I HAZ VOLTRON!! ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!! XD

Get a Voltron Toy

(Achievement Unlocked: May 15, 2010) O-M-G. I never thought this day would ever arrive. After over 20 years, I’m finally a proud owner of a REAL VOLTRON TOY!! I’m not talking about those fake ones, this is the real deal.

Now, I’m one helluva Voltron fan. After all these time, he’s still one of my favorite robots despite those new Gundams etc. He holds a very special place in my heart as its one of those robots that’s just so kick-ass when I was a kid, as well as other kids who grew up in the 80s.

Back in the day, when I was a kid, I wanted to own one. But well, my parent’s can’t afford it yet, as it was so expensive for a toy. The toy back in the day looked like this:

Every kid in the block wanted to own one, even me. So I kinda grew up, thinking I missed out on owning one of the most kick-ass toys in my lifetime. But I was damn wrong…

Several years later, Toynami would take long-time Voltron fans by surprise, by releasing a 20th Anniversary Masterpiece edition Voltron toy, which looks like this:

This snazzy Voltron toy is pretty much like the original Voltron die-cast toy. Only difference is this one is much more “sexier” and more accurate to the TV series. Well there was a limited edition of these bad boys, meaning once its sold-out, its gone forever. And sadly I kinda missed out on getting one… AGAIN!! I’ve like given up hope of ever owning a Voltron toy at this point…

After countless times of losing the chance of owning a Voltron toy, suddenly I saw this…

Toynami was very gracious enough to release another Voltron toy, just in time for its 25th anniversary. It used the same mold as the 20th Anniversary Masterpiece Edition, but ditches the die-cast parts for a more sturdier plastic build (meaning I can play around with it much more than the Masterpiece Edition which is kinda fragile), with a shiny chrome finish. And I for one, wanted to own one. Now thing is, my GF, Kate, promised me then that she would give it to me as a birthday gift. So I waited for her to keep her promise. And after almost 4 years of waiting, she finally made my dreams come true…

 

She comes up with the box, and I was simply speechless. Well because first off, it was days ahead of my birthday, and next, I never expected she can really get it, as it was kinda expensive. But luckily for her, she got the set on sale, and I couldn’t be any happier. XD

The pics here doesn’t do this magnificent toy justice, seriously this looks absolutely gorgeous in person. It’s that awesome. And not only that, IT’S FREAKING HUGE!! It’s the biggest toy I have on my collection so far!! Here it is beside my 2 Transformer combiner toys:

It’s damn huge. My 2 combiner class toys suddenly looked cheap beside this bad boy. And its shiny!! I like shiny stuff… XD

Looking at it now, I guess these are one of those rare moments where God shows that there’s truly a reason for everything; good or bad. Back then I never understood why I was one of those kids who never owned a Voltron toy, or why when the 20th Anniversary Masterpiece edition came out, I was unfortunate enough not to get one. Now I realize, if I owned the toy back then, I would be getting a more blockier version of the toy and I probably won’t value it as much as I do now. Had I gotten the 20th Anniversary Masterpiece edition using my money, it wouldn’t have been as special as receiving it as a gift from someone special in your life. Everything happens for a reason. ^___^

Iron Man 2 Review – part 5 -

Fortunately for Tony, he’s got friends who are willing to help him out and as I said earlier, War Machine goes along side by side with good ol’ shellhead.

But aside from War Machine, there’s also other allies who will be teaming up with our hero in his latest adventure. There’s the beautiful, but deadly, Black Cat.

Scarlett Johanson definitely delivered the goods here, and definitely kicked ass. She’s both the combination of beauty, brains and some deadly moves, as she assists Iron Man with his newly found enemies.

As far as the movie goes, I can safely say it certainly does the job. Some people may have different expectations about the film, but for me it certainly was an excellent sequel. Some argued that the first film was more focused in its message, while this one fails to recapture that. For me, the thing about this film is that it doesn’t just have ONE message this time around, but plenty. But like I said earlier, it all boils down to the fact that this IS Tony Stark’s movie. Once I had that in mind, everything in the movie made perfect sense.

Also, the film certainly knows how to please and never forgets its roots by keeping what worked on the first film and upping up the ante. So you can still expect a generous amount of fun, humor and action, although the action parts really ramped up this time around.

But if there’s any sort of complaint I may have against the film; it would be the one near the end. In order not to spoil anything, I’ll just say that the action built-up really well till that point, but it ended way too quickly that I was left wanting for more.

It’s also worth mentioning that this film, is definitely made with the hardcore fan in mind. The film simply bombards die-hard fans with little bits and pieces of wonderfully awesome easter eggs throughout the film that as a fan, I simply can’t wipe the smile off my face the whole time.

CONCLUSION

Iron Man 2, for all its worth, its a worthy sequel to a fantastic first film. Others may have different opinions about the film, and with that being said, for me the sequel worked. It perfectly compliments the first film, and succeeds in delivering the goods and paving the way in setting up for the third film as well as laying down the groundwork for the future “Avengers” film. Others may argue that the first film is more solid and has a more cohesive story, but as I pointed out, the subplots and themes presented in the sequel serve as a purpose to emphasize the fact that this IS Tony Stark’s film, and serves as a way to understand the person better. With that being said, this is definitely a great sequel to an already awesome movie.

Iron Man 2 Review – part 4 -

Ivan a.k.a. Whiplash, serves as a sort of mirror to Tony Stark.

