...

The last hour of the film is dedicated to the battle for Chicago after the Decepticons attack. While there's a lot of eye candy here, it doesn't have any heart at all, and even less brains. I'm pretty sure they killed Shockwave twice, and Bumblebee seems to have the ability to teleport himself right into Decepticon custody. The scene of Prime jetting down a street (which felt so thrilling in the trailer), raining down all kinds of whup-ass comes toward the end, as does that image of the building being eaten by the robot sandworm. By that time I was so fed-up with the whole affair that I wanted to walk out.

I really don't know how they went so wrong here. It should have been a cut and dried alien invasion project, only with huge hulking robots. Bay had so many templates available to him, the most recent of which was Battlefield: Los Angeles. Decepticons discover/build Spacebridge, Decepticons warp in reinforcements, Decepticons attack, Autobots run guerrilla war against Decepticons and win in the end. I'd have loved to see THAT movie.

I'll admit that my opinion may be considered suspect. I am, after all, a long time fan of the Transformers franchise, having followed the original cartoon series religiously as a kid. However, I've come to learn to separate movie continuity from other mediums, so don't think I'm judging this on how it compares to the various animated series, the comics, or the Hasbro toys.

I simply despise it because it's an awful, awful film.

Target Exclusive Cosmic Silver Surfer

There are still many figures that I missed out on during those heady mass acquisition days when everything about toy collecting was still new to me. Having jumped on the bandwagon in the middle of the articulation evolution that was the introduction of Marvel Legends, I was far to engrossed in tracking down those hard to find Sentinel Wave figures or saving up money for the earlier figures like Colossus and Gambit to pay attention to other lines. Hence I totally missed out on the Marvel Legends Icons series.

It was too bad, because unlike the Marvel Legends 6" series, most of the figures in this 1/6th scale line were really characters that could be called "legends" as these things go. The Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man all got the 12" treatment. I only started dipping into the line when the Icons Colossus and Daredevil came out, so I missed out on a lot.

There were a few that I promised myself I’d get one day. The Incredible Hulk figures were the first (though they’ve been de-prioritized since there’s so much other stuff taking my attention), but I also wanted to get the rest of the X-Men and a Silver Surfer.

I’d passed on the regular version of the Icons Silver Surfer many times before because I was always holding out for this one; the Target Exclusive Cosmic Silver Surfer.

This version came out with the Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer Movie, so the package shares some of the movie line’s aesthetics. The rest of the Hasbro Icons figures came in packages that were mostly clear plastic window and with cardboard backs that were mostly brown (or was it yellow? It’s been awhile since these were on shelf). This one’s more Fantastic Four blue than anything else.

If you’re an mint collector, this one’s a 8!+3# to store. The figure itself is housed securely in the curved tubular (oval-shaped?) shell which is then connected to a cardboard base with a large flat back. The back and base are relatively heavy, so they tend to begin ripping apart and away from the tube as soon as someone picks it up. I got this from Toystash Collectibles, a re-seller and friend of a friend who just got into the biz. Since it’s been passed through several hands already, the package was pretty beat up.

This was fine by me, since I was meaning to rip the ugly thing off as soon as I got it home anyway.

Funny thing about my recollection of this toy: back when I first saw it in 2007 in a store in Greenhills, I was floored. I remembered that it was cast in blue plastic with little silver bits inside that looked like stars (like those little Marvel Universe Handful of Heroes Collectible Figures). When I saw the figure after 4 years when I picked it up from the Toystash Collectibles booth at this year’s Philippine ToyCon, I couldn’t help by feel a little crushed that my memories had played tricks on me. In the weak light of the MegaTrade Hall, the figure just looked like it was a dark blue, almost black, with some spots of paint thrown on.

I was half right. Yes, the “stars” that I remembered were just paint. The application looked like that effect you get with a toothbrush and some watered-down paint. However, the figure WAS cast in translucent blue plastic. It’s just that the plastic was far darker than it was in the picture I had in my head.

Because of the darker shade of the body only the hands of the Surfer really allow light to shine through, unless you place a very strong lamp right behind him. Though I was kind of sad that he wasn’t see-through, I have to admit that the choice of colors really does go well. In the right light, at the right angles, the figure looks as if it’s flying through the cosmos, the darker portions of its skin reflecting stars.

