The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is you DO NOT talk about Fight Club!  The rules of the GSE as explained to Elijah Wood’s character are don’t let them know you were a journalism major and don’t ever call it soccer.   Unlike Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) in Fight Club, Pete Dunham (Charlie Hunnam) is a real person.  And he is the leader of The Green Street Hooligans.  Made of bone and of flesh that has been bruised and battered. It is he whom bears the brunt as proud leader of the GSE and mentor into the manhood of Matt Buckner.

The Green Street Elite firm for the West Ham football team is the great evil in the film.  It lures and seduces Matt Buckner (Wood) into a world of brawling street combat.  It is far from the secure and padded world that he lived in up until the day he arrived in England.   It is tough.  There are fists flying, aerial kicks to the gut and head, yet there are no guns.  This is battle mano a mano.  With some glass bottles and maybe a brick or two, opposing firms head on assault one another, toe to toe, in what could be described as a charge in a battle in the days of the American Revolution.  Reference is made to the street gang violence in America as not being tough when one hides behind a gun in a speeding car.

These members are not in it for anything else other than to defend their team, so they say. They are neither part of their local football (soccer) team nor do they represent that team.  They are an “unofficial” group that gathers on game day at home or travel to other stadiums to get rowdy and cause a great distress to the police.

Matt has trouble at first understanding what this is all about.  He was not privy to the trouble that European Football is beleaguered with.  Once understanding is reached, the meek harmless American strives to be part of an English firm.

At first, there is disbelief that Elijah Wood could become an ass kicking street fighter.  He seems harmless and most certainly not a threat.  In Ash Wednesday he pulls the trigger and in Sin City, Robert Rodriguez designed him to look sinister, much worse than Hannibal Lechter.

In comparison, another non-menacing face is Edward Norton.  Fight Club, American History X and 25^th Hour are films in which he is believable.  This film makes a believer out of the audience.  Wood carries his own and is enthusiastic as he partakes in the firm’s activities, punching and kicking, using his head for purposes other than a punching bag, and gloriously takes a beating.  He does this with gusto and real zeal.  As he mentions in the film, “once you realize that you are not made of glass…” his inner-strength and courage was found.  Which is what he was lacking and how he found himself in England.  After taking the rap for his politically connected roommate, he ventured off to see his married sister in the UK.  Behind him was an ever absent prominent journalist father, and a false confession of drug possession that bumped him from Harvard months shy of his degree.

Arriving on almost no notice, his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani) introduces him to her newborn.  She seems to be having a rather difficult period in her marriage and he is pawned off to Pete, her husband’s brother.  From the start, Pete is apprehensive and attempts to lose the American.  Matt sticks close to him, even after being knocked down by him.  From there he is given the rules and hangs with the GSE.  He goes to the game and afterwards leaves alone and is assaulted by an opposing firm.  Matt pleads with his attackers that he is an American and is not part of anything.  Moments later the assailants are assaulted by the GSE and come to their new friend’s aide.  Feeling the adrenaline rush, Matt sticks by Pete’s side through stage two of the battle.  Matt is commended for his valor and by taking on the opposing firm at all costs.  The boys are down right satisfied and deserve a draft of England’s best draught.

The director, Lexi Alexander, a female karate and kickboxer champion, developed and wrote the story from what she remembers as her childhood years in Germany watching the football matches.  She says, “At first we watched the games from the f-stand, also known as the family stand.  The real fans, as my brother called them were in the d-stand: D is for damage.   By invite only, this seatless, standing room only section caged in members of the firm.  A white flag read, “ City boys, Mannheim hooligans.”  As a karate instructor, Lexi Alexander taught students that belonged to this firm.  She was invited to d-stand and ran with the Mannheim, City boys firm.

This is a violent movie with guts.  Absent are guns and any glorification of the violence.

Having Sky plused(amazing how language evolves with technology eh?) Green Street a couple of months back and heard mixed reviews ranging from “BEST FILM EVER!!!” to “a load of rubbish, waste of time…” I decided to give it a glance and make my own mind up. I knew it dealt with football hooligans so as a football fan who’s travelled to matches in England , I had an immediate interest in the subject matter. What I didn’t know was well shot, well acted and generally moving the Lexi Alexander project was.

I think one reason why I liked this film so much was the simplicity of the story. All too often films are hindered by overly-complex twists and turns in the plot. Green Street runs from start to finish without any real shocking revelation or flashback and still manages to be gripping throughout.

 Similarly to films such as Train Spotting and Snatch, Green Street focuses on the criminal underbelly of working class Britain. Elijah wood is decent in his role as Matt Buckner the “Yank” who gets accepted into the Green Street Elite, a violent gang/”firm” of West Ham Utd. supporters who pride themselves on their reputation of vicious fighters. The senselessness of the violence is captured perfectly by the lack of genuine interest in football, it is just a convenient medium for the characters to satisfy their need for anarchy.

