Innuendo aside, I’m happy to present another of NJ Croce’s fantastic bendable figure sets, this time from the critically acclaimed, nostalgia classic; Batman: The Animated Series.

The large window box style packaging, which homages the series style to great effect, does a fantastic job of showing off the toys but also features technical specifications for the Dark Knight’s signature ride as well as some in-universe history!

Batman and Robin are around 3 inches tall and emulate the Bruce Timm style very nicely, and while Batman balances pretty nicely, Robin is top-heavy and can’t stand without support. The range of movement is somewhat limited, only getting an elbow bend and outward stretch and nothing in the legs.

The Batmobile itself is a gorgeous rendition of the iconic vehicle that most people think of when you say ‘Batmobile’. The deep navy blue, much like piano black, is an absolute dust magnet so you’ll have to excuse some of the images but overall, I really the look of it! Unfortunately, the wheels are completely static and the main body is all but hollow, giving it the feel of those novelty bubble bath bottles.

Still it does feature an opening cockpit and the control panels are far more detailed than I imagined they would be. Good stuff!

Unfortunately, the figures do not fit into the cockpit very well. I spent a fair amount of time trying to stuff them and this is the best that I could accomplish.

Overall, while I really dig this set, I do not believe it is worth the 25-30 pounds/dollars you’d be spending on it since the figures lack articulation and the Batmobile itself lacks rolling wheels, but if you can pick it up for less, it would make for a fantastic display piece.

To say I’m excited for the upcoming release of The LEGO Batman Movie would be a gross understatement. I adored the original The LEGO Movie and Will Arnett was definitely a stand out performance so to give that particular Batman his own movie and then populate it with every forgotten villain that only I would know? I feel like this movie is made for me!

So the lovely folks over at LEGO were kind enough to provide me with 70903 The Riddler’s Riddle Racer to play with and I’m positively giddy! This set retails for £29.99, features 254 pieces and contains two bags of assorted parts, a sticker sheet, one black plate and an instruction booklet.

As always, we dive into the minifigures first and for a £30 set, you get a lot of minifigures, most of which are favourites of mine. First up is the titular Riddler, looking both smarmy and indignant thanks to his swappable faces and the headpiece for his hat is at a lovely jaunty angle. Magpie wasn’t immediately familiar until I found out that this design is more based on her appearance in Beware The Batman and not the ludicrous 80’s design I knew her for.

In the realms of Rogues Galleries, you’re not going to get a more eclectic bunch than Batman’s baddies and we have two of the dumbest (and therefore two of my favourites) here with Calender Man and Kite Man. Much like most the villains in this movie, they appear in their super-dumb, yet super-endearing, original costumes and I love them because of it. Batman is much like the myriad of previous Batman minifig releases but, much like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 2, now comes with a shiny new utility belt! It’s a nice little piece that changes up the status quo for one of the most prolific minifigures around.

The first brick-built segment of the process is Kite Man’s flying apparatus and it’s a perfectly good little glider pack, not pushing the boat out but still neat.

The titular Riddle Racer takes up the majority of the build, the first bag building much of the body work…

While the second finishes it off and holds the engine/weapon gimmick.

The finished Riddle Racer is a sleek little number that sadly only seats The Riddler but makes up for that with it’s sleek curves and overall awesome aesthetic.

The missile-firing gimmick is particularly strong too, easily launching missiles at least 6ft across the room!

As a fan of LEGO, I liked this set for having a cool looking vehicle but as a massive Batman villain mark, I adore the cadre of baddies you get in this set and, for me at least, that elevates this set to a must-buy! The LEGO Batman Movie range of LEGO sets are available from most major retailers now and you can look forward to the theatrical release on 10th February 2017!

Okay, DC… You got me. After the debacle that was Man of Steel and the awfulness that was Batman v Superman; I was ready to write DC off all together but as this year’s San Diego Comic Con has shown… Maybe there’s still some hope for the world’s most iconic heroes and who better to bring that hope than Wonder Woman?

She’s Beauty, She’s Grace…

Holy cow, Gal Gadot is gorgeous! Maybe I didn’t see it in BvS because the movie was bad and the promo shots of her weren’t fantastic but seeing this lady in motion sends my heart aflutter. Whether in her finest gown (with matching sword) or on the battlefield, Gal exudes femininity like a physical aura of awesome.

… She’ll kick you in the face.

And lady knows how to beat an ass or two, that’s for damn sure! While traditionally a peaceful emissary for the Amazons, Diana is no stranger to combat and she certainly gets to show that with multiple shots of swordplay, close combat, lasso tricks and taking heavy machine gun fire like a champ!

Secret Origins

This line is pretty indicative of the way they could be going with Diana’s origin and that’s great. Because she’s had, like, six in her 75 years of publication and having one of the more mythical ones is a good step. Unless that’s just the story Hippolyta (Diana’s mother) told her… Which would also be interesting!

