The Punisher
- Thread starter Tonguez
- Start date
Villano
First Post
The IMDB has it rated at a 6.5. I'd say that's about accurate. One of the TV critics described it as having a pretty good movie burried somewhere in it. I'd say that's pretty accurate, too.
The two biggest problems with the film are the budget and the fact that it feels as if someone sewed 2 separate scripts together. There's the whole "getting revenge for killing my family" story mixed with an adaption of the comic maxi-series Welcome Back, Frank, by Garth Ennis. The problem is that Welcome Back, Frank was really a black comedy (and the only parts of it they took were the "kooky" neighbors and The Russian).
I enjoyed the revenge tale. I actually liked that he set up Saint to kill the people he loved most instead of just shooting him. And the climactic shootout was good, too. However, anything involving the neighbors was really terrible. The film changed everything about them (although, in fairness, they weren't that great to begin with).
On the downside, the music was hamfisted and there were some weird decisions made (like having all the bad guys wearing black all the time :\ ). Plus, it was one of those movie worlds in which there are no cops (or firemen or anything else). Also, someone decided it would be a good idea to intercut the big fight between the Russian and the Punisher with the kooky neighbors dancing around and singing opera.
I'm assuming they were going for a Hitchcock-like irony by showing a life or death struggle occuring while something lighthearted is going on in another room. The problem is the kooky neighbors are all terrible. You really don't like or care about them (especially Mr. Bumpo, who's just annoying). Plus, Hitch would have had, say, a little girl unknowingly enjoying her birthday party while her father is being murdered in the next room by a hitman disguised as a party clown. It would have been a "thriller" moment, not an action scene. Cutting away from it really disrupts the flow of the fight.
Overall, for my enjoyment, I gave it a 7 on the IMDB. I'll pick it up on DVD and just fastforward through the neighbor scenes.
I've heard that the film did well enough that a sequel is planned. Provided that they learn their lessons from this film, I'll be looking forward to it.
The two biggest problems with the film are the budget and the fact that it feels as if someone sewed 2 separate scripts together. There's the whole "getting revenge for killing my family" story mixed with an adaption of the comic maxi-series Welcome Back, Frank, by Garth Ennis. The problem is that Welcome Back, Frank was really a black comedy (and the only parts of it they took were the "kooky" neighbors and The Russian).
I enjoyed the revenge tale. I actually liked that he set up Saint to kill the people he loved most instead of just shooting him. And the climactic shootout was good, too. However, anything involving the neighbors was really terrible. The film changed everything about them (although, in fairness, they weren't that great to begin with).
On the downside, the music was hamfisted and there were some weird decisions made (like having all the bad guys wearing black all the time :\ ). Plus, it was one of those movie worlds in which there are no cops (or firemen or anything else). Also, someone decided it would be a good idea to intercut the big fight between the Russian and the Punisher with the kooky neighbors dancing around and singing opera.
I'm assuming they were going for a Hitchcock-like irony by showing a life or death struggle occuring while something lighthearted is going on in another room. The problem is the kooky neighbors are all terrible. You really don't like or care about them (especially Mr. Bumpo, who's just annoying). Plus, Hitch would have had, say, a little girl unknowingly enjoying her birthday party while her father is being murdered in the next room by a hitman disguised as a party clown. It would have been a "thriller" moment, not an action scene. Cutting away from it really disrupts the flow of the fight.
Overall, for my enjoyment, I gave it a 7 on the IMDB. I'll pick it up on DVD and just fastforward through the neighbor scenes.
I've heard that the film did well enough that a sequel is planned. Provided that they learn their lessons from this film, I'll be looking forward to it.
stevelabny
Explorer
if you think thomas jane is "wimpy"...
um, you do realize that comic book muscles are fake, right? that people dont really look like that? the punisher is a regular "marine" type, not a muscle-bound super strong guy.
the movie was bad. but laughably bad. so it was funny. which made it entertaining. if that makes any sense.
the "signature" at the end was just completely ridiculous. cuz thats absolutely NOT what the punisher is about.
um, you do realize that comic book muscles are fake, right? that people dont really look like that? the punisher is a regular "marine" type, not a muscle-bound super strong guy.
the movie was bad. but laughably bad. so it was funny. which made it entertaining. if that makes any sense.
the "signature" at the end was just completely ridiculous. cuz thats absolutely NOT what the punisher is about.
Villano
First Post
stevelabny said:
I don't think Jane looked wimpy either. Part of what I liked about him was that he looked like an actual tough guy. He had "real world" muscles, unlike, say, the Rock with his bodybuilder's physique. Jane looked like he got his muscles by acting as a bouncer and throwing guys out of bars rather than some guy who goes to the gym a lot and poses in front of a mirror.
I'd be more afraid of a guy like Jane than the Rock and his "show muscles".
This was the exploding cars and fire in the parking lot, yes? I don't think it was intended as his signature. You can imagine someone pouring lighter fluid on the ground to make a crow or a "DD", but rigging explosives to produce a skull in a parking lot that can only be seen by a helicopter is pushing it. I think they were trying to make it a cool "coincidental" visual, like how, in the first Batman, the Batplane makes the bat symbol when it crosses over the moon. Comics do that sort of stuff all the time (I'm sure Punisher comics have had more than their share of skulls made by smoke or blood).
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
stevelabny said:
Yeah I know that and looking at a few other pics I can accept jane as the punisher (the main publicity shot is just bad imho!) and plus my standard is probably higher then most - I'm 6ft tall and considered short in my family if that gives you an idea.
and yeah I can appreciate laughably bad - a lot of my favourite dumb movies are so bad they're good...
actually good idea for a new thread...
Ranger REG
Explorer
At least I'm not the only one that think he could be his younger brother.Mercule said:
Heheh. A bad thing. Aside from the TV series, which is a fluke, the first Highlander film is a self-contained story from beginning to end.Mercule said:
