Caffeinated Clint
Ray Stevenson, soon to be seen yielding some kind of weapon while getting about in a fat suit in “Thor”, popped his comic book movie cherry on “The Punisher : War Zone”, in which he played the lead role.
Though the film didn’t do much (in fact, it went straight to DVD downunder), Stevenson was a terrific Frank Castle. He’s quite different to Tom Jane; mostly, you believe he could actually take out the criminal underworld himself, as opposed to Jane who, though good in the role, did come across mainly as just a ‘skinny actor who put on a few kilos’ to play a superhero type throughout his film. You never did quite believe Jane to be the inexorable vigilante he was playing. Stevenson’s big, bulky and almost in a Steven Seagal-sense, an unstoppable tractor that’s determined to keep pushing forward, shredding the competition in his path. He also shows he can be a big ‘softie’ – as played out in his scenes with a widowed mother (Julie Benz) and fatherless daughter who he feels responsible for. He mightn’t give a knock-out performance or anything (Jane’s probably the better actor), but Stevenson looks and acts like you’d expect the guy in the comic book to act like and that might just be more important than getting some sizzle reel footage for once.
“The Punisher War Zone” is a fun flick. It knew it was a comic-book movie – and one that’s free to be excessively ridiculous at times. It doesn’t have that real world feel of say, ”Iron Man” or ”The Dark Knight” and neither does have it have the solid storytelling of them (the script’s pretty bare-bones) but then maybe it shouldn’t. Some comics are only about bullet-spraying and stern stares – and, as it seems, some movies too. And quite frankly, there’s so much ridiculous fun to be had here that you’ll forget movies need to be as well-scripted as possible before going before the cameras. Jane was right, the script is weak, but he neglected to consider that director Alexander and an arsenal of effects and stuntmen might actually overshadow it anyway.
Marvel announced at Comic Con last year that they had reacquired the rights to “The Punisher”. While head-honcho Kevin Feige didn’t say whether or not they’d be doing a new film or TV series based on the Marvel comics character, others have since reported that a TV version could be in the works.
Speaking to ThePlaylist, “Punisher : War Zone” star Stevenson says he’s actually had discussions with Marvel about reprising the role of Frank Castle.
“We have talked a bit. We have met about it. I would love to do it. We can definitely bring back Frank to the screen.”
Stevenson could have discussed a series or this rumoured “Punisher” TV series with Marvel but too early to say whether he’s actually be slipped a contract or not.