Take me down to the Paradise City…

Diana’s people, the Amazons, inhabit the hidden island of Themyscira (aka Paradise Island) and we get a nice few shots of the island, it’s people and their culture and I’m getting a very Thor-ish vibe from it.

Pine-ing for Fjords

Chris Pine is Steve Trevor; first man to set foot on Themyscira/Paradise Island and designated damsel for the movie. Pine’s a good choice because while he is charming, he can also play clueless and inept for laughs equally well. Which is another thing…

Candy is Dandy

There’s HUMOUR! Oh glorious gods of Olympus; there are jokes in a DC movie! Etta Candy (Lucy Davis) is Steve’s secretary and one of Diana’s closest human friends. Great to see a long neglected character get some real screen time.

To say I’m excited would be an understatement. Sure, Wonder Woman appears to be aping Marvel’s earlier outings with Thor and Captain America but is that a really bad thing? Given how dire MoS and BvS were; DC are clearly going for a more Marvelous approach and just look at the response on social media – people are responding positively to it! People are hyped for Wonder Woman and I’ll gladly count myself among that crowd!

Wonder Woman will be spinning into theatres June 2nd 2017! Be sure to keep your eyes glued to Doom though because Aaron will be looking at something in a whole different League!

And normally, I’d be all for Flash Back’s particular brand of shenanigans but Barry is being exceptionally stupid in this episode. No part of his plan to travel back in time to get Eobard Thawne (disguised as Harrison Wells) to help with the speed force equation is, as Harry points out, asinine and guess what? Barry fucks up everything!

Well, okay, that’s not entirely true but being discovered and having to deliver a Batman Gambit to ensure you don’t die isn’t the best situation. Still, it’s sort of entertaining to see Eobard lose his shit with Future Barry because he’s convinced that Barry is there thwartin’ his plans. The frustration and anger on display is testament to Tom’s  comedic acting ability and it’s great to see him play Eobard again.

Flash Fact: The speed equation that Barry is working on – 3×2(9yz)4a – was used by speedster Johnny Quick to gain his powers and was later used by his daughter; Jesse Quick. Hmmm.

Your villain du jour is a Time Wraith, a creature not unlike the paradox-eating Reapers from Doctor Who. While compared to a Dementor, the Time Wraith has a particular beef with speedsters and even looks to have a decomposed mask as part of it’s design. Would this be the show’s equivalent of the Black Flash, a grim reaper type entity that chases down speedsters approaching their demise? Could very well be!

Apart from his main objective, two good things came out of Barry’s jaunt to the past though; one of which being Hartley Rathaway’s face turn and the other being a video message Barry recorded for Iris. Rathaway seems to be an ally to the team in this alternate timeline which isn’t such a bad thing, considering his comic counterpart’s switch to the side of good. It’s also great to Rick Cosnett as well, not having seen him in since a dream sequence at the start of the season and gives Iris a much needed kick up the arse to get closure.

Flash Fact: Interestingly, this episode is clearly set before the Worlds Finest crossover I reviewed yesterday as Barry has yet to construct the tachyon emitter he wore in that episode but receives the plans for it in this episode from Thawne. Wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey.

Flash Back, for how dumb it is, does set up some much needed plot points and we at least get to see some fan favourite characters return for a brief spell. Next week we charge headfirst into darkness as Barry comes face-to-face with “Jay” in Versus Zoom.

Warner Bros and Fox have both, consistently for a number of years now, been releasing movies that have been dull, pretentious, and completely disconnected from the comic book worlds they’ve been adapting from. And if I’m staying honest with you, dear readers, I find myself getting increasingly bored of rolling my eyes at them.

Fox have been releasing fun trailers for Deadpool and that gives me hope. But Suicide Squad… any promo photos or footage I’ve seen so far have been worrying to say the least (the less said about Jared Leto’s Joker images the better). Can this new trailer cheer me up?

– Hello Boys

Margot Robbie seems to be the next-big-thing so with her cast as perennial-fan-favourite Harley Quinn it seems WB knows they have a potential gold-mine on it’s hands and have leaned into it heavily with lots of Harley featuring in this trailer.

I’m not sure the tone is quite right, but maybe that’s because I have difficulty not comparing her to the ultimate Harley portrayal in Batman: The Animated Series. And don’t get me started on those ****ing tattoos.

– He Who Laughs Last

So, so unconvinced by everything I’ve seen on Joker in this. And it’s not even Leto’s fault. He is actually really good casting. It’s the presentation, the design, the visual choices. Grills, tattoos, everything feels wrong.

– That Makes Me A Mad Panda

I have no idea what this has to do with the rest of the movie. Nor do I care, honestly. I just love it. That is all.

– The Bad Guy In A Bad Guy Movie

They haven’t really shown us who the bad guys are in this film, they seem kinda alien-like to me. We get a few shots of tentacles and crash landings but thats all. It’s clear The Joker will be an element of antimony too but doesn’t this feel very final battle to you?

And if so, isn’t fighting a giant-bubble-brain-cloud-thing a little lame?

