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Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Giant Man
Rating of worst to best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies continued; see review 207-2, 210-2, 216-2, 222-2, 228-2, 232-2, 233-2, 242-2, 244-2, 248-2, 254-2, 258-2 & 259-2 for the previous instalments.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: #9 Dr Strange
I’d be lying if I said that I was looking forward to, or even cared about, the release of the standalone Doctor Strange movie, but have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. Sure it’s fairly derivative of any superhero origin story, but I feel that Marvel made the experience seem different. It probably helps that the world of the Sorcerer Supreme is quite unique allowing for some pretty interesting visuals throughout, but Marvel made it feel believable. I suppose that it’s a given at this point, but the MCU is not just 22 (and counting) of the same types movies: Just like the comics they all have their own distinctive genre that make them interesting, but still work together as a larger cohesive world and Doctor Strange is a prime example of how it can be done. This is further evidenced on how well Strange working is both Ragnarok and Infinity War (which incidentally solidified my feelings for Doctor Strange after that battle scene with Thanos). I will also admit that I’m a rather large fan of Benedict Cumberbatch and feel that, much like RJD was born to play Iron Man, Cumberbatch was an ideal choice for Strange. Supporting roles, including McAdams as his... girlfriend? and Benedict Wong (HA! Same first name, just realized that) were decent, but both his mentor and antagonist were somewhat forgettable. I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, but I suppose it worked well enough. I think the best scene of the movie comes down to his eternal “face off” with Dormammu at the climax and really shows the potential of the time stone. At the time of this review Doctor Strange 2 has been announced and I’m very intrigued as to where it might lead as there is a ton of potential, that said I wonder if they will continue from the post credit scene featuring Mordo, but given the direction everything went in the interim with Infinity and Endgame, I would not hold my breath.
Pros: There must be someone out there that LOVES Giant Man and was totally stoked to have him in their collection, but it’s not me. The best thing I got for this guy is that he has a somewhat unique head sculpt and came with a BAF piece; that said….
Cons: The BAF piece is part of a re-released Ultron figure that I could have picked up on sale for less than the basic POS that is Giant Man. It's a good thing that Hasbro really upped their game since this wave as I don’t think that collectors could stomach $30 figures like this for very long. Also, should he not be bigger?
