Boiling Point: 3…2…1… Re-Launch

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 1, 2008

Punisher: War Zone

Maybe this could be better put in the “studios are dumb” section, but I’m getting a little bit weary of some relaunched properties.  A couple of relaunches have proved to be very successful – Batman and James Bond, notably.  They took them in a new direction, rewound virtually to zero and now we have two awesome franchises.  But that doesn’t mean relaunching anything that failed to perform is a good idea, in fact, it’s kind of stupid.

This weekend Punisher: War Zone hits theaters and instead of being a sequel to the recent 2004 The Punisher, rewinds and retells the origin and ignores the previous film.  Smart move?  I don’t think it was necessary.  First of all, everyone who reads this site knows we love Tom Jane here and I honestly enjoy his version of the Punisher and liked the direction they were heading and the road they were taking to get there.  Sure, there were problems and setting it in Miami didn’t necessarily make any sense.  But at the end of the film, it was a good origin.  Now, only a few years later, we’re starting over.  We all know the Punisher’s origin by now, so why retell it?  Why relaunch?  Why not just pick up and go?  It is a bad sign, of course, that at least three people walked away from the project citing concerns about a bad script (Tom Jane, potential director John Dahl, and writer Kurt Sutter).

Superman Returns was a pretty abysmal movie, so DC has found the answer.  Relaunch it!  Make it dark!  Make it Batman Superman Begins! Bad idea.  Again, we know the Superman origin.  We know the basics.  You can ignore a lot of what happened in Returns, change directors and actors, and just create a new Superman story.  The thing about a lot of these characters is that we already know them.  They are already franchised.  We don’t need to hear the whole story, just a story.  We get who and what Superman or the Punisher is and represents and we just want to see them in different scenarios.  You don’t have to relaunch and start from scratch and try to make a serial every time.

That said, I will admit that The Incredible Hulk did a good job of taking the franchise in a new direction after a pretty short period of time.  The reason?  They ejected the origin story.  The entire origin of the Hulk was compressed into about a 5 minute intro.  Then we got a Hulk story.  And it was pretty fun.  I’m looking forward to the relaunch of Friday the 13th, as the new version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was good and gory.  Rob Zombie’s Halloween was unnecessary and the original was great and we probably could have just used another installment done well, rather than a new start.

So all I’m saying is Hollywood, chill out.  Don’t rush these things.  What is your obsession with starting over?  Just pick up the broken pieces, fix them, and go forward.  Don’t retell the same story, just tell a new story and do it better.  Maybe I’m the only one who gives a shit and maybe everyone out there is fine with the same story told with new faces.  But I’m not and every time I see a useless relaunch being fired at my face I go right past my boiling point.

What do you think of relaunches – especially those with short turn arounds?


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  • Jake
    The script that made Tom Jane leave was scrapped by the time Lexi Alexander signed on.

    From what I've read, this movie, like The Incredible Hulk before it, will feature an abridged origin retelling. If you dig deeper you'll see that it was handled a lot better than people say it was, despite the rumours.

    I'm looking forward to it, with no bias against Tom Jane's "urban western" Punisher.
  • Brent Peconi
    I think the only issues I had with the Punisher was the room mates.. I felt they didnt really add much but a tad of humor to an otherwise dark, revenge driven film.

    I was hoping for the Ghost Rider film to have Tom Jane cast as a sup plot character with an eventual lead up to Punishers Sequel - allowing for a true Marvel Vs film to be created. Nic Cage vs Tom Jane.. I doubt the sweetness needs to be explained.

    Now with this film coming out - all those ideas have been squashed, and we get another revenge driven story, that probally wont be humanized as much as Janes role attempted.

    Not too thrilled - but then again - look at all the indy style flicks Jane has done instead.. im not whining at all.
  • Charles
    Superman begins could take the Hulk route with a five minute origins recap running behind the the opening titles...
    Actually it should follow Action #1 which had a single page origin and leapt into action from the second page with an adult Superman.
    That would be my preference
    Unlike Batman Superman doesn't need to go through years of training, he wakes up puts on his super suit and smacks up wife beaters. that 30's vibe was gritty, Superman can learn on the job, we could have him start leaping then flying. He could be forced by the events of the movie to dig deep and become more super by the end,
    Leave the alien origin stuff untouched and bring it in for a Superman vs Star Wars sequel
  • I enjoyed Superman Returns. But I see what your saying about relaunches but anything that brough Casino Royale and Batman Begins get's some leeway in my opinion.
  • Can't agree more. Especially about Superman, EVERYONNNNNE knows the origin story. We don't need a retelling or a reimagining.
  • Nevernude
    I dont particularly care about the Punisher so i dont give a rats ass how many times they see fit to relaunch the franchise.
    Superman, on the other head, must not be relaunched. I vote for the next superman to be a sequel. Sure, Brandon Routh can be replaced as the Man Of Steel, because in my opinion he was very forgettable. There was no virtuoso performance delivered, like Christian Bale as Batman, or Robert Downey jnr as Iron Man, or Ed Norton as Hulk. Im not sure if it was his intention or he was told to play Superman like Christopher Reeves..but he just didnt own the role.

    So! dont relauch, just do a hulk 5 minute intro and then jump into a supes story involving DOOMSDAY!!!!
  • I'm definitely going to see War Zone. I love Frank Castle and the Punisher. But my hopes aren't all that high. I think it looks like it might be a good action movie but that it's going to be too stylized rather than gritty like my favorite line of Punisher books, the MAX Series.

    As for the script, it was constantly being rewritten until like 2007, when Jane left. In 2007 John Dahl turned down the script, saying it was bad. In 2008, writer Sutter withdrew his name from the script as well.

    That said, I'll be seeing it this weekend and giving it a 10 and 5 review. Hopefully it will rock my face off and we get more badass Punisher movies.
  • Yeah, the roommates were kind of hit or miss,though I didn't mind them that much, simply because I had read the Welcome Back Frank storyline that had featured them. The Jane version was in development before MAX really took hold of Punisher, so they worked with what they had.

    You've got a point about Jane - he has been doing some cool stuff elsewhere. Anyway, again, here's hoping for a good Punisher flick.
  • Sean
    They are "re-introducing" Superman, but everything points toward Routh retaining the role. That is the right move.
  • Random-Man
    Everyone go see Punisher: War Zone!!! Because if we don't we'll have to watch his family getting killed 3 times in a row just with a different actor playing Frank Castle.
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