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Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Cyclops and Dark Phoenix
So for this review I wanted to revisit the latest X-Men movie: Dark Phoenix, but I honestly could not get through it again. And while I’m a big fan of the “newer” X-Men movies, this one was just a step too far. First off, it looks cheap, REALLY cheap, like superhero movies from the 80’s cheap. For instance, their X-Men outfits look like I’ll fitting, off the shelf, matching work clothes from Wal-Mart. I’m surprised that I couldn’t see the Dickies logo. I mean, I’m not expecting skin tight spandex, but there has been countless modern superhero shows and movies that was able to make it work. Secondly the story is super convoluted with Jean becoming Phoenix, the Alien intruders who had such little impact and involvement that I’m not even sure why they were introduced in the first place. I guess it had something to do with her powers, but she already had that power showcased in the previous movie when fighting Apocalypse. And lastly, despite my enjoyment of these movies, I REALLY dislike how Mystique became a leading character through-out these films. Not only does it make zero sense in the grand scheme of the X-Men mythos, the make-up looks more and more ridiculous as the budget dropped, that is, when she was actually wearing it and not simply just Jennifer Lawrence. That said, there were some decent parts including highlighting Charles hubris and seeing some of the underrepresented mutants on screen, especially that cameo from Dazzler. As I said, I like these movies, but this movie was, I feel, a bridge too far. It’s also not like they have not tried it before and failed with the abysmal X-Men- The Last Stand.
Pros: Cyclopes- Despite how he is portrayed in the various movies, I really like the character of Cyclopes. And while he has worn a number of costumes over the years, I kind of love the retro look of this one. Overall he has a sculpt that matches his comic look nicely, a good amount of usable articulation for some fun poses and comes with a hand to trigger his optic blast.
Dark Phoenix- An effective re-tool of the medium body mold, Dark Phoenix has a stunning paint job, a plastic belt, translucent Phoenix fire that can kind of be attached to her arm and three, count them three, alternative head sculpts.
Cons: Cyclopes- I’m assuming that a good portion of the budget for this set was given to Dark Phoenix, so with Cyclopes you kind of get what you see. That said, some blast effects, other hands or an unmasked head would have been nice.
Dark Phoenix- Not much bad to say except for the obvious issue I have with reusing this mold over and over and over. The Phoenix accessory is also mildly flustering in that it doesn’t really attach anywhere.
