As much as I would love to see that movie, I knew it wasn't going to happen this time around. The budget was obviously going to be nowhere big enough to do such a story.. I mean they even cut the military stuff out of Hensleigh's script. I knew this movie wasn't going to go in a Batman Begins direction long before they even started shooting. But even still, I didn't doubt the quality.
It was no secret that this was never set out to be some deep, reflective movie. But from early interviews it seemed like it was going to be taken somewhat seriously. Maybe I got the wrong impression when Stevenson went on about how they weren't going to glorify the lifestyle. I thought it would go beyond killing the fed, because the rest of it seemed fun as hell!
I was satisfied with the film because they were more loyal to the character than anyone else ever was, they made it extremely action packed and I'm a big fan of gore, and the movie didn't take itself too serious which for me helped made it less cheesy, knowing that the actors were just out to have a fun time with these characters.
Definitely felt more like Castle then any try before hand, I'd of thought he would of been devoid of visible emotion after his families shooting, just slowing down when he ****ed up.
I would love to see a serious Punisher film but its not very likely now. 15-20 years? Lets at least hope for that.
If that's the case, I'm glad I am in my 20's still... But as some have mentioned, maybe HBO or something like that would be the way to go. I just wonder if they could afford the gore budget, and maybe do a show of him in Vietnam.
It would be a direct translation from every Max comic starting from "In the beginning" the reason why it #$%^ing tanked was because every Hollywood bozo who gets a hold of the Punisher material feels they have to make up their own freakin story! Also, it would be told seriously, with a "NARRATIVE!!!" 04 was almost on the money when they included the narrative, but every Punisher comic always began with "Punisher War Journal#" If some director included it in the next incarnation I'd have a geekgasm. I say if you want something done right do it yourself.
I love the narrative, for the Punisher it really is one of the few ways you'll be able to let the audience peer in to his rationale. He isn't much for monologuing.
I don't think that "In the Beginning" would translate perfectly to film. Not enough really happens, and that part of the movie would probably last all of 20 minutes. Furthermore, there'd be a huge time skip. You'd go from him being a kid, to a young adult in Vietnam, to him 55 years old as Punisher.
Maybe I am chewing off more then I can swallow with my dream movie, but I figure it could be a sort of three act movie... I just don't know how long one-shots like Tyger and Born would take up on the screen... They probably could each be made into a respective movie for all I know.
But I'm pretty sure there have been movies that spent a large chunk of the story in childhood, then switched to adulthood... I mean, look at Forrest Gump or It.
The way I'd handle Tyger would be by making the audience see from little Frank Castles perspective, instead of focusing on the kids reactions(this would be to avoid poor delivery from a kid actor).
Then you could have half an hour or so of him in Vietnam, him not putting up with some of the **** that went down there, and that final panel where he is ankle deep in bodies and has basically cracked... Then you could end the movie with an adaptation of In The Beginning to show the audience where he is now, establish that the Punisher character has come alive... And the movie would have been brutal and interesting the whole way through, which makes me think the audience wouldn't be disappointed like in 2004.
An Ennis adaptation wouldn't matter if the director wasn't going to take it seriously. Look at Barracuda. Did Ennis take THAT seriously? Not really. I'm sure Lexi Alexander could have camped up "The Slavers" if she tried.
I guess that is another point. If this creative team can't handle something like this, can't make Barracuda like making him seem like a parody of a parody of a parody... Then maybe someone with more experience, and the guts to try to make something good, not just some defeatist who makes it a joke because they can't figure how to do it any other way.
As for fixing P:WZ, I would have had someone better rewrite/tweak the script, recast the majority of the lower-tier actors, and balance the action better with story. Maybe there's a different cut out there that can save the film the way that DD's DC did, but I doubt it, there's a LOT that needs to be changed to fix Warzone.
Oh, and
I think the different cut will have more of Frank and the feds family, which wasn't playing out all that well within the context of the hilarity of the rest of the film anyways.
AMEN!!!Couldn't have said it better myself! What Garth Ennis wrote was epic. Everything is right there in the MAX series in front of them to translate into a true Punisher movie! and I disagree with it being a fun movie but that's my opinion. I'm sure Ennis is disgusted with what they did to his baby. Lexi & company made a comedy.
Exactly, I'm sure some minor adjustments might have to be made to the material, that's inevitable really... But not going 180 on the source material like they did with the movie.
I think it was The Guard who asked me what was so much better about Pittsy and Ink in the comics, which makes me wonder if he even read them.
They weren't cookie cutter canon fodder. They came off as menacing. Legitimate threats. Pittsy was some sort of surreal hothead that made certain Joe Pesci characters look like Dr. Phil and could have been played by someone like Mickey Rourke, and Ink was this "quirky", quiet weirdo who was basically had an unassuming demeanor, looking more like Steve Buscemi then some model kid.
