I know what you're thinking: "Another Batman? Another Joker? Really?"
Yes, really. I had canceled the pre-order at one point for Batman. See, I'd told myself, that among a myriad of DC Universe Classics versions of Batman (most being repaints or mild reworkings of the same mold), several LEGO minifigures, my old comic-version Microman and more than a few DC Direct incarnations of the character, not to mention the THREE different Bat-men I already have from Play Arts Kai, I didn't need this figure. On top of that, I didn't need a Nolan/Bale Batman; while I love The Dark Knight Trilogy for what it is, Batman, to me, is so much more than Chris Nolan's "grounded in reality" take for the character. I didn't need another Batman.
BATMAN
That was until I saw the first pics leaking out. And then they announced the Ledger Joker. And then came the pictures of their Man of Steel offerings. And the clencher? They brought back the two-piece articulated cape. Yep, if you can believe it, that was the deal-maker. It is so sorely lacking on the Arkham City Batman that simply bringing this feature back was enough to get me to buy another Batman figure that I was all but convinced I didn't need.
THE GOOD: So here we go-- Bale Batman in all his Anime-cized glory. And really, they didn't make him too cartoony. There's a resemblance in the sculpt that shows they were at least trying to make it look like Bale, so good for them. The rest of the sculpt seems accurate to the source material, and it's my preferred look for Nolan's Batman; that clunky first suit from Begins with the weird panther neck looks worse every time I see it. So while the proportions aren't all there (he's still stylized to a point), the liberties they've taken with the movie design are welcomed in the age of stumpy, awkward looking Movie Masters from Mattel. Something about this figure compared to the real actor in the real suit is more dynamic and super-hero-y.
As I said, the jointed cape is back, and it's very welcome. Bale-man can do all sorts of poses that will make you forget how... less than dynamic the greater half of the Dynamic Duo was for three films and just have fun trying to figure out if you can get him in a gliding pose with the new, included stand. I was going to take a picture of just that, but here's the thing: as welcome as the stand is, it's a GIANT pain in the dick. You have to assemble it, which is fine, but it took me a minute to realize the little thingamajig (not pictured) was for tightening the bolts when changing poses. And here I was, using pliers. I've since broken one of their stands, and wish there was a better option available that didn't involve a Third Party manufacturer. It's nice to include stands, but make them more durable and give us a better tool than a plastic "wrench," please. Anyway...
The hands and accessories seem to trump almost every other Batman release thus far. Throw in the stand, and the value starts to seem better and makes that $60-$65 price tag sting a little less. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
THE BAD: I'm sure this is a factory error, but I have to laugh a little. Wasn't it Bruce's left leg that was gimpy in the film? Because Mine totally has a bum left leg. When you get him posed, it's less obvious, but stand him up straight and he's definitely got an issue with his left knee. I also had to use a Sakura marker to replace the dot of black paint missing from his nose. Minor issues, but still as annoying as the minor issues I seem to keep having with these. For fuck's sake, Square, get it together. I really love your products, foibles aside, but I could love them more-- I'm not asking for perfect, I'm asking for consistent. And the only consistency I see is that you have consistent, minor problems that could easily be rectified with better QC.
Other than that, there's the weird "floating crotch" that these figures have. The strip going around his taint (yes, I've referred to an action figure's taint now) looks like a Bat-thong. It's less obvious in some poses, but it's a weird, weird thing.
In conclusion, another swell Batman figure from Square. It's much more property-specific, but they managed to make a Bale Batman and still throw in their own style without getting too far from the source material.
JOKER
THE GOOD: Here's Nolan and Ledger's Joker, in all his punk-y, dirty glory. Articulation is what you would expect, although the lack of a bicep joint is puzzling. Thankfully, the elbows also swivel, so that kind of makes up for it. There's a pretty good attempt at a Ledger as Joker portrait here, but I wasn't expecting Hot Toys quality here, and Ledger was so enveloped in that character that you could barely tell who he was anyway. Does he look like the Joker did in The Dark Knight? Absolutely. Did they stylize him without straying from the source, as they did with Batman? You bet your sweet bippy they did. He is a fantastic companion piece to that Batman for sure.
Joker comes with not one, but two alternate heads: the first is (as far as I can tell) nearly identical to the portrait he comes with in the box, albeit with more smudging on the make-up. Thus far, the messier make-up head is my go-to. He also includes his clown mask from the Prologue, and it looks pretty accurate. I doubt I'll use that one, seeing as how his outfit was different and I think the Joker heads are cooler, but I guess it's a nice option to change up the display.
Other accessories are a bit of a let-down. He only comes with his knife, two playing cards, and two extra hands. No guns, no bomb detonators, no stacks of cash or grenades. Bummer. Also included is his stand, which isn't really necessary, but will gladly be used for another PAK figure when I get the chance to assemble the bloody thing.
THE BAD: QC strikes again. On the default head, there's an unsightly patch of glue in his hair where they glued the front portion on. With a little work and an exacto blade, I got some of it off, an improvement but not perfect. It's a bummer that such a nice sculpt, paint, etc. can be ruined with sloppy glue like that (not to mention it looks like Joker re-enacted that scene from There's Something About Mary. Blech!). So not terrible, but still a bummer, and why I've been using the other head more. The clicky joints in his left shoulder are nonexistent, but for now, hold poses just fine. I'm just bummed he doesn't have more accessories. His pistol at the very least would have made this figure a much better value, and the limited hand options are also a let-down. As it is, he doesn't even have a hand that I can squeeze a gun into from another figure or any relaxed right hands, so he has to hold his knife or his cards to not look weird. The left hand options are equally limited: he has a splayed-open hand and a fist, so it either looks like he's trying to take a dynamic, heroic stance (fist), saying "whaddya want?" or that he's talking with his hands like Linda Richman from Cawfee Talk or something (open hand). The playing cards are very tiny, and have to be wedged just right in his hand to stay, meaning they can get lost easily.
OVERALL: Batman is an easy A-, due to it being Batman and the crapload of accessories he has. The Joker, while fun and an excellent representation of the character, I have to give a B-. He's just too light on accessories to score as high as Batman. But, qualms and quibbles aside, these are still great figures, and any fan of import figures and Nolan's Batman films would probably deem them a worthy purchase. Til next time, kids.
Cheers,
Swift
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