A quick post on the Punisher sequel
August 23rd, 2007
I’m thinking that the upcoming season of comic book movies is shaping up to be a mighty exciting time. First off there were the released photos from the new Batman film and now I just discovered the title to the next Punisher film. Punisher: Welcome back Frank
That’s a cool title and the director seems to know what she wants in the film. The actor they got to replace Thomas Jane doesn’t (so far) disappoint either.
Good time to be waiting on comic book movies.
Yes I’m working on my Phantom post (hey that works on a couple of levels).
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Not seen the first Punisher movie (though I did read a sneering review or two… actually, very sneering if I remember rightly), and I don’t know the comic too well -
vigilantee tale with oodles upon oodles of bullets, is that about right?
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Vigilantee?? (must have been thinking about Golf when writing that last post - hence the “tee”… although I don’t actually play golf, or know anything about the game, even though the Open wotsit was held just down the road last year)
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The key ideas behind the Punisher are that he was a soldier/marines/special ops type who had his family killed by criminals/gangsters. The men in question get off on a technicality (or something to that effect) and so the Punisher goes underground and wages a war on crime. He believes the only way to stop a murderer from re-offending and to provide justice for the victims is to execute the murderer. An eye for an eye etc.
So as a character he is a little deeper than i think non Punisher readers give him credit for. Whether or not the film managed to instill this is hard for me to judge since I came to it knowing the background anyway.
I have a lot of difficulty with comic book movie reviews because they don’t tend to be very forgiving to the point where the opinion is already negative before judging the film. But in saying that it doesn’t take much for me to come away from a film thinking it was alright. Generally a scene or character or soundtrack can save a film for me - sometimes even the basic concept though executed poorly can cause me to forgive some awful rubbish.
The film A Sound of Thunder probably falls within this category - simply because i like a few of the visuals and of course the concept despite the undisputed flaws overall.
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To be honest, if I read a review it’s usually to get an idea what a film is about. I tend not to care too much what the critics think of a film (and many of my favourite films are not quoted by film buffs)…
and I think there has been a general negative perception about comic-based films, both from general critics and from reviewers coming from a comic fan perspective, though I think this has been changing somewhat as movies based on comics have tended to reflect the spirit of their source material better.
And what’s heartening is that making smart, sophisticated comic-book movies doesn’t automatically mean making movies with a darker edge. For a movie about the Devil’s bounty hunter, I found Ghost Rider a lot of fun (although what’s not to like about that?)…
and my fave bits of Hellboy are the witty bits (I think the “For her I’d cross over, and then you’ll be sorry” line at the end is both witty, poignant and beautifully telling) Say what? Who’s a sap?
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Well, one learns something new every day. I didn’t know they were making a sequel…
One thing I hate about sequels is when the ‘main actor/actress’ is replaced. In this instance am not sure if it was a director or actor choice, but…
It’s a bit like the old ‘Batman’ franchise, I always liked Michael Keaton, to me the others just didn’t quite match up. Now, Christian Bale, that’s a different story - roll on Dark Knight!!!
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John - It’s interesting that you bring up Ghost Rider as an example because that film received one hell (excuse the pun) of a horrible treatment yet made the most money ever on an opening weekend for Nic Cage (who also seems to get the treatment reserved by reviewers for comic book movies).
I mean it’s a dude who rides a motorbike and has a flaming skull for a head! But you are right the movies are getting a better reception as they more closely to the source material.
In Hellboy my favourite thing is how much he likes kittens. I also enjoy the sequence when he is following Liz and talking to the kid on the roof. Great adaptation.
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Nav - I believe that Thomas Jane chose not to come back after several delays to the Punisher 2 caused him to move on. He’s now going to be Two-Face in Batman so he’s probably not too upset now.
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