|
Reviewinator |
| Trailer |
Quicktime |
| Starring |
Thomas
Jane
John Travolta
|
| Director |
Jonathan
Hensleigh |
| Official Site |
Link |
| US Opening |
April 16, 2004
|
| Rated |
R |
| Genre |
Comic Book Adaptation |
| Trailer Clichés |
Quick-cut title splash |
| Explosions |
14 |
| Weapons |
Uzi, switchblade, shotgun, compound
bow, handguns, assault rifle, combat knives, handgrenades,
dumbbell, big-ass machete, butterfly knife. |
| Voiceover |
No |
| "In a world where..." |
"No one's ever stood up for me before..."
|
| Spoilage Factor |
35% |
| Geek Factor |
25% (Comic book weapons) |
| See Trailer? |
No |
| See Movie? |
No |
“How is this different from any other action movie?”
I caught myself thinking that throughout this trailer for The
Punisher,
the latest comic book-to-movie effort from Marvel.
Frank Castle aka the Punisher does not have any superhero powers.
He can’t shoot webs from his wrists. He can’t fly. He
doesn’t even have a utility belt. He does have a cool t-shirt,
a case-modded car and access to a multitude of weapons, but that
doesn’t make him different from most Americans.
The trailer begins with a man serenading Castle in a diner with
flashbacks to Howard Saint ordering the murders of Castle’s
family. Castle manages to escape the explosion. Now his life is dedicated
to killing Howard Saint.
The rest of the trailer is one action cliché after another:
car crashes, gunfights, non-gun fights and explosions.
 |
"That's not a knife." |
As with all other action trailers this one tries to temper the extreme
violence with some humor. In one scene a waitress thinks that the
Punisher may be an artist. In another, Punisher gets all fancy with
a knife then bops the bad guy in the nose with it and tells him “You
shouldn’t play with knives.”
Later in the trailer we learn that the Punisher not only is doling
out punishment for his family’s murders, but he has taken up
the cause of eradicating all evil. One loser proclaims that “nobody
ever stood up for me before.” Um, maybe it’s those four
piercings in your lip and the lack of hygiene. You ever think of
that? It’s pretty easy to stand up against somebody when you’re
armed to the teeth like the Punisher.
 |
"That's not a knife either." |
It appears most of the movie will concentrate on Saint sending killer
after killer to get beat up by the Punisher until eventually Punisher
will fight through all the minions and get to the big boss level.
In one minion-fighting scene Punisher hits a table which pops out
a secret compartment for a gun. The Russian rams a dumbbell down
on the gun and bends the barrel. Now call me crazy, but why doesn’t
the Russian just hit Punisher on the head with the dumbbell? Major
head injury for the Punisher and the fight would be over.
John Travolta plays the villan, Howard Saint. When I see Travolta,
I see idiocy. The guy doesn’t seem to have a brain in his head.
How can I be convinced that he is an evil mastermind if I can’t
even believe he can dress himself in the morning?
I do appreciate the use of a compound bow and arrow. I wish more
action movies would incorporated this cool-looking weapon.
 |
"Now that's a knife."
|
Another cliché which the trailer employs is the “setting
off explosions in the background as you casually walk away” trick
scene. Have any of these guys heard of shrapnel? Just once I would
like to see the hero get knocked on his ass in one of these scenes.
Now that would be funny.
Conclusion on Trailer: I’m a bit disappointed with the trailer.
It looks just like any other standard action movie. Remove the Marvel
logo at the beginning and you wouldn’t even know it was based
on a comic.
Conclusion on Movie: With Travolta as the main villain and the hero
having no other powers except a strong urge to beat people up, this
one might be good for a no-brainer action flick. If you are in the
mood for something a bit more stimulating then look for something
else.
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