V For Vendetta

V for Vendetta

My next entry is for a V for Vendetta action figure that I acquired when I bought a toy lot sale.V for Vendetta was a graphic novel written by Allan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd. The story is set in a dystopian future in Britain where an anarchist masked crusader seeks to destroy a totalitarian government. Wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, the title character calls himself V. He made it his personal vendetta to destroy the totalitarian government (The fascist Norsefire party) and bring the power back to the people. I have little background about the graphic novel because I've never managed to read it, but I am a big fan of the movie. I enjoyed the movie because it felt like a political thriller. V is played by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith of the Matrix trilogy movies) and is paired by Natalie Portman who plays the role of Evey. The story begins when V saves Evey from a group of secret policemen (the Fingermen) who intended to kill her. V takes along Evey with him and shows her his act of bombing the Old Bailey. This alarmed the government and issues a false statement to calm down the fears of the public that the government is no longer in control of the state. V intercepts a national broadcast not long after and delivers a speech urging the people to start a revolution against the oppressive regime. He also makes an invitation to the public to meet him at the Houses of Parliament in exactly a year (November 5th) to witness his destruction of it. 

Hugo Weaving as V

When Evey learned that V was killing government officials, she escaped from V and seeked out her boss, who was a closet lesbian. Evey would learn from her boss that because of the oppressive totalitarian regime, those who were considered as "undesirables" were abducted and sent to a detention camp never to be seen again. When her boss left her, Evey was captured by a secret police and sent to a detention camp where she was tortured and forced to reveal the identity of V. She found solace in notes that were written by a fellow prisoner which was passed on to her. Despite being threatened to face death if she won't cooperate, she continued to refuse to give V's identity and when the day of her execution came, it was revealed that she was in V's lair and that V was pretending to be the secret police after all so that he could liberate Evey from her fears. Despite her anger towards V, she promises to meet V on the stated date of his destruction of the House of parliament. Evey eventually trusted V because she now feels liberated and free in spirit.  

The Guy Fawkes mask

With the rising notoriety of V, Scotland Yard's chief of police, Inspector Finch was tasked to investigate on V's bombing and revolutionary activities. In the course of his investigation, he would come to learn the story behind the ascendancy of the Norsefire under High Chancellor Adam Sutler and his security chief Peter Creedy. The totalitarian party known as Norsefire was secretly responsible for the collapse of the United States of America when bio-weapons was unleashed upon it. Britain on the other hand suffered great loses when a civil war erupted in the U.S. and was dragged into it. Norsefire came into the picture as the savior of Britain by restoring order and cleansing Britain of a Bio-terrorist attack (which they were actually responsible for). In their totalitarian rule, they would purge those who they deem unfit to their standards of purity. V was one of the victims. These "undesirables" were subjected to torture and experiments. Many suffered and died, but V gained heightened abilities and was able to escape when the detention facility was destroyed. V's motivation was not only to bring down the Norsefire, but also take revenge on those who tortured him.    

Freedom! Forever!

As November 5th drew to a close, V began to heighten his destabilization efforts against the Norsefire. The public slowly began to lose trust in their government because of this. V then began to distribute a Guy Fawkes mask for the public to use on the day that he would destroy the Houses of Parliament. When the day came, thousands of crowd gathered near the parliament wearing the Guy Fawkes mask waiting to witness the end of the Norsefire's regime. V meets up with Evey at an abandoned London Underground and entrusts to her a train loaded with explosives. He instructs her to do the right thing if she is faced with the decision to either light the train up and destroy the parliament or not. V then proceeds to meet up with Creedy who betrayed Sutler to V in exchange for his surrender. Creedy kills Sutler but V refuses to surrender and a fight ensues. V manages to kill Creedy and his praetorian guards but not before suffering a mortal wound. V returns to Evey's arms confessing his love for her and died not long after.  Evey places V's body on the train and sends it away on it's final trip to the parliamentary, destroying the final bastion of Norsefire's regime as thousands of Londoners march towards the parliament and witness the end of Norsefire's regime. Finally setting them free from oppressive rule forever.




This V for Vendetta action figure was manufactured by NECA, the same toy company that produced the Crow action figures that I reviewed in my last entry. I got him cheap as he doesn't come with any accessories (the 6 daggers) except for his removable hat. Nevertheless, I got him because he was part of a toy lot (apart from the fact that I love the movie so much) that I acquired. He features better articulation than the previous NECA action figure offerings like The Crow. It features articulation on the Neck (Ball-Jointed), Shoulder (Ball-Jointed), Wrists (Ball Jointed), Waist (Ball-Jointed), Hip (Ball-Jointed), and Shin (Swivel). But despite these improvements, the playability of this figure is still low because you are basically stuck on basic poses only due to the absence of the elbow and knee joints. The photos that I posted above are the only best poses that I can come up with the still limited articulation it sports. As usual though, the sculpt and detail of this figure is good as always. NECA nailed the Guy Fawkes mask very well. The hair is made of a rubbery plastic substance as to not hinder the neck articulation it sports. The same goes for the figure's cape. I used substitute knives in this photo shoot because I don't have the 6 daggers that came along with this figure. It's a great figure to have if you are a fan of V.      

