I totally get it. From one jaded ex-fanboy to all of you, I’m saying we have no right to expect a decent Punisher movie. When it really comes down to it, Lionsgate really has no obligation to deliver a decent Punisher
movie. They didn’t sign a contract with Fandom promising to erase all
the bad memories we have of Dolph Lundgren and Thomas Jane (or more
likely, John Travolta), and I’m pretty sure that, like all studios,
their best interests lie somewhere south of a straight line, snuggled
in with lots and lots of numbers stacked to the right of a dollar sign
and punctuated with a decimal point.
What we can do however, is hope for the best. Marvel Studios has been
pretty good to us so far, and I think that it’s an exception to the
rule when a studio makes it a priority to keep its audience’s
expectations in mind, and to play to those expectations, and maybe –
just maybe – exceed them.
With Punisher: War Zone,
all of the signs point to a worst-case scenario: behind the scenes
infighting, recuts, honeymoons, studio spin and the like. All the dust
kicked up at Comic-Con has got everybody in a tizzy, but a few days ago
I had a chance to speak to someone very close to the film, and that
contact assured me – without knowing I’m in the position I am to
disseminate this kind of information – that most of the drama is a bunch
of hooey. Hype. Hullabaloo drummed up to generate more interest in the
film. Lexi Alexander is still the director and the cut will be locked
in a couple weeks.
Now, without having gone too much further into detail, I’ve only got
said contact’s word to go on. Looking at only the trailers that have
been released – including the tore-up but still awesome red band – I’m
loving the film’s look and tone (minus the heavy metal soundtrack, of
course). It kind of makes me think what Dick Tracy might’ve felt like if it was directed by Paul Verhoeven circa 1987.
Why would we not want a great Punisher movie? If Lexi – an obvious fan
of the material – is still on board, that’s an ace in our pocket and it
gives us even more reason to hope for a good, if not great movie…
Keeping in mind of
course that we still have no right to expect one.