Play Arts Kai Bane - The Dark Knight Rises Trilogy Review

I really have no plans of getting the "Caped Crusader's" masked nemesis from the third film of Nolan's critically acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy. In fact, i even made fun of his accent during my review for Play Arts Kai Batman. Hehe. Well, sorry about that Tom Hardy, you just talk funny for such an imposing fellow.  This is an old figure review already but i hope to "influence" some people to get into the Play Arts Kai TDKR Trilogy line. Ahem, so why did i end up getting Bane?

Well, in case you haven't heard, the Play Arts Kai TDKR Trilogy The Joker and Catwoman are just lurking around the corner so i decided to grab Bane while he's still easy to find. He's from Volume 1 after all and they tend to become hard-to-find and/or sorely overpriced in time. Also, i'll be sticking out with the Play Arts Kai TDKR Trilogy line, being a fan of the movie. Also, my daughter, for some reason, like this character/figure.

The trilogy Bane is very different from his comic book or cartoon counterpart although Bane's imposing bulk is pretty much retained. I'm not gonna go on a string of discussions about his background since for sure you already know him. I'm just glad the Trilogy did away with all the 'Luchador' and 'Venom' bulls#!t. This Bane is a lot more believable though i wonder how he could take that much analgesic from his freaking mask without getting some kind of a high (or a down). Accessories are lacking, a crushed Bat-mask, a pair of alternate hands (one of which is designed to hold the mask) and a stand.

Bane's details are very good but definitely not on par with the high-end Hot Toys version (obviously!). He seemed to me too cartoonish and not too well-proportioned especially beside Batman. SQEX is also yet to remedy the "Kratos syndrome" on his shoulders (i.e. obvious detachment of shoulders from the upper torso). His arm movement is also very limited because of his ripped biceps and the details on his boots look like as if SQEX screwed up the design. I didn't take a photo of those...yet, maybe next time . I suggest hunting for a 1/6 (have it trimmed to fit him) or 1/8 fur-lined leather coat to make him look closer to the movie version and cover his arms. I also don't remember him having those greyish nerves(?) on his biceps in the film. His eyes aren't painted that well also.

Bane's balance though is good for a top-heavy figure with a smaller set of legs. It is much better than that of Baleman actually though the stands won't really require that anymore. I had fun posing him though i was very careful with his arms. There are also angles that are very difficult to pull off so i decided not to follow through for fear of damaging the hinges. I'm also not a fan of cliches so i posed him doing MMA instead of that infamous backbreaking scene.

If you're a fan of the movie, the Play Arts Kai Bane is a good acquisition. Like i said he's getting pretty hard-to-find already, at least locally. You'll also get a chance to complete the notable characters from Nolan's Batman Trilogy soon enough (though in my case, i'll probably pass for the meantime since my next figure up for review thoroughly drained my PAK funds...). I hope though that Ra's Al Ghul isn't far behind, i'd love to get a Brian Mills figure. And oh, sorry, but i couldn't resist taking this shot. LOL