222-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Gamora
Rating of worst to best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies continued; see review 207-2 & 210-2 & 216-2 for the previous instalments.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating- #17: Iron Man 2.
This is a tough one as Iron Man 2 does a lot of good things to move the MCU forward, but suffers a bit in my mind from still being one of the early Marvel Studios releases; not really a bad thing per se, but has a different overall feel than MCU phase 2. The stand alone story is nothing more than a cliche revenge story (think Spiderman 3 with Harry Osborn) featuring a forgettable foe who’s paper thin motivation is as laughable as his inherent electrical engineering ability. Honestly, I’m not sure why someone who rivals Tony Stark’s brilliance would ever live in such squallar. I get that he was upset that his father’s reputation was ruined by Tony’s Dad, but was it ruined everywhere in the WORLD? I’m pretty sure those skills are marketable in places outside of the USA. And then there is Justin Hammer, the over-the-top contemporary of Tony Stark who, unlike Whiplash, was seemingly an idiot that has money. I’m not certain of this, but I feel Hammer was supposed to have a bigger role and later cut when the opportunity to sign Mickey Rourke came up. Perhaps that is why Iron Man 3 features another super handsome, over the top contemporary of Tony who later turns on him.
Fortunately for fans of the MCU, it’s the side stories that make this movie worthwhile. Consider that Iron Man 2 Introduced 2 major Avengers (Black Widow and War Machine), built on the Idea of SHIELD and developed the hierarchy of the MCU (Nick Fury and Agent Coulson) and even featured the first agent of Hydra hiding in plain sight. (In truth, it’s doubtful that Garry Shandling’s character was actually written as Agent of Hydra, but kudos to them for using him as such in Captain America: The Winter Soldier). So in short, as a standalone move, Iron Man 2 is forgettable, but in my opinion, worth checking out to see how the MCU truly started to form into what it is today.
Pros: To be honest, not many pros as this figure is a bit of a mess. I should mention that I was late to the party on Marvel Legends with my first female figure being Spider Woman and thought that this body style or “figure buck was the norm” for all female figures. Perhaps Hasbro was upping their offering to give us an unique figure style to match the movie character, which certainly looks decent on the surface, what with detailed pants, boots and belt.
Cons: What were they thinking with those hips? Talk about a figure killer as it all but limits basic standing poses. Also, were they going for “bored, tired and uninterested” for that head sculpt? Cause if so, they nailed it. Seriously Zoe Saldana is an amazing actor and this is the best you can do? Someone signed off on this? I also need to talk about the “sword” as is sucks. I’m not sure if it accurate to the movie, but I cannot fathom it being useful in any way. I have watched enough “Forged in Fire” to know what a finished blade looks like and if it will kill and this does not look like it should do either. Also, it doesn’t fit in her hand properly, so there is that…