Pretty cool.

Since this is a mass market figure, you won’t find perfection in the paint applications. The big mistake Hasbro did was placing the silver coat on before the “stars”. It would have rocked if the silver portions of his skin were just pure silver (like glare off the nearest sun) while the darker portions had the spots like a star field. However, the sequence of application was reversed, the “stars” going AFTER they’d already applied the silver, which means it appears on TOP of that coat. Boo.

The stars themselves are also a little out of whack. Ever watch CSI when they talk about gravitational blood drops? Yeah, that. Most have been slapped on at an angle, so they’re lopsided or pear-shaped, etc.

His only accessory is his surfboard.

Up to this point, the Icons Silver Surfer has been an exact copy of the Marvel Legends Silver Surfer from the Ronan the Accuser Series in terms of the mold used. However, since a 1/6^th scale board is much bigger than a 1/12^th scale board, Hasbro decided to just chop the thing in half. You might say, “Why would they do that? It’s packaged already assembled!” but you’d be forgetting that this is a re-released toy. It was originally shipped in the old Hasbro Icons box, which was smaller. So we get a Cosmic Surfboard that you can snap apart. This sucks because a 12” figure, mass-produced or not, is HEAVY. If the board is not supported all the way down its length, it sags.

Grrr…

Another issue is the fact that the board is translucent as well. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work all that well because the plastic is thin and light passes right through it. Instead of getting a nice little halo of light around the edge, you can see right through it to the little beams of plastic that support the underside.

Bleargh.

The articulation is exactly like the Marvel Legends Silver Surfer which was stellar. Like the Icons Daredevil though, some of his parts end up a little less flexible because of the mass of plastic involved. His hips have a little less range for example.

Still, it’s far more than I can say for the Icons Colossus, so still in the win column.

However, I’ve read that many people find this surfer sculpt inferior to the old Toy Biz version. The numerous joints and roundness of the shoulders are a turn off to some. Me, I think this is probably one of the best bodies that Hasbro ever made. It’s small and lanky, but it looks powerfully built. It would look great as the base for a custom Shang-Chi or something. I do wish they’d made it a little taller and changed that left hand.

I’ve got a love/hate relationship with that left hand. It looks great for surfing poses, which is what you’ll have this in most of the time, but when you want to pose him in a standing position or showing off with The Power Cosmic it’s a pain. Of course, if you want him to bitchslap Galactus, you’re golden.

While we’re on the subject of Galactus, getting this figure made me realize how truly impressive the Marvel Masterworks Galactus really is! I’d only tried comparing it to 6” figures, but having this figure stand next to him showed off how much more massive that thing really is. Surfer looks like his shrimpy little brother.

Of course, you probably won’t want to pose the Icons Silver Surfer with the Marvel Masterworks Galactus, but it’s nice that I have the option to put them in lewd positions on my desktop whenever I’m bored at work.

Marvel Icons Colossus

 

Originally posted at slangards.i.ph on Sept 28, 2009

Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin is what a comic book superhero should be. Period. All you Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Wolverine lovers can eat my shorts. All of them suck. Colossus is what a hero is supposed to be. Idealistic, noble, self-sacrificing; a rock that his teammates can lean against and a shield that protects them from harm. I literally cried after reading Uncanny X-Men #390. Granted the pseudo-science was worse than an episode of Fringe (just discovered cure to Stryfe’s Legacy virus requires a catalyst to start the process; the life of a mutant), the issue left a lasting impression with me and I haven’t enjoyed the X-men the same way since.

In hindsight, having divorced myself from comics for the past few years, I can see why Lobdell and company would choose this route. Although Colossus was a mainstay of the team in Claremont’s day, writers during the late 90’s didn’t really know what to do with him. Despite a great role in “Age of Apocalypse” (his entire team is decimated AND he steps on Kitty), his arcs were pretty lame. After the whole death of his parents, Illyana, his brother, they kind of went, “who’s left to kill?”. Of course the answer was, “Piotr”.

Of course, this being comics, they decided to bring him back a few years later in an even more preposterous sequence of events. Something about an alien stealing his body shortly after his death and leaving a double for the X-Men to cremate so that he could secretly use Piotr’s blood as a basis for a mutant “cure” that would eradicate the species from the face of the Earth.

