Movie Masters Man of Steel General Zod

This is the Zod I been waiting for, not the black jumpsuit version that doesn't have the evil goatee, this is the Kryptonian Armored leader of the remnants of Phantom Zone prisoners ready to do cruel and violent things in the name of rebuilding Krypton, and has the way better held sculpt that resembles actor Michel Shannon. Zod's armor is wonderfully sculpted, very meticulously recreating the costume from the film, molded in an almost glossy black with various different applications of silver paint, brushed on for scratches, over-spray on the legs for age ware, and speckled on the waist armor. I love the gray fading and tattered cape, it goes perfect withe armor and character.

 The General has the same 20 points of articulation that Superman has, but I would like to point out the weird placement of his knee joint, they decided to slice through the sculpted knee armor instead of sculpting it so the top of the knee armor moves with the lower leg, quite an odd design choice. Zod comes with two accessories, a small figure stand with his family symbol, and his breathing helmet that's very reminiscent of the Engineers from Prometheus, but I personally think it's also a homage to the Russian General Zod that was in the comics in the early 2000's. Well, I've got the two Man of Steel Movie Masters action figures I wanted, I'm not interested in Faora or Armored Jor-El, and I think the only other Movie Master they could make that I would buy would be Amy Adams' Lois Lane.

Man of Steel Review

WARNING SPOILERS!!! SPOILER WARNING!!! WARNING SPOILERS!!!

 
Like the original 1978 Superman movie made you believe a man can fly, Man of Steel will make you will believe a serious Superman movie can be made. My congratulations to the awesome creative team of director Zack Snyder, producer Christopher Nolan, and writer Davis S. Goyer, well done gentlemen, well done. It couldn't of been easy to come up with a re-telling and modernization of the origins of the world's most known superhero, so I wasn't surprised to see bits taken from comics such as John Byrne's Man of Steel, Mark Waid's Birthright, Geoff Johns' Secret Origin, and even Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman.

Henry Cavill does an incredible job as the wandering unsure soul Clark Kent, but really shines once he puts on the Superman costume, he gives a perfect heroic yet authoritative portrayal with the right hint of friendly charisma. Michael Shannon gave us an almost understandable General Zod that was both methodical madman and righteous leader, but I was kinda sad he never mentioned anything about kneeling. Damn! Russell Crowe as Jor-El was fricking amazing, a pleasurable gem that I dare almost say can be the best on-screen version of Superman's father, definitely on par with Marlon Brando, he steals every scene he's in.

I didn't hate Amy Adams' Lois Lane, it just seemed like she didn't have much to do in the film almost like her parts were penciled in to the finished script, so we'll have to wait 'til the next movie to see how she measures up as the investigative reporter. Not just Lois, but also Laurence Fishburne's Perry White and the rest of the Daily Planet crew could be removed and not effect the story whatsoever, almost like they were put in by obligation just cause the Daily Planet is part of Superman's world, instead of actual being a working part of the narrative. Hans Zimmer's musical score is not bad, it fits the movie, but there's nothing rememberable, nothing that stood out as a definitive theme for Superman himself, then again nothing could ever hold a flame next to the infamous John Williams original Superman theme.

Loved all the Lex Corp logos everywhere, showing Lex Luthor is in this world without having a physical appearance in the film, but I was blown away by the Wayne Enterprises logo on a satellite hinting at a larger universe which other DC superheroes can appear. Now there is a huge controversy over Superman killing General Zod by breaking his neck, now yes this did surprise me, but it did not ruin the movie for me and I did not find it blasphemous to have Superman do such an act, the way the scene played out Superman did it to save lives, and I can see moving in to sequels it going to help define his development of a no killing policy; to never take a life ever again. Man of Steel to me is the movie of the year, it's making so much money right now the next film has already been greenlit and looking to be in theaters by next year, so I'm looking forward to see if we gonna be getting a Dark Knight level story of Superman taking on Lex Luthor, can't wait.

Marvel Legends Extremis Iron Man Review

The Extremis Armor debuted back in 2006, and was Tony's mainstay armor up until the Extremis virus that helped him control it was purged from his system during the Secret Invasion. Both Marvel Legends collectors and Iron Man fans have been waiting for a while now to add this suit to their Hall of Armor displays, and with the 2012 Return of Marvel Legends Series 1 Hasbro gives us a very good rendition of the Model 30  Metallo-Mimetic Mk. III. I love the metallic red paint used, it's like Hot Rod Red meets Candy Apple Red, the gold is also perfect like Testor model kit paint level gold, except on his biceps where the gold was painted over the metallic red making it appear almost copper.

