I loved Tom Jane's portrayal of the Punisher. The 2004 movie is far from perfect, but to me changing the origin aside, had the heart of the character down perfectly. People tend to forget that when the movie was being written and filmed, we didn't have the MAX series. We had the goofy Marvel Knights series. That's where the dark humor of Bumpo and Spacker Dave come in to play.
I was pissed with changing out Jane as the Punisher, but Stevenson grows on me. He seems like he can pull of the newest incarnation of the Punisher. Casting is the only thing this movie has going for it in my opinion. I think Lexi went to over the top with the violence and the lighting. Just from the few clips we have seen it seems every scene is this unnatural light with the yellows, reds and whatever else. I'm sorry but the punch to the face is ridiculous. To prove a point, I did a little research into what Castle does when punching the eye sockets like that.
What he causes when punching the eye area is called Maxillary Fractures LeFort III. With what I was reading this is the closet to the trauma that was caused when Frank punched ink in the face. There are three stages of LeFort Fractures. The third being the most devastating. There are also 2 types of non LeFort Fractures. These are less severe than LeFort I.
Two types of nonLe Fort maxillary fractures of note are relatively common. First, limited and very focused blunt trauma may result in small, isolated fracture segments. Often, a hammer or other instrument is the causative weapon. In particular, the alveolar ridge, maxillary sinus anterior wall, and nasomaxillary junction, by virtue of their accessibility, are common sites of such injury. Second, submental forces directed superiorly may result in several discrete vertical fractures through various horizontal bony supports such as the alveolar ridge, infraorbital rim, and zygomatic arches.
Unlike with fractures in other bones, muscle forces do not play a significant role in the final position of the broken bony segments. While several muscles attach to the maxillary framework, they typically insert to skin and therefore do not lead to additional deformity. Instead, the basis for the patterns of maxillary fractures depends on 2 predominant factors.
First, as Le Fort described, the location, direction, and energy of the impact result in different injuries. Second, the anatomy of the mid face is oriented to provide strength and support to protect against injury. Vertical and horizontal bony bolstering in the face absorbs the energy of traumatic force. This serves to protect the more vital intracranial contents from damage during trauma. Knowledge of the characteristics of the traumatic blow combined with an understanding of the anatomic bolstering in the face can help the clinician approach such injury in a logical and systematic fashion. A detailed description of the bony maxillary framework is presented in Relevant Anatomy.
Pretty much what it is saying is that with the damage Frank caused on his face is basically the same thing as being hit by a sledge hammer going 30 miles an hour.
But it's a movie and it's supposed to look cool. To bad it failed.
Lexi made it look like a 1980's Action Channel made for tv movie. I can live with the chandelier thing and the floor sliding and the jumping across the rooftop because it's a movie. You have got to keep the audience entertained. I just think she tried to put to much of the comic book into it and made it a laughing cliche of itself.