You read that right.

Idiotic ret-cons aside, I am still elated when another Colossus figure arrives on the shelf. Unlike some of his teammates, Colossus isn’t one of those characters that get a lot of plastic love from the toy companies. He’s a big guy, which requires a lot of material and non-standard packaging, and he’s silver, which requires paint. If you pick up say a Daredevil Icon and Colossus, you can feel the difference in weight. However, the size and heft of this guy is about all that’s in the plus column. I expected a lot from this figure, based on all the hype around the Icons line and the premium collectors were willing to shell out for toys in this scale, I thought it would be a very good figure to add to my meager Silver Slavic Stud collection.

I was dead wrong. Like the last time I ventured into toys this height (see my Masterpiece Ultra Magnus review), I found that size doesn’t always matter.

First off, what you’ll see on the shelf. The Hasbro Icons line has some really nice packaging, which sucker that I am, is one of the things that sold me. It’s sort of a card encased in a plastic box, which means the “box” is one big window. You can easily see the figure you’re getting through the plastic. If this guy was easily available, that might be a plus since his paint applications aren’t the greatest. As it is, you’ll be lucky if you find him in a specialty shop, let alone retail. The box is relatively easy to open and you can place the figure back for storage which makes Mint-On-Card/Mint-In-Box collectors happy.

Once he’s out of the box, then the problems with him become more apparent. First off is his paint. Hasbro is notorious for it’s lack of paint washes in the collecting community, and while I understand the need to cut costs at the mass produced 6″ and 3.75″ lines, the Icons line is supposed to be more of a collector friendly line, hence a higher standard is expected. We don’t get that here. Colossus; torso is cast in yellow plastic, and then painted a flat silver or red as required, while his arms are red plastic with a silver coat. His thighs are gray in silver and his boots are cast red. Though the overall silver coat gives him an even shade, it’s very one-dimensional. There is also a lot of paint slop over the lines of his costume which is obvious once you can get closer. I find myself wanting to paint him so bad.

Sculpt is ok, but a little to much on the realistic side for me. His feet for example, seem tiny. It also severely limits his range of motion. Unlike his Marvel Legend sized counterparts, he can’t do much of anything. His forearms will only move about 15 degrees which is good to get it from the straight, locked arm, to a relaxed state. There won’t be any flexing of biceps for this strongman. Similarly, he can’t bend down or crouch if his life depend on it. His ball and post hips are limited by his briefs and the tiny feet don’t offer enough support for his mass. I regularly find him on the floor in the morning after he’s fallen from my desk.

So yes, you have a great big Colossus figure at a relatively good price (p1,600.00 retail), but you can’t do much of anything with him besides this:

 If you’re planning on getting into the Icons line or 1/6th scale figures, I’d suggest you start with the Daredevil/Nightcrawler figure, or shell out for a Hot Toys piece. The Icons Colossus really is a waste of money to anyone looking for anything but a display piece. Here’s hoping that once Hot Toys has churned out a few Wolverines and Hulks, they’ll give us a version of Colossus worthy of the name.

Green Lantern

Last weekend I went out with several geeks to tackle the new comic movie, Green Lantern. Of the 4 geeks in our group, only one really liked it. The rest were varying degrees of lukewarm. Two resident non-geeks (female) were both on the same page. So why bother with this review?

I'm the dork who liked it.

Martin Campbell's adaptation is nowhere near the awesomeness that was Iron Man or Hellboy, and it doesn’t come close to the squidgy goodness that was Thor. It was however, satisfying. It's like the Big Mac that you have every now and then when you're too tired to cook yourself a steak dinner; it's not as succulent, but it still hits the spot. Green Lantern is exactly like that Big Mac. Somewhere, there's a big poster like the ones you see behind the counter at McDonald's detailing how to assemble a comic book movie from the prepackaged parts. Start with a bankable star (Ryan Reynolds), add a respected actor as the villain (Peter Sarsgaard), and top it off with a romantic lead (Blake Lively), you know, for the chicks. Scoop in some daddy issues, angst-ridden drama, and purple aliens and you've got a nice prefab hit!