The Extremis figure is loaded with articulation, high scores for articulated wrist to perform Repulsor blast, and the combination of the omni-directional ab joint and neck joint that allows him to arch back and look straight up for great flying poses, but loses points for the nearly useless hip joints, don't know why they didn't go with the tried and true swivel & hinge hips. Tony doesn't come with any accessories other then right leg of bulid-a-figure Terrax, I would of loved an alternate unmasked head cause I think it's due time for modern Tony Stark head. Extremis IM has a variant in Stealth colors, I don't know about anybody else but I personally would like to have this armor in the Silver Centurion colors like the alternate scheme in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

Star Trek Into Darkness Review

SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! SPOILERS AHEAD!

VINDICATION! I was right, I was right about everything; the villain was Khan, Admiral Macrus was with Section 31 who found Khan and was holding his crew as leverage, and I knew they would call Old Spock to confirm who Khan was. Those predictions aside there was still plenty of surprises, and Into Darkness is a hell of a ride to watch, hands down I give it 8 out of 10 Photon Torpedoes. I do have to say the previous film was better on the basis that it was completely original, every thing was fresh and new, but with Into Darkness it felt like Abrams and the writers gave in and pandered to not only the fans but also their own inner-fanboys to make the film's villain Khan and put in more Trek universe references and easter eggs for us Trekkies to chuckle at or point out to others.

So what I'm trying to say is Nu Trek 2 is a great sci-fi action movie, but in terms of being a Star Trek film I think it fell short, this was Abrams and the writers chance to create an entirely new tale for the young crew to blaze their own trail in the final frontier to discover new lifeforms and new civilizations and to boldly go where no Trek series or movie has gone before, but instead we got the Alternate Reality's version of Wrath of Khan, complete with lines lifted directly out of the 1982 script I might add. There are a couple of things that  did bug me, like Khan Transwarp Beaming all the way to The Klingon Homeworld, I mean I suspended my science fiction disbelief when they used it in the first movie, but really?! 90 light years?!, then I couldn't be the only one that was disappointed that they spelt the name of The Klingon Homeworld as Kronos instead of Qo'nos, and lastly the whole Khan's blood in dead Tribble situation felt sloppy thrown in the audience's face just to setup Kirk's resurrection which I think took away from his sacrifice to save the ship knowing McCoy already has that idea in his head. I don't want to say I hated how the Klingon who removed his helmet looked, but I do want to point out we haven't seen a Klingon that was bald (besides General Chang) or without any type of facial hair or ever wear earrings so I gonna say that particular soldier was not the best representation on the new forehead design, that if he had head and facial hair he would of been more recgonizable as a Klingon, but really Abrams?! Now Klingons have point ears WTH?!!

All that aside, Benedict Cumberbatch was a pure extraordinary joy to watch as Khan, some may think he wasn't portrayed as his usual megalomaniac self, but I think the writers did with him what they did with all the other new incarnations of the classics characters and took the core traits of him now affected by the different course of events of the Alternate Timeline, so with Khan being awoken and put to work under duress with his crew held hostage for nearly a year would strip him of his tyrannical superiority complex which just left his cold calculating mind wanting nothing but vengeance and the retrieval of his people. Chris Pine continues to amaze as the young James T. Kirk, you definitely see him getting closer and closer to becoming the Captain of the Enterprise we know from The Original Series, and even though the scene was rehashed and flipped from Wrath of Khan, Kirk's method of repairing the Warp Core and subsequent death was a real tearjerker, I will admit I myself got a little misty eyed. The next Nu Trek movie is up in the air 'til we see if Abrams comes back to make a third or if he'll be tied up making a second Star Wars film after Episode VII, but whoever makes the next film I'm hoping for something completely new and invigorating on par or even better then the 2009 movie, your move Abrams, Orci, Kurtzman, and Lindelof.

100,000+ Page Views!

Today Temporal Flux has gone over 100,000 page views. I want to thank my 8 followers for staying with me while I had a very slow post out turn over the last few months. With my new computer and having a little more time at home I'm pretty much close to my old posting routine with movie, toy, and comics reviews in the wings and sure to come, Temporal Flux continues in to the future.