Pretty much like Tony; Ivan is a genius and the son of a well-known scientist. However, their similarities end, with the fact that Tony Stark basks in the limelight of fame for his creations, while Ivan Vanko languishes in the cold; miserable & widely forgotten.

For reasons that I cannot disclose since it may deem to be a spoiler, let’s just say that Ivan doesn’t like that one bit, and decides to ruin the man who he believes destroyed his family’s legacy; Tony Stark.

Mickey Rouke’s performance as the electric wielding Russian bad-ass was spot-on. He was just menacing and intimidating, that his on-screen presence was enough to scare the shit out of me. And those effing whips… THEY’RE JUST FREAKIN’ AWESOME!! In fact, I love em much more than Iron Man’s new slew of suits. Man how I’d love to have those whips. XD

Now speaking of ruining Tony Stark, Ivan isn’t the only one who’s out to get Tony…

There’s this guy; Justin Hammer (played by Sam Rockwell) who would do anything it takes to steal the limelight off Tony and put him out of business.

Pretty much like Whiplash; Justin Hammer serves as Tony Stark’s doppelganger (as I told you earlier, this movie IS about Tony Stark), as being a business savvy multi-millionaire, but lacks the charisma that Tony naturally possess as well as genius. Together with Ivan; they create a formidable duo that perfectly compliments each other in putting Tony Stark out for good (both financially & literally).

Iron Man 2 Review – part 3 -

Now speaking of brother, there’s another “brother” in Iron Man 2 that you wouldn’t wanna mess around with…

…and it’s Nick Fury himself baby.

I mean, if in the first movie, he gave hardcore comic fanboys geekgasms, for just a few seconds of screentime, imagine what the hell he’d do in a couple of minutes of screentime with our main man himself.

Played by Samuel L. Jackson, he simply NAILS the part to PERFECTION. There’s no doubt about it. If Robert Downey Jr. brought Tony Stark to life with his performance; Sam did that and a whole lot more. This guy knows his stuff, and I can’t wait to see what the hell he will be doing once the planned “Avengers” movie finally hits the screen. I can’t wait.

But ofcourse, this wouldn’t be a superhero film WITHOUT the supervillains. And this sequel doesn’t disappoint.

Meet the Russian bad-ass; Ivan Vanko a.k.a. Whiplash.

Iron Man 2 Review – part 2 -

Thankfully, Tony isn’t alone in this journey.

Pepper Potts (wonderfully played by Gwyneth Paltrow) steps up her ante, and proves to be more than just Mr. Stark’s secretary/love interest. Their on-screen dynamic simply works.

The good thing about their relationship is they really compliment each other. Pepper makes sense out of Stark’s eccentric ways, and Stark on the other hand, simply works as that guy who annoys the hell out of Pepper with his impulsiveness. And there’s something endearing with Pepper whenever Tony Stark’s gets caught up in his own mess.

Aside from Ms. Potts, there’s also Lt. Col. James Rhodes (now played by Don Cheadle) who is Tony Stark’s military liason, and best friend.

Now truth be told, I was actually worried about this particular character, due to the fact that in the first movie, he was played by Terrence Howard, who I believed to have done the character justice. However, due to some problems with negotiation, he was taken out of the sequel, and was replaced by Cheadle.

Now before I saw the movie, I had some lingering fears that he may not do the character justice. I mean the only film I’ve seen him in is Hotel Rwanda, and I just can’t imagine him kicking some butt and being a bad-ass, unlike Terrence Howard.

But after watching the film, I’m convinced. Not only did he filled in the shoes of Howard Terrence quite nicely, he stepped it up and gave the character much more depth. He doesn’t just let Tony steal the show, he literally stepped toe-to-toe with the guy. They were more like brothers, than just friends, and Cheadle relays that sense of brotherhood throughout. And when he suited up as War Machine, (not really a spoiler since its been in the trailers) he nails it to the “T” and brings his game-on. This was one film where Don Cheadle convinced me he can be caring AND bad-ass at the same time.

Iron Man 2 Review – part 1 -

 

As a comicbook fan, I definitely love great comicbook-movie adaptations, and one of my favorite was Ironman. It delivered great doses of humor, great characters you can easily sympathize with, and high-adrenalin action that kept me on the edge of my seat. It simply blew me away. Obviously, I was definitely looking forward for more, and as the months went by, I anxiously awaited the sequel. And now its finally here…

As awesome as this poster looks, the question still remains; does this film lives up to its expectations? Read on to find out.

Now, I’ll be honest, it’s a little hard to review this film without spoiling some stuff here and there. So for benefit of those who haven’t watched the film yet, I’ll do my best in giving as much detail in this review without giving away too much of the plot away.

Right off the bat, I’ll have to say that this movie is all about Tony Stark. Not that I mean that in a bad way, where Tony gets all the glory while the other supporting characters aren’t fully fleshed out. They aren’t. It’s just that this movie simply gives enough emphasis about the man behind the suit; how he affects people and the world around him. It’s a very personal journey that builds off the question posed by the first film…

“How will a superhero deal with society who knows his true identity?”

It’s the very core of the film, and one that tackles that issue head-on. It’s a very interesting insight, considering most people are kinda used to the cliché of superheroes hiding behind their unassuming/totally different alter-egos (Spider-Man & Batman comes to mind). In this film, Tony Stark EMBRACES the fact that world knows him AS Iron Man, and often times pays the price for that privilege.