The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters: Batman

I'm Batman

Presenting The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman.

I was originally psyched when I saw this come out, opened it and... well... I had a sinking feeling - which I couldn't really verify at the time since the key to the riddle was in storage - that this was nothing more than a repackaging of the Dark Knight Movie Masters Batman which came out in 2008. I scurried through the Dungeon Basement  and.... yup. It's a re-issue.

So if you have the one from the 2nd Dark Knight movie, don't bother with this figure - unless you're trying to complete the Collect -and-Build Bat Signal (But you'll need both Bane and Alfred for that) that comes with this particular Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman.



There's nothing much about the upcoming movie in Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman's blister pack. But it does provide a very nice view of the Collect-and-Build Bat Signal which I assume does light up - and explains why the Alfred Pennyworth figure that carries the actual Bat-Signal is so rare and sought after. Batman carries the very base of the Bat-Signal; Bane carries the Bat-Signal mount.

What's to like about the Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman?

The detailing. You have to love how much detail was poured into Batman's Batsuit. Though the Batsuit was modified by Nolan between the first, second and presumably third films. But since this looks like the 2nd armor, we can assume that it's still the same.

This is not the original Nomex survival suit that was introduced to viewers in Batman Begins. This new design is made of hardened kevlar plates on a titanium-dipped fiber with reinforced joints. You can actually see the fibers (Which appear like black chain-mail) and the areas where that are not covered by the protective plates.

The new suit vastly increases Batman's flexibility and speed, but trades off a lot of the protection that the original suit provided. It is unknown if this current suit provides the same temperature regulating abilities that the Nomex survival suit provided, but it is safe to assume that it has the same black latex paint that baffles Batman's heat signature.

The biggest change between the original Nomex survival suit Batsuit and the current Dark Knight armor is that the cowl was re-envisioned to allow him to turn his neck without having to turn his entire upper torso - as the original cowl was attached to his shoulders. We can assume though that this it's built of the same graphite compound with a kevlar underlining - which you can see in his eye-socket area - with a built in eavesdropping device that allows Batman to listen from a distance.

The new suit also does away with the memory cloth that allowed Batman to glide distances after an electric current from Batman's right gauntlet hardens it. Instead he has a shorter, less hampering cape with concealed extensions that spring from behind his shoulder blades should he need to glide.

Batman's gauntlets are still made of a metallic alloy with scallop sword trapper/breaker blades that now can be retracted from the gauntlet's underside or fired like shuriken.

The result is a leaner, quicker Batman capable of dishing out devastating physical damage. Happily the action figure's articulation is more than up to the task:

The modified climbing harness with magnetized impact-resistant pouches that holds Batman's gas-powered grapple gun, mini-explosives, Batarangs, med-kit, smoke bombs, periscope - he gave it to a child in the movie - remote control for the Tumbler, mini-cams, money and an encrypted celphone.

All-in-all it's a solid action figure with above-average articulation:

What's not to like about the Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman? 

The biggest disappointment about this particular figure really is that it is a re-packaging of an existing figure.

The second biggest problem - which I'm sure you've noticed by now is the cape. It really hampers Batman's poses because it doesn't move with him. You'd think that if Mattel was going to re-release a toy that they would bother to modify the cape. Not sure how though, but I do remember the cloth capes that had pipe-cleaners in their linings from the Batman Begins figures. I thought that those were awesome.

There're also some cleaning issues with the Mattel figure particularly at the back of his cowl and! On his left scallop blades:

He also has the sad inability to bend his upper torso. An extra joint in the solar-plexus region would have been much appreciated.

Still a solid figure to have if you didn't buy the Dark Knight Movie Masters Batman or if you're after the Batsignal like I am. The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman was purchased at retail for PhP 1,499.75 (Roughly US$ 34.88) from Toys R'Us at Robinson's Place Manila but you can get it on Amazon for as low as US$ 16.99 (Roughly PhP 730 plus shipping).