Movie Masters Man of Steel Superman Review

With Man of Steel coming out next month the action figures for the new movie are starting to hit the toy aisles, and you know I had to pick up Movie Masters Superman to join Batman and Green Lantern. Kal-El is highly detailed, his entire costume's texture is scultped in, beautifully recreating the new suit from the film, topped with a great likeness of actor Henry Cavill. The Last Son of Krypton sports the standard 20 points of articulation that most other Movie Masters have which doesn't include an ab-crunch and that don't bother me, it would taken away from his great torso sculpt, and I'm glad cause I think the heavy cape would of pulled back on the upper part, and then you'd have a always leaning back Superman.
















Supes' cape is the biggest I've seen on a Mattel DC superhero figure, and is very nicely sculpted, I wish they would of put a black S-Shield on the back of the cape for the new movie costume cause it would look awesome on this airbrushed cape. Clark doesn't come with any movie related accessories, though he does come with a small figure stand painted and sculpted to look like the film version House of El emblem/Kryptonian symbol of hope, which would of been a more welcome pack-in if it was bigger, Superman can just barley stand on it. If you haven't already picked up this figure, you can wait and get the same figure packed with a Kryptonian Key necklace, myself I'm now waiting to get Armored General Zod to face-off against my Man of Steel.

Iron Man 3 Movie Review

Wow, what can I say about the third solo outing of Robert Downey Jr. as the Armored Avenger? Well to put it simply: it was awesome! The first thing you immediately notice about this entry is how different it is, Iron Man 3 is a completely different animal than it's predecessors, not necessarily darker, but more serious, you could say it's more grounded in the real world as much as a science fiction comic book based movie can be. This departure is brought about by director Shane Black, who not only help write the screenplay for this film but other action movie classics like Lethal Weapon, Last Action Hero, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I believe was a great move on Marvel Studios part, cause I felt they played Iron Man 2 a little too safe by having the same director make a very similar film to the first.

While IM2 felt more like IM 1.5/Avengers 0.5, IM3 is it's own character building and completely Tony-centric story, but does not ignore Tony's first team-up with fellow super-heroes, in fact what happened in New York heavily influences what is happening to Tony in this movie. IM3 is a loose adaptation of the Extremis storyline written by Warren Ellis in which Black adds Tony's post-Avengers mental trauma, along with buddy-cop action/comedy with Don Cheadle's James Rhodes/Iron Patriot in to an adventure to reaffirm Stark is a hero with out his armor, that the ol' Shellhead hi-tech suit isn't Iron Man, he is Iron Man. A real standout is Ty Simpkins, the most rememorable scenes outside the great action scenes are all of Tony's interactions with this young actor's character, it's a real treat to see a child that can not only deal with Tony's bluntly jerkiness but also pull off throwing it back at him.  

I almost want to say I'm having a hard time writing down my thoughts on this movie, cause after I see a movie I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to say about what I liked and didn't like, and things I really wanted to get across in the review, but with Iron Man 3 I was blown away by a film I didn't expect to play out the way I formed in my head from information and trailers. Being titled the third installment aside, IM3 does feel like the final third of a trilogy even though you couldn't have this movie without Avengers, because like any good super hero's career he'd finally come to the point where he was broken down and rebuilt himself with the realization he doesn't need to be that hero but now chooses to be that hero. So from me Iron Man 3 gets 9 1/2 out of 10 Arc Reactors, if you haven't seen it yet, go see it, you will not be disappointed, make sure to stay after the credits. 

I couldn't of been the only one who was overly super excited to see the Silver Centurion actually be worn by Tony in the movie. : )

Flashpoint Review

The story that broke the DC Universe and paved the way for "The New 52" written by DC's Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, whose revival of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, as well as being architect of each hero's title after their resurrections I have greatly enjoyed. I've been a fan of Andy Kubert since the early 90's from his work on X-Men and Batman Vs. Predator, his latest DC work of note before Flashpoint was Grant Morrison's Batman & Son, and I think was the best artist to bring to life this world changing tale. So with a writer that I love everything he's wrote and one of my favorite artist from my early comic reading days, those are high selling points before we even get to the actual story and the fantastic world created by the two.