The Crow

Brandon Lee as The Crow

The Crow was the last film that Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee's son) would shoot before a freak accident during the filming of this movie killed him. There was irony surrounding Brandon's death, a case of art imitating death, because Brandon was supposed to marry his fiancee a week after he died. With The Crow's narrative, it was a story about a person coming back to life to seek vengeance for the death of both him and his fiancee. The Crow was originally a graphic novel that was written by James O' Barr as a way of dealing with the death of his fiancee at the hands of a drunk driver. It became an underground success in the Graphic Novel industry and would later be released in the mainstream market. Numerous graphic novels would then be released after the initial title proved to be a success. This would later on catch the attention of movie producers. Fresh off the heels of the successful Rapid Fire movie, Brandon Lee was signed on to star on the film thereafter. Brandon's movie (despite going through rewrites to fit in Brandon's body double) became an overnight success that it spawned 3 sequels and a T.V. series. I've seen each one of those sequels and the T.V. series, but still nothing compares to the work of Brandon during the first movie.

Eric Draven

The Crow was a movie that actually borders on graphic violence as it was based upon the Graphic Novel with the same level of violence. The initial plot of the movie was quite disturbing considering the death of Brandon that a lot of the crew decided to not continue the film after Brandon's death. It was eventually toned down when they decided to finish the film. The producers instead made it more gothic and accessible to the mainstream audience. The movie proved to be a huge success. The three sequels that followed however had excessive violence and was not as successfully accepted as the first. Thankfully though the sequels did not tarnish Brandon's work as The Crow, as those three had different protagonists who became The Crow. The succeeding movies featured Vincent Perez as Ashe Corven (The Crow: City of Angels), Eric Mabius as Alex Corvis (The Crow: Salvation), and Edward Furlong as Jimmy Cuervo (The Crow: Wicked Prayer). There was also a short lived (though positively accepted by the fans) 22 episode T.V. series that was headlined by B-Movies action star Mark Dacascos. The T.V. series was a direct continuation of Brandon's version of the crow with Mark Dacascos playing the role of Eric Draven. Brandon's version though is still the best of them all because the movie's plot was heavily based on the original story of The Crow. And most of all, because it was played by a credible star like Brandon Lee.

The Crow, a walking dead seeking vengeance

Brandon played the role of Eric Draven, a rock musician who was about to marry his fiancee Shelly Webster on the day after Halloween before they were brutally murdered by thugs and drug addicts. Stabbed and bleeding near to death, he could only watch paralyzed as the thugs abused his girlfriend. They both died eventually. Because of his great love for Shelly, even in death, Eric's thirst for vengeance was so great that a magical crow would resurrect him from the dead a year after his death to give him a chance to avenge his death and that of his fiancee. This magical crow would grant Eric invulnerability as long as it is kept safe from harm. He would one by one stalk the thugs involved in his and his fiancee's death and brutally killed them. Leaving marks that shapes like a crow. This would be taken noticed by Top-Dollar, a local crime boss who eventually would reveal that he had a hand in the murders of Eric and Shelly. He rounds up his men on another crime spree, this time targeting The Crow by abducting the only other person closest to him, a kid name Sarah. The climax of the movie had Eric saving Sarah and fights against Top-Dollar where he successfully completes his revenge by killing him. This would eventually set his soul free and have it return to join Shelly in the afterlife.    

Reflections of the crow

A short lived T.V. series was then made as a follow up to Brandon's The Crow character. This time, Eric Draven was played by Mark Dacascos. The T.V. series expounded on Eric's exploits as The Crow. In the T.V. series, The Crow's return was not only for vengeance's sake, but also for his own personal redemption. The succeeding sequels on the other hand are not on par with the original movie. It was at best for Direct-to-video release. The sequels also do not feature Eric Draven as The Crow. It had different protagonists but had the same common situations before they were resurrected by The Crow. I won't be tackling on their stories though. The Crow as a character to this very day continues to enjoy a cult following and to my knowledge, a remake of the first movie is in development. But Brandon's The Crow will continue to be the definitive Crow of this generation. In my opinion, it would be so hard to top off what Brandon did to this character. He totally owned The Crow. The circumstance of his death will forever draw a connection to this character. His legend will forever be etched with The Crow.

