Zartan (2009)
I was disappointed in Zartan’s movie treatment. Although his presence was comparatively brief, I found his characterization a little too far toward the creepy end of the spectrum. He was too much of a sociopathic cold blooded killer. I wonder if the writers were inspired by the X-Men film’s shapechanger, Mystique. Either way, he didn’t have much of the appeal of the comic or cartoon versions. The figure reflects this missed opportunity to put a dynamic version of a beloved Joe villain on the big screen.
The figure makes for a good movie based generic MP, but other than the fact it has Arnold Vosloo’s head (and a very good rendition, by the way) and a couple thrown in references to the classic Zartan, there’s not much that stands out as the master of disguise we all know. Hasbro did throw collectors a bone with an approximation of Zartan’s classic face paint and a coffin shaped backpack to hold the extra head, but they’re not enough to offset the overall blandness.
Zartan comes with an array of bladed weapons, including one on his rifle (an homage to the Dreadnok weapons?). Maybe this obsession with blades is a nod to the comic version’s past as an apprentice to the Arashikage swordsmith. Then again, it could simply be a take off on his use of a knife to eighty-six Cover Girl in the movie.
Look at that face. He looks like Malcom Macdowell
I have to say, in terms of paint, the one from the 5-pack is better, since Vosloo’s a brunette in real life.
Killing off Cover Girl is NEVER cool. I hated that.
This figure could work as an Oktober Guard member, or maybe a generic mercenary. He’s got the Vooslo deal going already so he’s got bad guy written all over him.
Agreed, Acer…I passed on the solo packed Zartan quite a few times, and I think part of it was the odd hair color. I wasn’t really expecting to like the desert pack version, but he really started to grow on me. I do prefer the wicked-looking knives this version has, but he’s just a little too bland to be super cool. I don’t necessarily agree with Rob’s dislike of how they handled the character in the movie, but I do agree with his opinions on how they handled translating that character into an action figure.
Great facesculpt!
If you want to see a really cool real -life version of Zartan Google Image Abbath from legendary black metal band Immortal.
http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/02/16/abbath-from-immortal-totally-looks-like-zartan-from-g-i-joe/
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