I came across The Punisher comicbook many years ago. The violence, bad a$% attitude and the hero’s thirst for revenge (plus a smattering of macho crap and testosterone) made me love it, although not as much as I did The Ghost Rider.
So I felt a lot of exhilaration when I found out that a movie was coming up, starring Dolph Lundgren. Lundgren is a Swedish actor, 6 feet and 5 inches tall, square jawed, sleepy-eyed, blond, spoke like an android and built like a demi-god. He looked like Frank Castle, so I was more than happy to see the movie.
It was a bomb. Well-meaning but a bomb nonetheless. I don’t recall what I felt then was wrong with it – the storyline, perhaps or the late 80s style of directing? I adored Lundgren, so I was forgiving of the actor but not of the film. I do remember liking the car, though.
Fast forward to 2004, when The Punisher was reincarnated onscreen. This time, he was played by Thomas Jane (another blond, dyed a darker shade to match Castle’s general looks), pumped up to look bigger. Again, I was excited to see the movie. After all, there was the lovely Rebecca Romijin-Stamos (back when she was still married to John Stamos) and Ben Foster, the quirky actor who played Claire Fisher’s creepy boyfriend in ‘Six Feet Under’. And of course, John Travolta, who played Howard Saint, the itch that dared to scratch Frank Castle.
And of course, there’s Jane. I had seen him before in 61*, playing the American baseball legend Mickey Mantle with Barry Pepper. I thought this time, the Punisher movie will be better and Frank Castle will finally come to life.
I was shooting for the moon. Or maybe the retro-feel just got lost to me. The movie, in my humble opinion, was no better than Lundren’s version. There was just something so… wrong about the whole thing. The car looked fine but even the chases and gun fire weren’t heart pounding. The Punisher didn’t just shoot you – he gave you a massive heart attack just by pointing a gun in your general direction. It was his lethal version of the Ghost Rider’s penance stare but the bad guys simply got assaulted by metal. And that’s on a good day.
The shots tried to make Jane look iconic, particularly the part when he had to hide in a secret recess on the floor of his own apartment with Romijin while the bad guys tortured his friends. When it was all over, he rises – that’s right, rises – from his chicken coop, er, hideaway, with the camera pointed a few inches from the floor to make him look bigger and statuesque.
In a comicbook page, that shot would have worked but the slo-mo and the intention was lost to me. And when he had to leave to battle the bad guys, there was Romijin, sitting in the hallway, her back on the wall, her supermodel legs prepped up, a ploy to stop him, perhaps? What was she doing there? Posing for a pictorial that wasn’t even happening? Her beauty and presence were wasted, particularly since Castle walked away to, well, do battle with the bad guys.
And that vehicle Castle so lovingly built to turn into a weapon. What happened to that? It crashed — simply put. What the…!? All that hard work for nothing? And the villains talked so much they sounded like hens in a barn. And this, too: since the bad guys knew where Castle’s apartment was, why didn’t they just firebombed it or something?
A plus point but not too much: there’s non-CGI action here. So if you liked Mad Max (the first movie), you’ll want to rent this on a lazy rainy day just for kicks.
Titus Pullo is Frank Castle
So now here comes The Punisher: War Zone. The big, bad vigilante is back once again. Jane was supposed to play him but backed out. And now the triggers of the big, bad guns are left in the hands and fingers of Ray Stevenson. This time, Frank Castle will appear as more massive physically, with the same good looks as the other actors. (Yes, I think Dolph Lundgren is handsome, so don’t try to argue.)
Stevenson is a British actor and has worked in British films and TV. His star turn is probably HBO’s Rome, where he played the big muscled but low brained Titus Pullo. He wasn’t as smart as his boss, Lucius Vorenus (played by Kevin McKidd, TV’s Journeyman) but what he lacked for in gray matter, he more than made up for in brawn. He did grow up in the series, though, becoming an able manager and mature man.
Hopefully, this time Stevenson can bring his humanity and sensitivity to make Frank Castle the movie version a more sympathetic (but still awe- and fear-inspiring) character. Stevenson is a wonderful actor, capable of nuances that make his characters more believable.
And he’s built like Frank Castle. He’s 6’4″, broad-shouldered, large hands and strong thighs. With the way he looks and his acting talent, here’s hoping Stevenson will finally give Frank Castle a home. Castle has plenty of demons and his anger is nearly boundless. These should be a breeze to Stevenson.
Please, please let it be so.
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