If you’re not familiar with Green Lantern, don’t worry. The film has an intro full of ready-to-eat exposition. Think of Hal Jordan as a Space Cop; he patrols the galaxies in his sector of space, arresting cosmic evil-doers using sheer willpower.

Of course, willpower is colored green and its one weakness is the color yellow. Don't ask.

I liked the film for the same reasons I like that metaphorical Big Mac. It's big, it's tasty, and it gives you that sense of satisfaction, even if you know that it's essentially empty calories.

Ryan Reynolds is much better cast in the role of Deadpool than he is as Hal Jordan, but he is one of those actors I find imminently watchable. I sat through Buried and came out liking the film, even though it's essentially Reynolds in a box for 2 hours yelling into a cellphone. It’s been pointed out that his character is more Kyle Raynor (man trying to overcome fear) than he is Hal Jordan (man denying that he has any fear), but it still works in the context of the film.

Blake Lively as Carol Ferris I'm not entirely convinced of. She comes off too much like Liv Tyler in the second Hulk movie. Peter Sarsgaard was probably the weakest link, not because he was bad, but because Hector Hammond felt so unnecessary; like an excuse to ground the movie on Earth when all we wanted to do was see Green Lantern doing his Space Cop thing.

Aside from the cookie cutter cast, there's also the lackluster CGI. The animation of the characters comes off more like an animated TV series.  I also have problems with the character designs. Hollywood seems to think that everything HAS to be complicated to be taken seriously. The worst example is Parallax, the big bad, who looks like a huge pile of shit with a face. If you don't believe me, go to your local Toys 'R' Us and find the " The Final Showdown: Parallax vs. Hal Jordan Figure 2-Pack".

The last sequence was what sold me on the movie, with Hal Jordan fighting Parallax for the fate of Earth. Those shots of Parallax killing thousands and descending on Earth with Hal Jordan the only one to stop him… wow. Despite the fact that it looked like some cosmic deity was having a rather loose bowel movement over the city, the sequence got a dropped jaw and a slow exhalation of breath from me, and the ultimate triumph of Jordan got a quiet "YES!" if not an "AWESOME!".

Green Lantern rates somewhere in the middle of the collection of live-action comic book movies; around where Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Ghost Rider are. I would suggest, however, getting the two DC Animated Universe films over this one if you're new to the character. Both I and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights are far superior films and are more entertaining than the live action version.

Marvel Universe Greatest Battles: Deadpool vs. Taskmaster

Though I don’t normally have to hunt toys down these days thanks to the awesome steps that retail stores and the distributors have put into effect, there is the occasional toy that is under ordered and overly popular, which leads to weeks of running around Metro Manila trying to get ahead of the pack. This was the case with the recent Marvel Universe Greatest Battles Comic Pack: Deadpool vs. Taskmaster.

I'm going to call it the MUGBCP: DPvTM.

So the MUGBCP: DPvTM was shipped with the Marvel Universe Greatest Battles Comic Pack: Silver Samurai vs. Wolverine (or MUGBCP: SSvWV for short) but due to the recent popularity of Deadpool, it sold out quicker than it could be stocked. It wasn't uncommon to see Patch and Sammy on the shelves days after a sighting, but Wade and Tony were always scooped up faster than you could say sociopathic tendencies.

I finally lucked into a set at SM Centerpoint in San Juan, after attending a birthday party in the area. They had just shelved the single case that arrived and I had my choice of figures. It goes to show that it pays off to check the toy stores whenever you visit places outside your normal run.

The package is the same as the previous Comic Packs like Secret Wars Storm & Nightcrawler. A simple plastic shell attached to a paperboard back sandwiching a reprinted comic and a plastic tray that holds the figures.

In this case, the comic is Cable and Deadpool #36, where Deadpool, eager to get back in the mercenary-for-hire game, kidnaps Taskmaster and proceeds to have an exhibition match against him for the benefit of various VIPs from the military and the government. But wait, there's more. He decides to do it handcuffed.

Guess who wins?

Cover to Cable and Deadpool #36 by Patrick Zircher (Marvel Comics)

Once you're through with the comic and have added it to your pile of Toy Biz "not-for-resale" issues and Free Comic Book Day hauls, you can snip the plastic rubber bands and get the two figures out of the tray.