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OVERALL– This looks fun. Does it look like an amazing translation of the comic? Probably not. But I do think there is enough there and at the very least isn’t taking itself too seriously (a huge crime in the modern movie landscape). I don’t think I’ll go see it in the cinema but I think I will see it at some point and that’s more than I would have said yesterday.

First up, I might as well throw up the new trailer that Warner Bros. put out. It’s looking just as fun as the original trailer made it out to be.

Look out for that coming in February 2014!

The LEGO Movie is going to have a whopping 14 sets released to coincide with the movie in 2014 as well the 12th Series of the Collectable Minifigures being comprised solely of characters in the movie.

Just like any other Minifigure Series, this one has a nice variety to it, incorporating elements we’ve seen before with all new pieces.

• William Shakespeare
• Gail the Construction Worker
• Panda Guy
• Abraham Lincoln
• Taco Tuesday Guy
• Larry the Barista
• President Business
• Calamity Drone
• Marsha Queen of the Mermaids
• Wild West Wyldstyle
• Scribbe-Face Bad Cop
• Velma Staplebot
• Hard Hat Emmet
• “Where are my Pants?” Guy
• Mrs. Scratchen-Post
• Wiley Fusebot.

There’s already so many instant favourites in this series.

As for main sets, only a couple have been shown through official images as of time of writing. Here’s my thoughts on them!

The Super Cycle Chase features the motorcycle that is in quite a lot of the trailers and on the cover of the videogame so it’s a definitive set to have for me.

The Cloud Cuckoo Palace is the home of Uni-Kitty (voiced by Community and Mad Men star Alison Brie) is immensely weird. It’s combination of white and pastel colours should make for a cutesy set but between Emmet’s expression, the presence of a robot minion and the absolutely DERANGED look on Uni-Kitty’s face, I’m thinking this may be one of the darker moments of the film. Or I could be completely wrong and Uni-Kitty is an ally but still. That face. That cold… unblinking… stare.

Lord Business’ Evil Lair looks to be one of the larger sets of the line, and I’m not just talking about his giant platform shoes!  I have no context for whatever scene in the movie this is based on but boy, it looks like some crazy stuff. There’s some sort of super glue tube being squeezed by a claw and two cops being blasted by the glue. There’s a luchadore imprisoned and there’s that Uni-Kitty again, only this time wearing glasses and a tie! I really like how ludicrous Lord Business is, as well.

Metalbeard’s Duel features the hulking pirate against some sort of evil robot dubbed a Micro Manager. There’s some other minifigs in the set too but the big draw is obviously two massive mecha duking it out!
That’s all I really have to show you guys for the moment but more and more sets are being revealed as we inch closer to the movie’s release so I hope this whets your appetite for the upcoming movie and the toyline.

As I recently said to Mars Needs’ own Elizabeth, LEGO has taken on this weird form of parody in recent times, with all the LEGO games and what-not, that I really enjoy and this movie builds on that in a massive way.

The first thing I really have to address is the animation. HO-LEE-BALLS, that is some crackin’ CGI. Not only is it pretty but the animators have obviously gone above and beyond to make the characters, surroundings and textures look like LEGO. It’s so good, it looks like stop-motion at times and that goes a long way to add a real-world feel to it. The LEGO games have characters bend and flex in a way that minifigures cannot but here they move how a minifigure does with only slight gestures added in to give them more emotion, it’s really astonishing! The production and casting is also star-studded, with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and Chris McKay (Robot Chicken), the animators Animal Logic (Happy Feet, 300) and an all-star cast which we will get into but first, go check out the trailer already!

Block-Head

Immediately, we’re introduced to Emmet (Chris Pratt, who will be Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of The Galaxy) He’s an average minifigure; not a superhero, brave knight or cowboy, just an average construction worker minifigure who is believed to be a Master Buidler by the old mystic, Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman!). He’s a bumbler but very likable right from the get-go.

♫~She’s a BRICK… House!~♫

I had to work The Commodores in somewhere and this movie obliged with the “tough female” lead, Wyldstyle (Voiced by Elizabeth Banks). I really like her design and hope there’ll be some tie-in minifigures you can get of the characters.

World Building

In a surprising move, this isn’t just a world filled with generic LEGO people but a world inhabited by minifigures from throughout LEGO history. DC Superheroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Minifigure Collection, Space, Castle, and dozens of others are present in many of the scenes. I’ll be surprised if any Marvel Superheroes make an appearance though considering this is a Warner Bros. flick.

Guest-starring Batman!
Yup, Batman (Voiced by Arrested Development‘s Will Arnett) joins our motley crew as they try to stop Lord Business (Will Ferrel) and Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) from destroying the universe by gluing the world together. I swear I’m not making that up!

It’s no shock that I’m excited for this movie. It’s funny, charming, well produced and chock-full character and I hope it does well at the box office. You can expected to see a fully assembled The LEGO Movie in theatres Febuary 2014