POSITIVE LOOK AT....PUNISHER: WAR ZONE (2008)

Personally, I enjoyed this one. Having lived through the previous versions of The Punisher, this one was the best despite its low budget and poor script. It was a better replacement for what was almost a sequel to The Punisher (2004), but luckily Thomas Jane passed on the role to do something else. Not sure if that would've had the same lowered budget mind you, but that Punisher wouldn't have fit into the War Zone. But, it wasn't critically acclaimed nor a big box office draw. Understandably, as again low budget and weak story.

With that being said, there were some definite positives from The Punisher: War Zone (2008), and they were...

Ray Stevenson as The Punisher

Ray Stevenson is one of those "chameleon" actors. Who take roles and transform themselves to where you don't quite realize that you're watching the same person in various roles. Gary Oldman is also one of those types. In this role, Stevenson delivered despite what was a poor written, low budget revamp of the The Punisher. Was hoping for a sequel, with a bigger budget and a better script for Ray to make Punisher franchise what it should be, successful. Even if you disliked him, hard to really argue that the two that came before him were any better. He's currently in the Thor franchise, who he plays I leave to you to figure out. Small example of his chameleon skills.

The Creation of Jigsaw

Cause for the creation of Jigsaw is more apt. Although I wasn't a fan of Dominic West's portrayal before or after becoming Jigsaw, I was a fan of how they went about it. Having him fall into the glass crushing machine was a very blunt way of doing things, but made more sense than to say have it be tattoos or other types of scarring. Of all the Marvel characters, Punisher is the more "real life" type of story. I also liked the post-surgery moments where he kills his surgeon a tad similar to how Joker kills his in Burton's Batman. The screams from Jigsaw were a tad cheesy, but until your in that situation how are we to know what would come out of our mouths, so it got a pass.

Truest Rendition

Maybe not a spot on version, but that is rarely the case. Give this a bigger budget and it would have been even better, but there wasn't any popsicles and blow torched steak in this one. Even the opening action sequence showed us what we were missing in previous versions. Down to how The Punisher lives, secluded, using his training to survive, and making real connections on the street. Not living in an apartment, manipulating the mob like a bad mafia movie. And of course as mentioned before, Stevens had the look down pat also, unless you are really wanting to see this portrayed in spandex with the classic white disco boot. To each his own I guess....not really.

Hope

Cheesy word to use in regards to The Punisher, but it is true. The Punisher (2004) although bad, was better than the 1989 version Dolph Lundgren starred in. Of course, this one was better than both, so there is hope that they finally have an idea of what is expected of this franchise. Hopefully, when and if the next Punisher flick hits theaters it will come with a bigger budget and a much stronger script. And hopefully, they consider Ray Stevenson to reprise his version. If Nicolas Cage can get two Ghost Rider films, anyone should.


With this not being the only "dark" Marvel character, The Punisher does serve as a good base to perhaps bring other characters to life on the big screen that wouldn't likely get a spot in Marvel's Avengers universe. Daredevil maybe, Morbius, amongst others. Even if to have a team-up with say Blade, who is also due for some redemption in either a new flick or preferably a relaunched franchise. Until Marvel decides to join DC on the "dark side"...

Stay Nerdy!

POSITIVE LOOK AT.....DAREDEVIL (2003)

Bad script. Bad directing. Lead actor even admits he didn't give his all in the lead role of Matt Murdoch aka Daredevil. But I am sure most of you have watched the heck out of this movie, at least when it first came out on DVD. It was 2003 when in theaters, the comic book movie trend was still in its infancy, and as fans we were deprived for the longest time. We may have picked the movie (and others) apart, and that is likely what has led to a better quality all around in this genre of film, but we watched it. Most of us even wondered what the sequel was going to be like, what improvements would be made, etc. We didn't get a sequel, we got a spin-off that in comparison, makes this movie look a lot better and unless I am alone, was slightly yearning for Ben's Daredevil to appear and save the movie.

Here are a few "positive" points about the early attempt at The Man Without Fear...

Daredevil's Costume

One of the earlier examples of how it is best to not be an exact replica of a comic book, but not veering to far away from the original that it becomes foreign to fans. It was a nice blood red color to go along with the darker setting of the film. We learned in the 1990's that spandex doesn't always make for good live-action films or television, so the leather not only helped the look, but made more sense. Ben Affleck may not have given 100% with this role, but he sure looked pretty cool in this costume. His hair for the part.....not so much.

Michael Clark Duncan as Kingpin

Usually against changing characters ethnicity for movies, as a) tons of characters of color who deserve a silver screen debut and b) doesn't make sense in some cases (is Johnny and Sue Storm adopted or half siblings in the upcoming reboot Fantastic 4?), but with this character wasn't as "big time" as other characters, so there was room to change things up a bit. It helped that the late Oscar winning actor made us believe he was the Kingpin of New York, most notably Hells Kitchen. And more importantly, of the Marvel Universe.

The Soundtrack

Okay, this one is a clear matter of opinion. My opinion is also a bit bias with the hit song being from a Canadian band in Evanescence with "Bring Me To Life". But it did add to the slightly decent "training" scene with Jennifer Gardner showing off her Elektra skills on some sandbags (Okay, she looked cool, the bags not so much). Overall though, the background, and at times foreground music in this one was decent and added to a film that was lagging in other areas.

Origin

I didn't know enough to know if the facts were spot on, maybe there were fans outraged by a change or how it was portrayed, but it has to be given credit for only using a small amount of time to show The Man Without Fear's origin. How he was blinded and his powers developing after the accident, even his fathers connection to the Mob and the man who would become Kingpin. All done in a minimum amount of time, just coming up a short with all the extra film they had to play with.

Matt Murdoch's Cane/Daredevil's Billy Club

The focus shots of Ben showing off his skills with the weapon and all of its capabilities was a bit cheesy, but the weapon itself looked pretty cool, and showed how it is Daredevil's utility belt of sorts (had to go there once) with the billy clubs multiple functions as a club, nunchucks', etc. And of course how it turns into a walking cane to help Matt Murdoch keep his cover as a helpless blind lawyer.

Jennifer Garner as Elektra

Although starting with a slight jab at her follow up movie, it was never aimed at Garner and her performance in either film. Both were bad in writing and directing, and she gave more effort than her hubby did. Although she wasn't given the anything near the fight sequences female roles of today receive and deliver on, she did deliver. Her training scene was a small highlight, and her scene against Daredevil and Bullseye was simply too small, but she owned those sai's. And her transitions from presenting an innocence to cover a hard  interior, to grieving and being determined on revenge was well delivered.


It wasn't very hard to come up with things that I enjoyed about that movie, as like I said it came out at a time we were just getting a taste of what we have to do in number of comic book films and I doubt I was alone in not being too hard on this one as I watched it repeatedly waiting for a sequel. Here we are over ten years later and there hasn't been another film, I believe it is one of the upcoming Netflicks series (don't quote me on that), but big screen is where it needs redemption. Hey, The Punisher has had three movies so far, and Ghost Rider has had two. With the "advancements" we've made in the wardrobe department Bullseye needs a revamped redemption. Time for Bullseye and DD to "Suit Up!". Until then...

Stay Nerdy!