First Look
New Punisher: War Zone Trailer Insists on Shooting at You
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 13, 2008
If you are anything like me — and I hope that you are, because being like me is awesome in a can — then your loyalty to Thomas Jane as The Punisher is going to probably prevent you from being at all interested in this new incarnation, Lionsgate’s Punisher: War Zone. Directed by kickboxer turned Oscar nominated short filmmaker Lexi Alexander and starring Ray Stevenson of “Rome” fame as Frank Castle, War Zone picks up where the last film left off, following the infamous vigilante as he racks up the body count.
And putting aside from my loyalty to Mr. Jane and his very solid depiction of Castle in 2004’s The Punisher, I will say that this trailer isn’t doing much of anything for me. The dialogue seems forced and the action is very run-of-the-mill. As well, Stevenson does not have that Punisher feel to him.
In its defense though, this is only 1 minute of mixed clips from a film that will end up being at least 90 minutes long, so it is by no means a complete picture. The good news is that the film also stars Dominic West, who was very good in 300, it was written in part by the same guys (Matt Holloway and Arthur Marcum) who wrote Iron Man and it is under the watchful eye of producers Gale Ann Hurd and Avi Arad, who are two for two this summer with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. It should be noted, however, that while Punisher is a Marvel property, this film is not being produced by Marvel Studios. It is under the often up and down guidance of Lionsgate — and aside from the Saw franchise and the Crank franchise, they have not been really knocking off our collective socks in the past few years.
So as you can see, I am back and forth, up and down, totally not interested yet curious at the same time about Punisher: War Zone. Such a conflicted state should be reserved for more interesting films, I know, but this is all I have at the moment. I am, by all measures, interested to see what all of you have to say about the trailer, which can be seen below thanks to the folks over at IGN.
Watch the teaser for Punisher: War Zone:
Sound Off: What do you think of this new incarnation of the Punisher?
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19 Comments
June 13th, 2008 at 8:49 am
I think it looks insane. Looking forward to it for sure.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Even though Jane was a great Frank Castle (don’t even get me started on Dolph Lundgren), his non-involvement won’t stop me from being interested. I’m a HUGE Punisher fan, and I’m dyin’ to check this one out.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Is this movie really a sequel to the Thomas Jane movie? Or is this movie to “The Punisher” as “The Incredible Hulk” is to Ang Lees “Hulk”. Is this movie another “Oh, just ignore that last film” type of situation? - I ask because at the 8 second mark, you see Frank Castle holding the body of, I assume, his child. They, and two other bodies, are on a blanket, on green grass. This was how the Punishers family was gunned down in the comic, while having a picnic in Central Park. In “The Punisher”, they were gunned down in Florida, right? I havent seen “The Punisher” in a while, maybe the bodies of his family did fall on a blanket on the grass, and yes, I do understand that they have green grass in Florida, but the this split second from the trailer put the comic version of that event in my mind, not the first movie. Just curious if anyone knew if they were “reworking” the Punisher in this film, the same way they did the Hulk in his new film. - Any thoughts? –Senseless Babble
June 13th, 2008 at 9:46 am
In the Jane film, the family was gunned down off the coast of Florida (I forget if it was Cuba or some other island). But to answer your question Babble, this is more of a “reboot” of the series, taking place in New York.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Stevenson is a better presence than Jane. And I love Jane, especially in Homeless Daddy (Arrested Development reference!), but this looks much more exciting and Travolta-less. I’m in.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Wow. This looks like a pile of poo and a half. The film didnt need rebooted. The first was a great intro to the character and the last 20 minutes were PERFECT. This looks like a fine action movie, but a horrible Punisher movie. The Punisher these days is written very professionally, and would behave like Tom Jane at the end of the first - methodical, calculating. The Punisher does not hang from chandaliers, spinning in circles, firing a gun in each hand.
This looks like The Transporter + Boondock Saints + Mediocre Acting. This new Punisher does nothing for me. And that line about “Get my hands on God.” HOLY CRAP THAT IS TERRIBLE. Punisher long ago stopped blaming God and now blames only criminals.
Remember - This script was so bad Thomas Jane, a huge fan of the Punisher and comics (and presumably a fan of being paid lots of money) walked off. Looks fine for action, looks crap for Punisher fans. And I forgot to mention, his new turtleneck armor looks ridiculous.
June 13th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I agree with Robert, this looks like a steaming turd of a movie. I am thoroughly disappointed in Marvel, the last Punisher movie was great (although a little light on violence) and I was hoping this one would be more violent with some really cool deaths.
June 13th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
The script has been rewritten multiple times since Jane’s departure, giving a new, more MAX series-esque angle. And the “Get my hands on God” line is from the comic anyway (Widowmaker, part 2).
June 13th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Have you read the new script, 8Legged?
