Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters
GCPD John Blake Review

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Initially, I thought I’d be buying this figure as a “generic policeman”. It was cool to get a Joseph Gordon-Levitt figure and all, but who in the heck was John Blake anyway? Speaking of, there could be Dark Knight Rises spoilers, particularly in the comments, please proceed at your own risk.

I’m going to do my best to not spoil any Dark Knight Rises because it’s not even been out a week yet. So I have to kinda get through this review without really talking much about John Blake himself or what he does because he’s essentially a character created for the films and there’s not much detail about him that some folks might not consider a spoiler.

Well, there is a John Blake in the comics, Johnny Blake anyway. He was a little boy that appeared way back in 1942’s Batman #13. In that comic, Joker had changed his ways and set out to commit crimes that made people cry (makes you wonder what he thought he was doing up until then…). Anyway, among his victims is one Johnny Blake, a young school boy who had just received his grade card. Blake had proudly gotten all A’s and was happy to show his parents… until that dastardly Joker stole the report card! Blake sits crying as Joker gleefully makes his escape.

In the movie, that brief comic snippet really has nothing to do with anything. I doubt if Nolan even knew about it. In the film, John Blake is a sharp, well-trained police officer that quickly finds himself thrust fully into the middle of the film’s plot that I can’t talk about. I will say that the movie is as much about him as anyone else. I absolutely loved it, but the folks calling it an ensemble piece more than a Batman movie are pretty much right. As for Blake specifically, I enjoyed both the performance and the character. It made my purchase of this figure go from my wanting a generic police officer to my wanting John Blake specifically.

Now, this is a Movie Masters figure so I paid my local Walmart $16.50 for a lot of the same parts again. Thankfully, I realized Blake has a few more new bits than I initially expected. The dividing line is basically the ab crunch. Below it, all re-use. Above it, all-new. The new torso features a film accurate collar, while the new slipover and arms create a believeable bulky jacket. Top that off with another good likeness for the line and any fan of the film looking to collect John Blake should be a happy camper.

The other great thing about all these new parts is that no articulation was sacrificed. Below the ab crunch is obviously standard and everything above that has been retained, including the bicep swivels. There’s great range in the neck articulation; everything on the figure pretty much works how I want it to. Continue to Page 2…

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15 thoughts on “Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters
GCPD John Blake Review”

  1. Great likeness on Baroness’ brother! lol
    Seems like to be really a good figure – loving the tampos, they look grisp and sharp!
    Looking forward to see the movie now – Gordon-Lewitt is a solid actor, no matter what movie he’s in.

  2. i am so confused on why this is the likeness they got right… the bale batman is good, but those of us who’ve been fans of bale long enough to recall him outside the cape and cowl know, the likeness is far from perfect. the gordon looks like gary oldman, if he were a member of the real ghostbusters. alfred looks only passibly like caine, who i will grant some slack for because his face is very assymetrical (if they got the likeness right, your eye would perceive the figure as janky). but old JGL gets a face that could damned near appear on his passport. that stings a little bit. just a little.

    oh, and don’t get me started on ms hathaway. the figure botched her big expressive eyes and lacks the sinister smile she perfected for her turn in the catsuit.

    one last note, for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet… go see it already!! we’re over here, trying to be decent about not spoiling an incredible piece of film, don’t make it too hard for us, ok? see the movie.

    1. Agreed on all counts. It’s so hard not to talk about my favorite cameos, even!!!
      I will throw one spoiler-free thing in there– there are several background cops that play cops in other series. I’m curious to see how many other people can find.
      The ones I remember are Wu from Grimm and Quinn from Dexter.

    1. Wasn’t Blake the mystery figure?
      Batman
      Catwoman
      Bane
      Alfred
      Gordon
      Blake

      Aren’t those the six figures?

      1. Oh wait, I forgot Gordon was an exclusive. Batman Begins Ras is the sixth figure.

  5. This figure is out already? Dammit. I haven’t seen anything besides Batman and the occasional Bane since the first week these hit TRU and I managed to get the only Alfred and one of the only two Catwomen (goggles down, though I wouldn’t mind eventually getting a goggles up version… if I could find one). I have a feeling that completing this set will prove frustrating for a lot of people.

  6. George’s ears kinda stick out, don’t they?
    Maybe whoever sculpted him watched way too much of that other show, where he hung out with Lithgow and Newman. (who coincidentally had a Random Roles article on AV Club today!) he was always tucking his hair behind his ears in that.

    I haven’t seen George yet, but he’s definitely an army builder. Force builder?

    1. gordon sweet pea… gordon. the guy has three names, and you missed them all… twice. 😉

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