For this assortment, it looks as if Hasbro switched things around a bit. Instead of two sets with one new figure each, we get one set (MUGBCP: SSvWV) with two new figures and another set with retools of old figures. It's ok though, since both Wade and Tony are made from awesome figures.

Taskmaster, is arguably the "accessory" in the set since he's kind of a B-list villain with simple copy cat powers. Despite this, he's a great figure that really deserves a closer look.

He's a kit-bash from several figures it looks like, though the majority of the parts look to be from Secret Wars Hawkeye. We've seen this body re-used before with the Marvel Universe Constrictor and it turned out great. The same holds true here.

Tasky gets some new parts as well, the best being his head. The sculpt is an excellent skull face in a hood that doesn’t look at all ill-fitting like some of the re-tools that have come out of the House of Hasbro.

Since he's made from the first batches of Marvel Universe molds, Taskmaster still has those awful peg-joint hips that restrict his poseability. Although they work to nice effect in the G.I. Joe line, I still wish they'd let this go the way of the old 5 point articulation. Deadpool, being a re-tool of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine single pack Deadpool, or XMO:W DP, sports both ball jointed hips and ankle articulation that allow it to stay upright in more poses.

Tony still has got a lot going for him. Accessories alone put him over the top.
He comes with the quiver and bow you saw with Hawkeye, a new sword (with scabbard), a re-painted Captain America shield, and a Luger pistol which looks as if it might be the same one that came with Doctor Doom, though I can't be entirely sure. It could also be the same as the one that the old Bucky Cap carried, or it could be that all three of them are the same thing, or it could be that I'm too lazy to find them all to compare.

His cape is especially good, and brand new. It's molded to look as if it's going AROUND his quiver. How's that for forethought? It's very dynamic looking and is great to photograph.

The sword and pistol, though, are both too small for his hands, so tend to fall out. I don't know why Hasbro can't mold their handles to fit hands like they did with the Movie Loki. Is it really that hard?

The other issue is paint. Hasbro can't seem to find a factory that can stay within the lines, so if you have a choice, check the paint lines (especially on the cloak) for slop.


Deadpool on the other hand doesn't seem to have a lot of issues with paint, but that's mostly because he's cast mostly in a pinkish red already. Though I prefer the deep, rich read of the Deluxe XMO:W Deadpool (Dlx XMO:W DP), I wasn't too bothered with the new shade.

It's probably because the rest of him is so cool.

He's basically got the XMO:W DP's body but with a new head that looks less cartoony. He's still got the eyebrow lift going on, though. He's also got new hands. Get this; the right hand has his pinky sticking out. You know, like time for tea, where's my teacup. It's a nod to how he was drawn in a few comic panels, holding his gun with the last finger stretched out. Honestly, its stuff like that really sells toys like this to me.

There are some minor changes to his chest and arms, too, but they're probably to accommodate the new pieces.


He's also sporting a new, less Liefeldian, harness. The first two 3.75" Deadpools, as well as two 6" Marvel Legends figures, all sport the Y-straps in the front with his teleporter (does he say "bodyslide"? I forget. Cable's jargon was so cool) button on the front. Attached to the back of these straps are scabbards that hold his katanas. These were always a problem for me, since I like to display him on his Vespa. The new 6" version from the 2-pack solved that by making the swords and sheaths removable, but they took a different tack here. They removed the scabbards altogether and just put loops in the straps to allow the swords to hang there. Nice.

I love how all his gear can me stowed to leave his hands free. Swords in the loops, gun in the holster, and the knife goes in a sheath at the small of his back. That means his hands are free to hold all the G.I. Joe weapons you can load him up with.

Articulation is another area that's improved from my old Dlx XMO:W DP. I hated the fact that he couldn't look up when he was riding his moped. The combined limitations of his stomach and neck joints meant he hunched over the handlebars no matter what you tried.

The head on this one is much better designed, and without the scabbards, he can move his chest back a little. Sweet.


All in all, this was one of the best sets I've ever picked up. Both figures are excellent, despite not being entirely new. Both are well accessorized, well articulated, and well sculpted. The only problem really is the paint and the gummy plastic used for Deadpool's gun (what's up with that?).

I definitely would have paid more than retail for this. Which is what you'll probably have to do since the pack is hard to find in the wild.

Happy hunting.