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Jun

30

Punisher War Zone

Filed Under Movies | 6 Comments

I’m an old time Punisher comics fan. By old time I mean I liked the very early Punisher comics, some of which were written by Frank Miller on the pages of Daredevil. But I think I mentioned it here before that my favorite Punisher comic book was the first issue of the very first Punisher mini series “Circle Of Blood”, written by Steven Grant, pencilled by Mike Zeck and inked by John Beatty.

I’m not really a fan of the movies because none of those I have watched seemed to match or at least even try to live up to the intensity and intelligence of Circle of Blood. The first movie, with Dolph Lundgren, didn’t even put the skull on the character. The only thing I ever remember about it is how nice the drunk English extra was acting.

Seeing the trailer for this new movie, Punisher War Zone, it doesn’t really make me go “OH SHIT, I’m gonna watch this!!”. When I heard that “This is only the beginning.” line, delivered in the emotive and gravelly modulation as you would always expect from a Punisher, well, I’m kinda squirming in my seat. The only reason I would want to watch this is because of Ray Stevenson, the guy playing the Punisher this time around. For most people, he’s an unknown actor. Ray who? Exactly!

Go ahead and watch the excellent 2-season ROME series from HBO. Ray Stevenson plays the awesome Titus Pullo, one of the greatest characters I’ve seen in TV in a long time. When I heard there was going to be another Punisher movie, I thought well, ok. When I heard Ray Stevenson was going to play him, I thought, whoah, wait a minute, what? WHAT WAS THAT?

So yeah, I’m gonna see this movie now. I’m curious. It could be bad. The script could be so bad that Ray can’t do anything to salvage it. But then again, the movie might be fantastic and well written, and Ray could be great in it.

Lexi Alexander is directing this movie, and yes, she’s a woman. Which is great! Having a woman director at the helm may bring in much needed sensitivity in a movie that would otherwise be nothing but blood and guts. She blogs! And she seems very excited and enthusiastic about this movie. Which is a very promising thing! A filmmaker this excited about their project can only mean ultimately good things.

Comments

6 Responses to “Punisher War Zone”

  1. Mike Zeck on June 30th, 2008 8:00 pm

    Forget about “This only the beginning.”,.. “Sometimes I’d like to get my hands on God.” is the great line from the trailer. Perfect line for Frank Castle! I’m not expecting great things from this film either, but I’m sure I’ll buy a seat anyway when it’s released. Shouldn’t be hard to make a better film than those first two outings. How much better? We’ll see. -Mike_

  2. Gio Paredes on July 1st, 2008 1:56 am

    Wow… me and my wife Wendy just love the Rome series.
    And we both love the characters Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus.
    It is very nice that Hollywood is giving Ray Stevenson a break. :-)
    I’m going to watch this movie.

  3. Gerry Alanguilan on July 1st, 2008 11:15 am

    Hello Mike! :D

  4. gilbert monsanto on July 1st, 2008 10:04 pm

    My wife hates, hates the character. But I think I’ll try to convince her to watch it with me. Haven’t been to a cinema without her anyways :)

  5. John on December 6th, 2008 4:28 pm

    I think that this Punsher is very well written I am amused how well the the movie is true to the comic itself. In other words of this this wonderful hero projection it has not made it to the screen versions more in to the Punisher script in the first movies. i enjoyed how this showed his compassion for his families and the innocent of hate as far as his enemy’s.

  6. John on December 6th, 2008 4:31 pm

    I loved this movie and it was the best movie i have seen to portray the Punisher as a person then any other movie made yet.