Just saw The Punisher Movie -- NO SPOILERS

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

There are plenty of comic book characters, scenarios and fights that I'd cringe if they ever made it to the big screen.

 

Personally, I can't wait for Howard the Duck vs. Paste Pot Pete.

[Kevin Boyd]

Yes, but how does his inclusion in the comics make the Russian automatically a good movie concept?

 

There are plenty of comic book characters, scenarios and fights that I'd cringe if they ever made it to the big screen.

 

Was I arguing that it was a good movie concept in my reply? I was just pointing out the roots of that character as those other fellows didn't seem to know that this is a character that has appeared in Punisher comics before.

 

Whether he translated well to the big screen or not is up to the viewer to decide, but personally, I found it to be an entertaining scene in the movie. It didn't ruin the movie for me, and the audience seemed to really enjoy themselves during it.

 

Kev

[Lockjaw]

The whole point of wearing a shirt with a skull on it is to distract the bad guys into shooting there first (where the kevlar armor is). This fact has been explained in the comics plenty of time in the past. It is an intimidation thing, get the bad guys to freak out at the big skull starring them in the face---and have them focus their attention on taking body shots first.

 

Enjoy Your Weekend

Christopher H

[Lockjaw]

I forgot to mention in my other posts, yeah...I also brought a bag and board (probably the only geek in the audience I saw the film with who thought of doing so).

[Lockjaw]

Why admit to a problem, us geeks yam what we yam (I know, I just butchered the Popeye saying).

 

Regards

Christopher H

[supapimp]

The whole point of wearing a shirt with a skull on it is to distract the bad guys into shooting there first (where the kevlar armor is). This fact has been explained in the comics plenty of time in the past. It is an intimidation thing, get the bad guys to freak out at the big skull starring them in the face---and have them focus their attention on taking body shots first.

 

Enjoy Your Weekend

Christopher H

 

actually frank miller mentioned that's why batman had a "bat" target on his chest in DKR!

[Wally's Comics]

Dolph Lundgren should be ashamed of himself after the release of this newer version.

 

I saw this fick at 1pm today. I thought is was highly exceptable for a comic book adaption

and my only guess why this isn't rated higher is this just wasn't the critics cup-o-tea.

 

For first timers: A way to really enjoy the movie more is to a) remember that this is

a comic book movie b) Carry low expectations so you can enjoy it better c) don't take this movie seriously because - at movie end, me and my pals had a great laugh because after we thought about it there was nothing in the whole movie that was really believable!

 

i.o.w. - just take this movie as a nice escapism for people that would love to set the record straight on the criminals that seem to get away with murder in our current justice system.

 

 

 

My ratings on the Super Heroe Movies to date:

 

Super Man the movie = 8.5/10

Super Man 2 = 8.5/10

Bat Man the movie = 9.5/10

Spider Man the movie = 8/10

X Men = 7.5/10

X2 = 9/10

Punisher (2004)= 6/10

Dare Devil 5/10

Hulk = 5.5/10

Spawn = 3/10

Punisher (1990)= 2/10

[Kevin Boyd]

Just got home from seeing Kill Bill Vol. 2 (which was very good).

 

The old multiplex was packed tonight and KBV2 and The Punisher started at almost the same time - sure seemed to me that I heard "the Punisher" at the ticket booth a lot more than I did "Kill Bill". There were lots of teens and young guys with their wives/girlfriends/buddies off to see the Punisher.

 

I asked them how the Punisher had been doing for them and they said that nearly every showing had sold out, while Kill Bill has done well, but had not sold out a showing yet. Overall a good weekend at the box office (this will probably be the best April yet).

 

Now since the Punisher was rated 14A (adult accompaniment) while Kill Bill was 18A (restricted) I think that is definitely working in Frank Castle's favor .... and methinks that the Punisher may reign supreme at the box office this weekend.

