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.