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<\/a>In a month, I\u2019ll be sitting in a theater watching Dark Knight Rises<\/em>. It\u2019s easily my most anticipated film of 2012 (sorry, Avengers<\/em>, you were awesome though…). It\u2019s that excitement, combined with wanting that C&C Batsignal that\u2019s led me to snap up the Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters. <\/p>\nI\u2019ve been so hyped for DKR<\/em> that I\u2019ve been avoiding just about any one complaining\/talking about it. I\u2019m just not interested \u2013 if I go see it and I don\u2019t like it, I will say so, but I try to avoid deriving negatives from the little bits of info and images that leak before the release. It\u2019s benefit of the doubt til the credits roll.* <\/p>\n I mention that because I don\u2019t really know what the fan reaction has to been to the pre-release images of Hathaway\u2019s Catwoman. We geeks tend to be harsher on the actresses in our beloved comic book films. We geeks tend to be harsher on things that are wildly successful. So, considering those two things, I\u2019m not going to go look either. I expect to like the movie, the figures look like the movie, so I’m buying the figures. Simple as that.<\/p>\n * – I had the hardest time trying to be optimistic for Green Lantern. \u201cIt could be good\u201d was like a mantra that wore out its welcome. It\u2019s been a year and I still haven\u2019t seen it. Maybe that’s my way of staying positive about it?<\/em><\/p>\n While I’m trying to keep it simple, Mattel sorta hasn’t. The first batch of DKRMMs have caused a little confusion, partially because Mattel doesn\u2019t really advertise store exclusives and because card backs just aren\u2019t what they used to be. In addition to the regular assortment there’s a Walmart exclusive single-carded Commissioner Gordon, a TRU exclusive Batman\/Bane 2pk, and K-Mart has some exclusive pack-in bat-vehicle \u201cblueprints\u201d with the regular Batman figure. <\/p>\n In the regular assortment there\u2019s the standard Batman, Bane, the previously reviewed Alfred<\/a>, the unreleased John Blake, the unannounced sixth figure, and Catwoman. Catwoman is available one of two ways. The version reviewed here is the \u201cgoggles up\u201d version. It features the goggles rotated around to create the appearance of \u201ccat ears\u201d. The other version features the goggles down, covering Selina\u2019s “domino” mask. You might be asking why that couldn’t just be one figure. Well, me too. <\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if it just wasn\u2019t logistically possible for Mattel to make one figure with \u201cworking\u201d goggles or Mattel just conceived the variant as a way to make an extra figure, but it\u2019s kinda weird either way. Further complicating things is that we can slide the goggles down on the \u201cup\u201d figure which creates a cool, but inaccurate, look (the goggles would need to spin around to be movie accurate). Anyway, I\u2019ve got the version I want, so I\u2019m down Catwoman hunting. <\/p>\n If you took a look at your Movie Masters shelf, you might start worry that Mattel would make a Catwoman MM figure by plopping an Anne Hathaway head on the suit body. Thankfully, Catwoman is an all-new sculpt and while that alone moves her to the top of the class for the Movie Masters line, it\u2019s also a pretty good sculpt overall. The texturing on the suit, including little details like the piping, the belt pouches, the zipper, can be found just about all over the figure. The proportions are pretty good too considering some of the DCUCs I have. The only concern I have on the overall sculpt is the scale. She appears to be a little “bigger” overall, but I may just be used to the DC girls running small in Mattel’s other lines. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like Alfred, the head sculpt is best described as not bad. While I think Alfred\u2019s portrait is a great sculpt partially obscured by thick face paint, Catwoman\u2019s just doesn\u2019t seem as spot-on to Hathaway (and is still covered in gloppy paint). Maybe it\u2019s just that I\u2019m used to almost always seeing Anne Hathaway with some hint of a smile, but, even with the decent sculpt, this figure just kinda feels like it could be a generic Catwoman figure more than a Movie Master. <\/p>\n The paint work on my figure was particularly sharp. The high gloss on the boots and gloves helps sell the textures, and the paint on the mask was well done with the different accents throughout. I do wish the skintone was painted around the edge of the jawline, but only when I get her into a pose where I can see that it’s black back there. <\/p>\n Catwoman features some great articulation which was a concern considering she was an all-new sculpt. Mattel is still consistent about the lack of rocker ankles, but they didn\u2019t cut any articulation elsewhere. There are ball-joints at the neck and shoulders, swivels at the biceps, wrists, waist, thighs, hinges at the elbows, knees, and ankles, the ab crunch, and the \u201c4H\u201d hips that we\u2019ve had on the DCUCs for years. The hair does block some of the neck articulation and I\u2019m kinda puzzled why Mattel didn\u2019t just use the glove and boot lines for the swivel cuts, but neither of those are dealbreakers. <\/p>\n If there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve been consistently disappointed about with the Movie Masters figures, it\u2019s the lack of accessories. The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters do feature a collect and connect Batsignal. And that does show tremendous progress from the odd-sized Batman & Scarecrow masks, but I still would like to see Catwoman come with at least one accessory unique to her on top of that. She is using a gun in some of the promotional art and I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll handle other props in the film. I\u2019ll no doubt be thinking \u201cthe figure could\u2019ve come with that\u201d each time I see a good one. <\/p>\n Catwoman includes the rooftop base of the Batsignal and the utility box which operates it in the film. It\u2019s a large piece and looks good, so between that and the all-new sculpt, I shouldn\u2019t be complaining about the lack of an accessory, but I still did. <\/p>\n Is Catwoman an amazing entry to add to my toy shelves? Maybe not. She\u2019s notable for being an all-new sculpt (high excitement for a Mattel Movie Master!) and you can tell that a lot of work went into her, but I still get a hint of \u201cshelf filler\u201d here. She’s a figure you buy because you want the set, the Batsignal, you have a thing for things that sorta look like Anne Hathaway, or you just really enjoyed the movie. Even though I bought her before seeing the movie, I imagine it\u2019ll mostly be that last reason for me. <\/p>\n That\u2019s kinda been the theme of \u201cMovie Masters\u201d so far though. I have the figures, they\u2019re all okay (some things like the Bale head sculpt are exceptional), but I do wish they were as good figures as the movies were movies. Catwoman is close, up there with the basic Batman. She\u2019s a solid figure with good articulation. If she had had a head sculpt that rivaled Bale\u2019s, she could easily be the best of the bunch. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/reviews\/dcimages\/2012\/dcat01.JPG?w=640\")
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