 

That would make it the 8th straight #1 Marvel movie (after X1&2, Spidey, Blade 1&2, Hulk, Daredevil).

 

We'll know for sure tomorrow.

 

Kev

[LordRahl]

Sorry, not gonna happen. Kill Bill opened to the tune of 10+ mil on Friday and Punisher did about half that at a bit over 5 mil. What is this 14a and 18a ratings? Canadian rating system? They are both rated R here in the states so no advantage to Punisher here. It was overall a very stupid idea to open Punisher against Kill Bill. They are both drawing the same crowd and Kill Bill has a lot more going for it than Punisher. If Punisher had opened on a different weekend, a 20 to 25 mil opening would have been probable but going head to head with Kill Bill is hurting it badly.

[Kevin Boyd]

Yes, those are Canadian ratings. I guess our ratings board went easier on the Punisher. 14A means teens can see the film without an adult accompanying them.

 

Not saying I'm right... just reporting my experience this evening. Punisher may end up being the number one film in Canada though based on that slight difference in ratings.

 

Kev

[Kevin Boyd]

Canadian stats haven't been released yet for Friday's box office, but I notice that last week Hellboy remained number one in Canada - while in the US it was knocked out of the first position by a return of the Passion of the Christ.

 

Kev

[Marvelous]

I watched the Punisher early Friday at 11am. It was only me and a few dozen fanboys in the theater for the 1st showing. I liked it, but I wasn't awed by the movie. The quality wasn't as great as other movies because of the budget and some of the stuff in the comic transfered kind of corny into the movie.

 

Last night my wife and I watched Kill Bill Vol. 2. I liked it, but it was no way near as good as the 1st Kill Bill. Waaaaay too much dialogue and plot set up and not enough action.

 

After Kill Bill my wife and I then watched the Punisher. My wife is not a comic fan and I would guess that was probably the case for most of the people in the theater. The theater was packed, unlike the first time I watched it, which made the experience so much different. A lot of the corny stuff that fanboys didn't like the non-fanboy audience laughed and loved last night. I had given the Punisher 3 out of 5 stars after the first time I watched it, but after watching it again I would have to give it a bump to 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. Head to head against Kill Bill vol. 2 I think the Punisher wins as the better movie. The Punisher will have a lot of repeat business that Kill Bill won't because KB2 doesn't have the action and violence that will make young teenagers go back and buy another ticket like the Punisher does. I think there will be a Puny 2 without a doubt.

[justiceleaguer]

Watched the Punisher last night, and it wasnt half bad. Nothing spectacular or memorable enough to remember, but it was a good 2 hours spent. John Travolta was actually pretty decent in it, and the rest of the actors were pretty well cast. Id give it a 7/10. Not bad Marvel, not bad.

[FFB]

Punisher had the April 16 release date for months before Miramax decided to open Kill Bill 2 on the same weekend. You have it backward.

 

Having said that, I think that Lion's Gate should have moved the release date a week. I don't know whether it was possible (because LGF doesn't have the clout that the major movie houses do, and thus, they might have lost some theaters with a release date shift), but if it was possible, I think it was a mistake for LGF not to move the date.

 

Sorry, not gonna happen. Kill Bill opened to the tune of 10+ mil on Friday and Punisher did about half that at a bit over 5 mil. What is this 14a and 18a ratings? Canadian rating system? They are both rated R here in the states so no advantage to Punisher here. It was overall a very stupid idea to open Punisher against Kill Bill. They are both drawing the same crowd and Kill Bill has a lot more going for it than Punisher. If Punisher had opened on a different weekend, a 20 to 25 mil opening would have been probable but going head to head with Kill Bill is hurting it badly.