And just BTW, Widowmaker is the worst, by far, of all the MAX storylines, so while I dont remember the line, it makes sense it would come from there.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:20 am
I am So Pumped For this movie, almost as much as neil after he orders papa johns.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:25 am
I agree with the above, this movie looks like Saw IV.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:34 am
I honestly disliked the Jane version of the Punisher, it was a big dissapointment to me, just as much as the first Hulk film. I just didn’t buy Jane as the Punisher, and there was way to much storytelling and nut enough punishing going on.
I hear this is a movie with less storyline and more punishing going on, so I’m on board for that. I also like Ray Stevenson in the Rome series, and he can’t be any worse than Jane.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
“Remember - This script was so bad Thomas Jane, a huge fan of the Punisher and comics (and presumably a fan of being paid lots of money) walked off. Looks fine for action, looks crap for Punisher fans. And I forgot to mention, his new turtleneck armor looks ridiculous.”
Actually, since they decided to do a reboot the Punisher franchise as they did with Hulk, Thomas Jane was NOT offered the role Frank Castle.
The first Punisher movie was nothing like the comics. They pulled the plot straight out of their collective rear ends. It had its moments, but it was pretty silly. Low budget…check. Castle cries and drinks for half the movie…check. Subpar acting…check. Light on the violence…check. No police presence at all through all the explosions all over town…check. John Travolta…check. Stupid gags and jokes that didn’t fit with the tone…check.
Now, for this one. Faithful to the comics…check. More action and violence…check. Darker tone…check. Better actors…check. Jigsaw…check.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Its gonna be crap-ola. Seriously “Get my hands on God”? Thats what we need a God vs Punisher. Punisher would get turned into a mole on the inside of Dick Chaineys Butt Crack. LOL I d pay to see that over this Punisher War Zone Crap.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
“The first Punisher movie was nothing like the comics. ”
the tenants of the building he lived in were in the comics. cheers to that.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:06 am
I have seen the regular trailer before and i have recently seen the red band trailer at comic con 08. I would have to say that this movie deals out 100x more action and gore then the Thomas Jane’s version but that’s all that it looks like it has going for it. I don’t know too much on the story but so far it doesn’t look good at all. My guess is there will be a lot of corny 1 liners in here for example he says at one point (”i would like to get my hands on god”). The atmosphere of the movie reminds me of Saw but with the Punisher in it. simply put it’s a movie for people who are just looking to see a lot of over the top violence.
August 4th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
“Actually, since they decided to do a reboot the Punisher franchise as they did with Hulk, Thomas Jane was NOT offered the role Frank Castle.”
No, they decided to reboot it after he left the production.
“The first Punisher movie was nothing like the comics. They pulled the plot straight out of their collective rear ends. It had its moments, but it was pretty silly. Low budget…check. Castle cries and drinks for half the movie…check. Subpar acting…check. Light on the violence…check. No police presence at all through all the explosions all over town…check. John Travolta…check. Stupid gags and jokes that didn’t fit with the tone…check.”
This movie has a lower budget than the last one, and if you’ve read Year One, Welcome Back, Frank, War Zone #1 etc… The movie had plenty of stuff from the comics. The depressed alcoholic aspect comes straight from Year One.
As for the violence I’ll take a scene like Ben Foster getting tortured by Will Patton over a seeing a rubber head get caved in.
September 29th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
To all you haters who still think this film will be crap after seeing the comicon trailer go see your gay ass 2004 version and call it a day.After seeing the new trailer I knew right away that they’ve finally got it right,it was a breath of fresh air.All the true Punisher fans know that he basically fucks people up who deserve to die so the uh “plot” isn’t too complicated.People really need to get off Thomas Jane’s nut sack,for one he was too short ,two he wasn’t big enough,and three he looked as hardcore as a thundercat.This is gonna be a classic trust!
October 10th, 2008 at 12:04 am
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“Remember - This script was so bad Thomas Jane, a huge fan of the Punisher and comics (and presumably a fan of being paid lots of money) walked off. Looks fine for action, looks crap for Punisher fans. And I forgot to mention, his new turtleneck armor looks ridiculous.”
Actually, since they decided to do a reboot the Punisher franchise as they did with Hulk, Thomas Jane was NOT offered the role Frank Castle.
The first Punisher movie was nothing like the comics. They pulled the plot straight out of their collective rear ends. It had its moments, but it was pretty silly. Low budget…check. Castle cries and drinks for half the movie…check. Subpar acting…check. Light on the violence…check. No police presence at all through all the explosions all over town…check. John Travolta…check. Stupid gags and jokes that didn’t fit with the tone…check.
Now, for this one. Faithful to the comics…check. More action and violence…check. Darker tone…check. Better actors…check. Jigsaw…check.”
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Thank you!
Tom didn’t come close to looking or acting like the Punisher. The 04 Punisher film hardly had anything from Year One, Welcome Back, Frank and War Zone.