Loyalty, bravery, friendship and family are key themes throughout. Alexander doesn’t hold back in the fight scenes either, portraying a degree of violence that definitely won’t appeal to everybody. While the violence may be somewhat glamorised and exaggerated at points you get a sense that the film isn’t too detached from reality. Green Street certainly isn’t one for the faint-hearted or easily offended but is worth watching if only for the stunning performance of Charlie Hunnam as Pete, the firm leader. As for me, I give this one a thumbs up, or as the boys in the GSE might say, “I facking loved it mate”!

Creo que no os avise en su momento. “Punisher War Zone” no iba a ser estrenada fuera de Estados Unidos. ¿La razón?. La paupérrima recaudación en taquilla. Según la productora costaba más la campaña de publicidad que lo que esperaban recaudar fuera de su país natal. De ahí que los fans del personaje tuviesen dos opciones. Bajarla de internet (con una calidad excelente tanto en sonido como en imagen), o esperar a su estreno en el formato doméstico. Y en España queda poquísimo para ello. Aunque el que escribe pecó de impaciente y tuvo que optar por la primera opción. Aunque ni mucho menos dejo fuera de lugar el adquirirla una vez esté a la venta. Con eso creo que dejo constancia de lo positivo que ví.

Una película bastante más cercana al justiciero de la editorial Marvel, que las otras adaptaciones que nos ofrecieron en su momento. La protagonizada en los ochenta por Dolph Lungdren y hace unos pocos años por Thomas Jane.

Los aficionados a los cómics sabrán que Frank Castle empezó su andadura como un villano en la colección de Spider-man. Contratado por un personaje llamado “El Chacal” (importantísimo en la “Saga del Clon” de los noventa), tenía que asesinar al trepamuros ayudado de su gran arsenal de armas. Años más tarde protagonizó una miniserie dibujada por Mike Zeck, probablemente uno de sus mejores trabajos junto a “La Última Cacería de Craven” y las “Secret Wars”. El resto, como se suele decir, es historia. En los noventa era uno de los iconos oscuros de la editorial. A rebufo de lo que inició Miller con “The Dark Knight Returns”, donde las grandes editoriales buscaban a personajes violentos y con grandísimas dosis de acción. Si había sangre mejor que mejor. Wolverine y Ghost Rider formaban ese triunvirato. Así que los mencionados solían tener sus apariciones especiales en cualquier colección que se preciara. Y sí, las ventas subían como la espuma. Pero no nos engañemos, The Punisher no era sólo un personaje de un día. Tuvo sus bajones. Colecciones que cerraban debido a la falta de ventas. Eso era algo que podía pesar como una losa en los fans. Y sin embargo, volvía a resurgir. Algo tiene Castle que se niega a morir en el olvido.

Todo es muy sencillo cuando hablamos de este justiciero. Un tío que es juez, jurado y verdugo. ¿Os acordáis de Charles Bronson?. ¿Qué pasa cuando no crees en la justicia?. Cuando ves que el inocente está más desprotegido que el villano, ¿que puedes hacer?. A Frank Castle se le puede tachar de facha, al igual que a Bronson. No en vano las películas que protagonizaba en los ochenta se veían de esa manera. Pero no es menos cierto que la hipocresía puede llegar a límites insospechados. Hay leyes, cierto. ¿Pero son justas?. Cada día menos. Ejemplos os podría poner a millares, pero el tiempo apremia y el post se podría volver demasiado largo y tedioso. Aparte de la mala hostia que nos provocaría plantearnos no pocas situaciones. Así que el tema es bien sencillo. Tanto el actor con bigote como Castle lo entendieron. Unos asesinos matan a tu familia. La justicia les deja libres o simplemente no hace nada de nada por lo típico. Falta de pruebas. Tienes dos opciones. Asumirlo y vivir tu vida. O dos, hacer todo lo posible porque el castigo llegue a ellos. Si queréis ver una visión magnífica sobre este tema sólo tenéis que ver la película “La Extraña que Hay en Tí”, con Jodie Foster.

“The Punisher War Zone” tiene muchos puntos a su favor. En primer lugar da lo que promete. Es decir, el personaje tal y como tenía que ser llevado a la gran pantalla. Evidente es que algún que otro aficionado no lo puede ver así, pero yo lo ví perfecto. Violencia a raduales. Sí, esa que tanto se censura y que tanta gente se echa las manos a la cabeza. Pero evitar ese detalle en la película que nos ocupa habría sido ridículo (algo que se rumoreó que podía pasar). Las aventuras de Frank son así. No tiene que haber tapujos, ni esquivar la hemoglobina, ni que los malos tengan que ser dulcificados. Hay cabrones e hijos de puta. Tan simple como eso. Quedarse a medias tintas no lo habría visto bien. De ahí que la elección es clara, ver esta película implica asumir los puntos que he detallado. ¿No te gusta eso? No la veas. Porque no engaña a nadie desde el primer minuto. Hubo momentos donde alguna escena me dejó alucinado. Pensaba “joer, se han atrevido a poner esto”. Pues muy bien, El Castigador (su traducción al español) habría hecho eso.

