 |
| I want this comb. |
The first Punisher movie was released in 1989, and was universally disliked. In 2004 a reboot to the series was made, and it was also disliked, although DVD sales were high. Despite the relative popularity of the 2004 Punisher, the 2008 Punisher film was another series reboot, and was also universally disliked.
But lets not talk about those crappy films, lets focus on the awesome that is The Punisher, the 2004 movie. And it is awesome!
The film follows Frank Castle, a FBI agent who goes does incredibly dangerous undercover operations, and as a consequence, he and his family moves around alot. His last undercover operation had him as the right hand man of an international arms dealer. During a deal in Tampa, Florida, The FBI come in and stop the deal. They "kill" Castle, but everything goes wrong when one of the dealers panic, and opens fire, and when the bullets stop whizzing, most of the dealers are dead and one of the customers. The problem being is that the dead customer is the son of Howard Saint, a gang boss who owns Tampa. And he is extremely vengeful. Castle is found out, and Howard sends hitmen to kill Castle and his family. The only problem is, well, he survives. That is the plot. Castle getting revenge on Howard.
It might sound boring, but how they get revenge one each other is fascinating. There are some great minor points in the film. Not plot points, just little moments. For example, in one scene Castle tears his gravestone out of the cemetery, and puts it in Howards golf course, where this happens:
 |
| If I get killed by a gang, do this to my gravestone. |
Sweet...
Speaking of plot points, there's alot of them in here too, although there extremely subtle. In one scene Howard tells his friend and bodyguard to dance with his wife. Yeah, I'll get on that weirdness later. Anyway, they dance, and Howard watches them very closely, while his friend stays extremely polite, you know, not sliding his hand over her butt, or anything like that. Yeah, this is actually a set-up for a extremely interesting revenge sub-plot.
The characters...actually don't have have alot of depth. I mean, there not bad, but it isn't something you'll remember. I do love the support characters, the three people who live on the same floor as Castle when he moves into the slum apartment, but Castle and Howard aren't going to be known as complicated characters.
The music, oh man the music. All of the music in the movie uses the same basic tune, and depending on your point of view, it's either lazy, or a nice theme. I love it, and on top of that the music is just plain good.
The action in the film is great. It's fast, but you can still take in the details, and the gun physics are actually realistic(Bullets actually have inertia!). Can't say the same about damage... Yeah, Castle should be dead three times over even before the halfway point.
There are some things wrong with The Punisher. The first one is the editing. One time a barbecue exploded four times, or a car has just drove around the corner in the distant, but in the next shot it's just starting to drive around the corner. These don't happen often, but when they do, it's really annoying.
The second thing is the...well, the film is kinda removed from reality. It's not bad, but it's...weird. Actually, it acts like a comicbook. Like the scene where Howard tells his friend to dance with his wife, that's something that wouldn't happen in real life.
One last thing: The actor who plays Frank Castle is amazing. Not because he's a good actor, but because he fits the role so well. Even his voice sounds like the Punisher. I can't imagine anyone else in the role of the Punisher now.
This film is great. It's a great action film with a good plot/storytelling, and is miles beyond James Bond films, which I use to consider the best in that regard. So go buy the extended edition now! Don't make me send the Russian after you...
 |
| In Soviet Russia, Waldo find you! |
No comments:
Post a Comment