I loved this story, it was a great alternate world which can be called the DC Universe's version of Marvel's Age of Apocalypse, showing characters we know having gone down different paths, never came to be, or replaced all together. The real show stealer is this reality's Batman who is this timeline is Thomas Wayne, a completely new approach to the vigilante, more brutal, kills, and makes doctor quips. I want to see more of this Batman, perhaps a comic series detailing his adventures becoming Batman, and his battles with that reality's Joker before meeting The Flash. Another stand out character was Captain Thunder, a new take on Captain Marvel/Shazam, instead of just Billy Baston becoming The World's Mightiest Mortal, it was now he, Mary Baston, Freddy Freeman, and three other children that had to speak The Wizard's name and merged together to form The Big Red Cheese, which I think is an awesome update to the character and one I wish DC would of continued with in their rebooted Shazam who in place of getting his powers from the six Greek legends now just got his abilities transferred to him from the dying Wizard.

The only real negative I have is this story feels incomplete and rushed being only 5 issues, DC has done this before with Blackest Night and Final Crisis, making one-shots and mini-series of major plot elements that should been in the main event book. I feel Flashpoint could of been a far greater blockbuster "Crisis" if the points of views and exploits of other characters like Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Abin Sur, and Hal Jordan were there beside the adventure of Barry, those additional pages and issues could of raised the bar and placed it on par with other DC must-read epics. I do have to wonder though if Geoff Johns originally came up with this reality changing story for his run on The Flash's main book or just a cool mini-series idea before it was adapted into the cause of erasing the previous DC Universe's continuity and merging it with the Vertigo and Wildstorm universes to form the rebooted New 52 universe, because to me it really feels tacked on to the end there just to give a in-universe explanation for all new #1's, and altered origins.

Marvel Universe Black Widow & Avengers Comic Series 4-Pack Review

I've been wanting Black Widow for my 3 3/4 in. Avengers, but Marvel Universe's first go at her I felt was not very accurate, and was hoping Hasbro would re-release her in better colors later. I got my wish when Hasbro released the Avengers Assemble Comic Series that came with light-up inter-connectable stands, not only did was she now in all black with gold gauntlets and belt but she's also sporting a gorgeous brand new head sculpt which is very highly comic accurate. Sadly Natasha doesn't come with any weapons and her only accessory is her light-up Avengers base, but when you know she is a Femme Fatale she really doesn't need any.

This four pack was my Holy Grail for a while when it came out, I was searching Wal-Marts and Ebay daily, luckily a close friend of mine noticed and found it and got it for me as a birthday present. If you were like me and didn't have any of these figures then this set was a godsend from the Toy Gods, three figures only available in other exclusive sets and one not even released on single card yet, answer to my prayers.

Hawkeye: Previously only available in a Secret Wars 2-Pack, Clint comes with his trusty bow and one arrow. The Avenging Archer is a straight re-release from that 2-pack, portrayed in his classic and long worn costume.
Hulk: I never thought I'd get a Marvel Universe Hulk, didn't like any of he's previous sculpts, but this 2012 brand new sculpt is extraordinary with his textured skin and jeans, and tons of articulation, and best of all he was first available in this set before he's scheduled single card release.
Iron Man: This classic "Horn Head" Iron Man was another Wal-Mart exclusive Gigantic Battles Set with Goliath. Tony comes with two of those "funnel" Repulsor Blast I hate.
Loki: Like Iron Man he too was a Gigantic Battle Wal-Mart exclusive packed with a Frost Giant. No accessories but it's nice to have a classic God of Mischief to torment my classic Thor.

Yes I tracked down Black Widow and the Avengers 

4-Pack to complete the Movie/Avengers Assemble Team.

Thor: The Dark World Trailer

Our first trailer for Thor: The Dark World doesn't reveal much of the story other than a The Darkness that existed before our Universe has survived and seems to be the power behind Malekith The Accursed, I am wondering if The Darkness is gonna be Those Who Sit Above In Shadow. I'm also interested in who that is in at 0:26 seconds, looks to be perhaps piloting whatever is crashing in to that city because you see a picture of Earth in front of him. And who couldn't ask for more of Tom Hiddleston's Loki, can't wait to see what mischief he'll cause for Thor this time around.

The first teaser poster for Thor: The Dark World if you haven't seen it: