Punisher 2

[Villano]

The only thing I would've asked for from Punisher was more developed villains. Who the hell was the honky-tonk assassin? Or the ginormous Russian guy? We didn't even really get a feel for Travolta and family, other than they were rich, evil criminals. In contrast, the first X-Men movie really set up who Magneto was and why he does some of the things he does. Hopefully Punisher 2 will flesh out the villain some more, which should be easier since they don't have to go through the Frank Castle backstory again.

The Russian guy was taken from the recent comics. He's actually just called The Russian. Kevin Nash, the wrestler who portrayed him in the film, is actually a lot slimmer than the character. Since the part didn't involve any actual acting, I think another wrester, Paul Wight, would have been a better choice. Wight is about 7'2" and weighs over 550 lbs. Nash looks like a muscular basketball player, whereas Wight is more massive.

The "honky-tonk" guy was, afaik, created for the film. That character's name was Henry Heck (I think). I just refer to him as "Johnny Cash". Ironically enough, in an interview with the director, he mentions that they actor actually did portray Johnny Cash in a biopic.

Heck was my favorite character in the film. He had the perfect balance of a comic book villain that could exist in the real world.

And I honestly didn't think Travolta was bad. He wife, however, was waayyy too young to be the mother of late twenty-something boys. Some critic calculated the ages of the actor and determined that she would have had to have been about 12 when she had them.

 

[Acid_crash]

Well, in terms of the my-enjoyment-index, Anacondas ends up ranking higher than Punisher. Frank Castle basically bored me. At least with Anacondas, I had something to laugh at.

IIRC, the latter films box office take in the U.S. was about $33 million. Anacondas pulled in about $31 million. Considering production costs, both haven't made their studios any money worth mentioning.

If you watched all the DVD features, they did say the budget for Punisher that they were allowed to film with was 27 million, and they only had like 45 to 50 days to film the movie. Considering that they weren't green lighted with a large amount of money to begin with, and that they didn't even have a full two months (at least) to use, this movie turned out better than it could have been.

Had they been given 50 million and double the time, I am sure it would have been a lot better.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Despite Travolta's rather weak performance in Punisher (after he did such a great job in both Broken Arrow and Face/Off)

I passed on this movie, because it looked fairly boring to me.

However, I can't pass on this comment. Face/Off was an abomination of a movie and should be wiped off the face of the planet. Though I will say Travolta was better than Cage (who I can't stand).

 

[Mark Chance]

Had they been given 50 million and double the time, I am sure it would have been a lot better.

That doesn't necessarily follow. The biggest hurdle The Punisher had and failed to clear was in the script/storyline department. The whole shebang was one seen-that-before after another.

As a clear example that more money/time doesn't make a better film, compare the generally good Pitch Black to the big-budget drek that is Chronicles of Riddick.

 

[hero4hire]

A "kinder, gentler" Punisher...Complete with quirky comic relief neighbors. ugh!

Oh and the revamp of his origin...Yes they killed his family but his WHOLE family...His second cousins, his uncle Fred...etc... Blech!!

 

[JoeGKushner]

If it hadn't been called the Punisher, it might've been a good movie. Anyone whose read almost any issues of the comic probably wouldn't like it. OUt of the five of us who saw it, one dude said he was "Entertained" and the rest of us just shook our heads.

Heck, way before the current black comedy stylings of the Punisher, when he was in black and white magazines, he was still a bad man. Even if he didn't get up right next to you, he was a hell of a sniper as well as a hell of a fighter. This movie really didn't bring anything to that style character.

 

[Klaus]

Best Punisher story: JLA vs. Avengers #1, Batman's reaction to Frank, and Plastic Man's reaction to THAT.

 

[Dagger75]

I liked The Punisher. I was entertained. I never really read all that many comics so the rewritting of the histories doesn't really bug me.

Also it was filmed 3 blocks from my house in Tampa so I am a little biased.

 

[Acid_crash]

That doesn't necessarily follow. The biggest hurdle The Punisher had and failed to clear was in the script/storyline department. The whole shebang was one seen-that-before after another.

As a clear example that more money/time doesn't make a better film, compare the generally good Pitch Black to the big-budget drek that is Chronicles of Riddick.

lol, I guess this is a matter of difference. I really liked Pitch Black and I did like CoR, especially the directors cut, which did make a little bit more sense.

I guess this is also a matter of having certain expectations before a movie comes out and I know that it sucks to have high expectations for a movie and then have them to fall flat, but all three of these movies I really did like.

Maybe it's about seeing beyond the movie and treating the movie as a seperate entity from the comic book. Nobody is giving Blade this kind of ridicule from the comic version, so why Punisher?

 

[Acid_crash]

I passed on this movie, because it looked fairly boring to me.

However, I can't pass on this comment. Face/Off was an abomination of a movie and should be wiped off the face of the planet. Though I will say Travolta was better than Cage (who I can't stand).

Ya must be joking. Face/Off was a great movie. Travolta did do better than Cage in that movie, but Cage did okay, especially at the beginning.

You must not be too excited for Ghost Rider coming out next year, then?