"Those who do evil to others - the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists
- you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me... The
Punisher." -The Punisher
For class this week we visited The Punisher (2004) in all its glory. It had been awhile since I'd seen this film and I was happy to revisit it. Frank Castle is an interesting character and the film handles him and the project of bringing a comic book story to life. There are several aspects of the film that you would most likely only find in films based on comic books, yet I never felt so overly-comic-booked-out during the movie that I got sick of it.
Castle is intriguing because he's got that vigilante, dark, and brooding thing going on, let's be honest. We're drawn to these characters. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe because most of us have gone through hard times and have wanted to take a situation (or revenge) into our own hands, but often times we end up playing different scenarios over in our head without taking action. So when we see a character that has been tortured to the point of breaking (and I think having one's family slaughtered would be a hell of a breaking point), it is rewarding and satisfying to us as audience members to live vicariously through a character's self-directed revenge.The Punisher presents interesting ideas because yes, Frank Castle has been through hell, but at the end of the day he is still killing people, yet we like him. He's dark, kind of awkward, but also
giving. He leaves most of Saint's money to those that helped him extract revenge, and he feels he really is doing his family justice by, well, punishing those he thinks deserves it. He may not play by the rules or abide the laws, but we don't feel cheated by that.So overall, I appreciate how the movie handles the comic book stories because I know this movie is going to be a little different than ones not based on comics, and I like that. John Travolta is still not my favorite in this film, but that aside I have very little complaints.
I had a different experience. While I liked the movie, I just didn't get the whole "I am the Punisher now" thing as a full transformation. I was expecting him to fully shift into that persona, but I still saw Frank Castle the whole time. I wish the movie would have concentrated more on the transformation.
ReplyDelete“John Travolta is still not my favorite in this film...”
ReplyDeleteI know, right?! There comes an unfortunate time in some people’s acting career when it’s their face that the audience sees no matter how hard they try. When was the last time anyone saw Bill Shatner as anything other than Captain Kirk? Or Tom Cruise as anything other than that guy-wh-danced-in-his-skivvies? Or Sir. Anthony Hopkins as anything other than Dr. Hannibal—okay, yeah. Hopkins transcended his Dr. Lecter with his portrayal of Odin. (#imho) So, yes, it’s possible to overcome the career pitfall, but it isn’t easy. Vinnie Barbarino—or Vincent Vega, your choice—hasn’t made that jump yet.
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I liked the movie as well. I mean, it’s not my favorite but I didn’t hate it either. It was a summer escape movie, to be eaten with a tub of buttered popcorn and boxes of DOTS and Jr. Mints. One have a couple of hours of fun then goes home to…well, more homework it you’re a SHU WPF student. :p
Castle is dark and brooding for sure. I'd like to have that power, but I don't think I can drink that much Wild Turkey. Instead, I'd like to have his other super power: the ability to montage away any of his problems. He fixes a car, creates and arsenal, infiltrates an international criminal gang, and recovers from several point-blank gunshot wounds, all with the power of montage.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, Travolta wasn't really given much to do in the movie... I mean, his wife's the one who essentially puts the hit on Castle's family (which he seems sort of unsure of even as he gives the order) and then he doesn't really do much beyond yell at people to kill Castle for the whole movie, or sort of idly wonder where his Number Two's at. As a bad guy, he doesn't have much going for him layer-wise. I'm not a huge Travolta fan either, but I can't rag the guy too much here. I think the writing and direction really left him out to dry.
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