[metropoliscomics]

PUNISHER REVIEW

 

 

When I was collecting comics back in the late 80s and early 90s collectors bought different types of comics for different types of experiences. You wouldn’t buy a Spider-Man comic to get a Superman story. And likewise you didn’t buy a Punisher comic to get a Hulk story, a Spider-Man story or even a Batman story, you bought a Punisher comic to get a Punisher story-period. A hardboiled story filled with unrelenting, methodical vengeance filled violence. And in much the same that is why you go to see a Punisher Movie.

 

If you go into it not knowing anything about the character you may be a bit disappointed. I read many reviews complaining about the blunt ferocity and lack of subtlety in the story-well if you know anything about the character you know they got it right. That is the Punisher, an anti-hero originally created in 1974 at a time when the vigilante movie genre was in full gear with flicks like Death Wish. The Punisher kills bad guys, sometimes he shoots them, other times he uses a knife and then there are the times when he gets really creative-as in the end of the film. And speaking of the grand finale, in my theatre the entire audience began clapping when Castle exacted his final revenge.

 

Spoiler Warning- I am going to talk about the film in a very general way for a minute and I don’t want to ruin it for anybody-so if you want to tune out for a minute go ahead.

 

Things I liked about the movie- When they wrote the film Michael France and Jonathan Hensleigh used several different story lines I remembered from the comics- the characters of Joan, Bumpo, Dave with all the facial piercings and the hitman known as the Russian were from the Garth Ennis Punisher storylines. In fact I seem to remember part of the story being lifted from a Punisher War Zone story.

 

Thomas Jane was perfect as the Punisher-he played the character the way he was meant to be played.

 

Things I didn’t like- The origin should have taken place in Central Park in New York City-maybe their budget didn’t allow for it. But even in that I think they did a great job infusing the general idea of the origin and taking it to a grander scale.

 

I loved John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, even liked him when he over acted in Face-Off but I am just so bored with him now. They should have gotten Christopher Walken or James Gandolfini to play the bad guy. Travolta, I mean is it just me because every time I watch Travolta I hear Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever. I kept picturing the Punisher to sound a little something like this-

Travolta-Hey Castle, ya hit my hair, I work real hard on my hair and then ya hit it….its like so weird but now I’m gonna have to kill ya whole friggin family.

 

Seriously folks the next two statements I am going to make are facts whether you agree with me or not- The Incredible Hulk Movie was a bad, bad, very bad film and if you liked even one Punisher comic book you will like this film- Nuff said.

[LordRahl]

I know that Punisher was slotted for this weekend first but Kill Bill moved into this spot 3 or 4 months ago. Lions Gate should have budged and moved it. Even if they lost a couple of hundred theaters they would have come out ahead. Each movie hurt the other this weekend but Kill Bill got the best of it by 11 mil.

[Marvelous]

There is no other action flick to go up against KB2 or the Punisher for at least the next two weeks. It should be interesting to see which one gets more repeat business. If you are planning on watching The Punisher I suggest you go at night when the theater is crowded because it is interesting how the non-fanboys react to the movie. Makes for a more enjoyable experience IMHO.

[FFB]

I agree. It'll be interesting to see if positive word of mouth can result in a good second and third weekend. I hope so, because I'd love to see a sequel.

 

I know that Punisher was slotted for this weekend first but Kill Bill moved into this spot 3 or 4 months ago. Lions Gate should have budged and moved it. Even if they lost a couple of hundred theaters they would have come out ahead. Each movie hurt the other this weekend but Kill Bill got the best of it by 11 mil.

[aardvark88]

I'm afraid there won't be enough positive word of mouth for the 2nd weekend. Punisher was worse than Matrix 2. Found it too violent & lacked the spiffy soundtrack found in KB 2. I left the theater with the same stunned feeling after watching Memento: wtf did I just watch? It's not even worth the discount price I paid for the ticket! All that painful viewing & I did not even get my free comic.

[dolphinsrwj]

i just got back from seeing the punisher and liked it better than dd or hulk.i thought it was a very good movie.i got 2 free comics at the movie even though they were mabey 8.5-9.0s at best.