More Photos:

NECA The Crow Reflections Box Set

Back print of the box

Eric Draven and The Crow unleashed

Eric Draven's Reflection as The Crow

The Crow's Reflection as Eric Draven

The Masquerade Mask that would inspire the face paint of The Crow

I have come to seek vengeance

Without The Crow's power, I can beat you

But the Crow is immortal

Stare at the eyes that seeks vengeance

You go down and fall asleep...

Because vengeance is mine

The toy review for this entry is a continuation of my previous review of the Brandon Lee/Eric Draven action figure. As i've said in the previous entry, the reason why I bought this Box Set was because of the Brandon Lee figure. I treated the Crow figure as the bonus. But what a bonus it is. The Crow action figure features superbly detailed sculpts. It's actually a thing of a beauty as you watch it's intricate details washed over the body by a mix of cloth, leather, duct tape, and twine. The trench coat is made of a semi rubbery plastic that compliments the figure really well. This figure shares the same articulation as the Eric Draven figure. It features articulations on the neck (swivel), shoulders (swivel), wrists (swivel), waist (swivel), hips (swivel) and ankles (swivel). Fittingly, the figure comes with a Crow accessory, which is also nicely done. The dressing table is also packed with minutely detailed paraphernalia such as candles, make up kit, and other items that Eric used during his appearance's transformation into The Crow. This figure, though out of place in my collection, is actually quite good to have. Though this figure is not really in line with my toy collecting interest (I stay away from haunting figures), it's a definite keeper for me because it compliments my Brandon Lee collection.  

Brandon Lee: The Son of Bruce Lee

Brandon Lee

 

The tragic story of Bruce Lee does not end in him alone. Though he died a legend at an early age, his son Brandon Lee lost his life when he was on the cusp of stardom. Many would say that there was a curse within the Lee family. A curse that befell the men. And Brandon was to be it's last victim. It was my deep interest for Bruce Lee which led me to follow his son's career. I was actually silently rooting for Brandon to achieve the same status as what his father have achieved, but he was taken away from this world at such a ripe age of 28 years old, just when his career was starting to get an upward trajectory. His movie career started when he played bit roles in various T.V. shows and B-Movies. Most notable of them all was the T.V. Movie Kung Fu, which ironically was the T.V. show that his father helped conceptualize and was supposed to play the lead star before he was replaced by a westerner (David Carradine). That same T.V. show was what led Bruce to leave America and go to Hong Kong where he would eventually start his legendary career.

"Is that you my son?"

And just like his father, Brandon would go to Hong Kong to shoot for his first major film role in the movie Legacy of Rage in which he played the lead star. This movie would also have Brandon nominated to a Hong Kong Film Award. This though would also be his only movie in Hong Kong, as he would return to America to star in an unsuccessful pilot for a new Kung Fu T.V. series.  This setback would lead Brandon to do a small budget B-Movie titled Laser Mission which was cheaply shot in South Africa and released in the European Market. He would also play a villainous role in the T.V. Series Ohara (which was Pat Morita's of Karate Kid fame T.V. series).

The Jeet Kune Do training that never was

Brandon's comeback to U.S. would open the door to his first big budget Hollywood film and his first major american film, the movie Showdown in Little Tokyo. He would play sidekick to 90's action star Dolph Lundgren in this movie. But unfortunately the film's studio outfit wasn't too pleased with the movie. They decided to just have the movie made straight to video in other countries and gave it a limited theatrical run in the U.S. But despite this setback, Brandon would be offered a multi picture deal with a rival studio and had his first starring role in a major american film production. That movie would be Rapid Fire.

"I have come home my Father."

Rapid Fire would become Brandon's personal showcase of his father's created Martial Arts Form Jeet Kune Do. With his father's early death, Brandon would get his Jet Kune Do training from a couple of his father's closest friends. Though Brandon had stated in interviews that he has no plans to diligently follow his father's footsteps, in the movie, Brandon showed that he had a lot of promise in terms of trying to replicate the success of his father's Martial Arts Movie career. Brandon though had to endure and carry the load of being Bruce Lee's son as long as he would star in Martial Arts movies. The comparisons were inescapable.

Bruce and Brandon in their fight against the curse

 

Brandon's quest to make a name for himself would begin in the movie The Crow (More about this Character in my next entry). A movie that he would play the lead star but unfortunately would not be able to finish. Much like his father's the Game of Death movie, Brandon would film important parts of the movie but would not be able to finish it because of a freak accident. Brandon died while filming a scene involving a gun shooting. He was gunned down but in this case, real live bullets were not removed from the gun. It hit Brandon instantly and felled him. He never woke up. This was supposed to be Brandon's kick off movie. But alas, the curse has caught him. And just like that, a once promising career of a young man was lost. For both Father and Son (Bruce died at a tender age of 32 yrs. old, while Brandon died at 28).

