Mattel Multiverse - Batman (Batman Forever)

Batman Forever and its sequel, Batman & Robin, are not the fan favourites. In fact, most fans soundly denounce them. I recently rewatched Batman Forever for the sake of this review, mostly to compare scenes and likeness to the figure. I was a bit surprised that Forever does, in fact, do something better than the other films, such as a much longer romance and dialogue between Bruce and Dr. Meridian. His combat scenes are a bit more interesting to watch, though this may be mostly due to the improvement in the bat suit for the actor. Keaton couldn't turn his head in the cowl, so they had to use less dynamic fight scenes.

Regardless given that this is a 30 dollar figure, his likeness isn't too bad. They captured most of the look in the mask, even if the paint is a bit thick and lacking any shading/highlights to bring out the rest of the facial features. The general shape is pretty good, though I find the neck is a bit too thin. This may be mostly to allow some (albeit very limited) head movement.  I've held off on buying many Mattel figures for DC but I'm finding lately they have quite improved on the articulation and sculpt for their figures. This one has actually a ton of articulation points and even (a bit of a flimsy) toe hinge! Wow. The accessories are extensive enough and the best part (in my collector mind) is that the storage for all the pieces can fit in the stand he comes with. Bravo! That's classy, Mattel.




Sculpt/Paint: 3/5 Let's talk paint. It's fine here. I like the glossy black on the gloves, boots and cowl and the shiny silvery black throughout. The Bat symbol is well done as well. The face has some black splotches in it, isn't defined and the eyes are pretty good. Sculpt wise, it suffers a bit. The belt buckle is a bit low and the neck is a bit long and thin. This is mostly for posing, but what you get out of the posing I would rather they just have made the neck straight up swivel and keep the cowl more continuous with the rest of the mask. The general proportions of the body make the figure look really tall when Val Kilmer's Batman is definitely shorter. His cape is just vinyl but I find I don't hate it. It doesn't bunch up too bad anywhere and allows some dynamic looks.

Articulation: 4/5 (29 points! Pretty good!): So with this DC Multiverse Signature line, they've added some joints they normally don't have in their figures. He's got double jointed elbows, hinges swivel wrists, double jointed knees and ball jointed hips that allow a really good range (not as ugly to my eye as the typical DC Classics crotch, but still a bit gape-y). Ab crunch is there (not much range though) and a waist swivel. He has a toe hinge! It's a bit weird since it can bend DOWN, but that's ok! I appreciate the willingness to try new things out. One thing about the ankles though is they just swivel and don't have any pivot. Still, A for effort!

Price/Availability: 4/5 I found him in Toys R' Us at his original price (since he hasn't been out that long). eBay also has quite a few copies where you'll get a good price (in the US anyway!).

Accessories: 5/5 One thing that this signature line does is really deck out the figure. He comes with his two fist hands, and two hands so either can hold his grapple. Surprisingly in the film, he only uses a Batarang once, and so it isn't included here. They include with him a supporting stand that fits onto his nifty base where you can store all the extras. The base has peg holes and pegs so you can keep him steadily posed. There is also a background card that mounts onto the stand. Looks pretty good!

Fun Factor: 3/5 I'll say that I mostly bought this one on a whim to create more of a collection that included other Batmen in a film (I have a figure for Adam West, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale and Val Kilmer now!). He isn't one of the best Batmen I own, but there are some fun things included with him and he balances fairly well.

Final Verdict: 19/25 Good: This is a pretty good figure, especially for his price. I have to say I'm pretty surprised DC Signature line picked this particular Batman. You'd think they'd go for a more popular Michael Keaton Batman. The other figures in the Signature line do seem pretty good, so I recommend this one, even if you aren't a huge fan of the film (is anyone? If you're out there let me know!)

Far splits! 

In the film his cape never actually opens up to form
a glider but he drops down from buildings in the film
as if he had one! 

Channelling his inner B: TAS!

His kung fu is better than yours