More Photos...

Father and Son together again

Brandon Lee

Kick to the face

One inch punch

Sidekick

The Brandon Lee figure that I used in this entry is from the NECA Box Set The Crow Reflections. The Boxset contains 2 figures, Brandon Lee as Eric Draven and as The Crow. The Box Set also contains a 7 inch tall highly detailed dressing table as well as The Crow's Crow and a Face Mask for Eric Draven. The figure amazingly has Brandon's likeness. My only beef for this though is that it has limited articulation. It only features articulations on the neck (swivel), shoulders (swivel), wrists (swivel), waist (swivel), hips (swivel) and ankles (swivel). But what it lacks in articulation, it makes up in it's sculpting details. The only reason why I bought this box set is because of Brandon. The Crow is just the bonus. I needed to have a Brandon Lee action figure to accompany my Bruce Lee action figure. So I'm quite happy to get this box set for my collection.

Squared Off: Bruce Lee V.S. Wuxia

The Cast

Long before Bruce Lee changed the standard Chinese Martial Arts movies genre, Chinese productions favored the Wuxia style. Wuxia is a brand of Chinese martial arts movies that features heavy swordplay and mysticism. It has numerous gravity defying fight sequences that is more on fantasy than realism. Though HK movies tried to bring in a new style to make their movie more realistic, none of the Pre-Bruce Lee Martial Arts actors made the new genre stick to the general audience. It took a Chinese who was born in the United States of America to change the course of Hong Kong's Martial Arts action films. Bruce Lee's superhuman skills brought a new era to HK's Martial Arts film making industry. Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon and his slew of movies (which I wrote about in an earlier entry) would open the flood gates for Martial Arts actors like Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung, Jet Li among others to capitalize on. While the 80's to mid 90's brought heart stopping realistic Martial Arts films worldwide, somehow the it would also eventually tire the audience as more and more less credible Martial Arts actors tarnish the genre. Approaching the new millennium, Martial Arts Movie's demand started to decline. HK and China needed to come up with something new. With China's vast progress making it's impact around the world, it took them to reach out to their long lost culture and traditions to present to the world the Wuxia Martial Arts film genre that was thought to be long gone.   

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon would go on to enthrall the worldwide audience with their fantastic well choreographed fight scenes. It introduced audiences to the world of Wuxia and would later influence other film productions to come out with their own Wuxia films. Although Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has been recognized as one of the highest grossing Chinese films in the U.S., the staying power and influence it brought has not matched the same popularity that Bruce Lee brought to his more raw and realistic Martial Arts films.

In the 2nd edition of Action Figure Planet's Square Off Series, I present to you Bruce Lee v.s. Wuxia. Below is the skit that I made about the fight.

Prepare to meet your doom Mr. Lee

She moves so fast...

But not fast enough for me!

Stay down

Eh!?! A woman?

Hands off me, kyaahh!!!

I normally don't hit women...

But you're a feisty one, give it up.

Stay away from her!

DIE!!!!

Back off! I don't want this fight

You need to be taught a lesson

Crazy, they seem to have come from all places

Your going down Mr. Lee

Don't bet on it sister

Time for you to go to sleep

Three down... is this all of it?

Who's that? The final Wuxia Warrior?

Your fast for a non Wuxia fighter

Yes because I am not make believe, I am really fast

And it took me years to achieve this skills

So I guess this is the last one

Not so fast Mr. Lee, together we can still beat you

Let's dance then? Kyahh!!!

Mu Bai is down, now I take down both Lo and Shu Lien

And dodge just in time for both ninjas to hit each other.

Effortlessly done

Do you guys give up?

And the winner is Bruce Lee. I picked Bruce influence on the Martial Arts genre simply because his legend to this very day continues to shine brightly in the martial arts realm. One cannot say Martial Arts without connecting it to Bruce Lee. Bruce influence on the industry encompassed many eras as the years brought along Martial Arts Actors like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and other Chinese Martial Artists. Not only that, It helped encourage the west to come up with their own Martial Arts Artists like Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme and others. Mix Martial Arts sports enthusiasts also acknowledges Bruce as the father of Mix Martial Arts with his founding of Jeet Kune Do. So there really is no question that while Bruce Lee's influence is much more greater than what Wuxia has done.But also not to discredit Wuxia, Wuxia is an art that is deeply entrenched in the Chinese culture. It showed to the world the beauty of past Chinese cinema which was almost forgotten when Bruce Lee changed everything.

Check out my previous entries for a brief review on the action figures that I used in this entry.