La elección del protagonista me creó dudas en un primer momento. Ray Stevenson me las despejó en cuanto apareció. Y sí, tenía su típica calavera en el pecho. Algo que parecía que daba miedo poner en las anteriores películas y se insertaba cutremente. Ni es un cachas con Lungdren ni es el típico “bueno” como Thomas Jane. Stevenson parece un tío normal, pero con el que no te querrías cruzar por la calle cuando le miras a los ojos. Perfecto en el papel y perfecto en las escenas de acción. Así como dos personajes impagables. Jigsaw (Dominic West) y Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hitchinson). De lo mejor de la película. Unos asesinos sin tapujos sin ningún tipo de remordimientos. El plantel de personajes es medianamente amplio. Por ejemplo podemos ver a “Chip”, el cual era el apoyo informático y armaméntistico de Castle. Un buen guiño a los seguidores de los cómics. Un policía que cree en la causa de nuestro héroe (o antihéroe, según se mire), otro que tiene sus dudas, etc. Incluso hay algunos momentos cómicos, en una película bastante seria, entre los matones de segunda o los ayudantes de Castle. Sin llegar a ser ridículo, que es lo que importa en estos casos.

Como es normal, o suele ser normal, nuestro protagonista sigue teniendo su trauma de rigor. Insalvable ya que es su motor en la vida. De ahí que en la historia se recurra a una situación que le hará dudar de su cruzada personal. Es ahí cuando entra en juego Julie Benz y su hija. Pero no espereis que la protagonista de “Dexter” tenga un papel reseñable. Probablemente cualquier otra actriz habría dado el mismo juego que ella. Aún siendo un placer verla (como siempre), no llega a aportar mucho más que  lo que hace un secundario con pocas frases.

Parecerá que estoy hablando de la película del año. No, no es la película del 2009. Pero sí una película de acción que le da mil vueltas a algunas que triunfan en taquilla y que se ponen límites en lo que no deberían. Ofrecer al espectador esa dosis de mala baba y exageración que tanto se puede llegar a echar en falta y que sales con la sensación de que algo falta. Hay escenas impagables en Punisher War Zone. La transformación de Jigsaw (que recuerda a la de Jack Nicholson en el Joker), Castle entrando en una cena mafiosa y demostrando lo que mejor sabe hacer, cuando Jigsaw va a sacar a su hermano de una institución mental (dosis de gore sin tapujos), la pelea entre Loony Bin Jim y Frank Castle en unos baños, la matanza final en unos apartamentos o la elección que tiene que hacer el protagonista en los minutos finales. Todo ello en 103 minutos de metraje. La historia es bien sencilla, no os voy a engañar, pero sin embargo te hace albergar esperanzas de que este personaje siga teniendo sus adaptaciones a la gran pantalla. Aunque la taquilla no haya funcionado, lo cual será un gran handicap en su contra. Mi enhorabuena a Lexi Alexander. Una directora que no se ha cortado ni un pelo en reflejar el mundo del personaje más polémico de la editorial Marvel.

Para leer la ficha de la película, pincha aqui. 

Fdo: Snake  

Fiquei em dúvida como nomearia essa categoria, ainda mais quando ela é inaugurada com esse filme. Poderia a palavra mania dar conta de tanto fanatismo e/ou doença?

O Michaelis convenceu-me que sim. Mania é a Desordem mental caracterizada por grande atividade psicomotora, excitação, exaltação e instabilidade da atenção. 2 Modo excêntrico de pensar. 3 Extravagância. 4 Esquisitice, excentricidade.

Green Street Hooligans, da diretora alemã Lexi Alexander, conta a história de Matt Bruckner (Elijah Wood, que por sinal eu odeio) que vai morar em Londres e acaba conhecendo a doidera dos torcedores fanáticos do West Ham, tradicional clube de futebol inglês, que canta no seu hino “I’m forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air.  They fly so high, nearly reach the sky And like my dreams they fade and die (…)”.

Muito louca essa mania!

Prepare yourself for creative uses of shrimp forks and chair legs, because Punisher: War Zone is the Greatest Movie EVER!

Review in a Nutshell:  Punisher: War Zone is undeniably the definitive Punisher film.  It distills the best elements of Garth Ennis’s writing into film form, in the process capturing the elusive quality that can only be described as “the comic book feel”.

This movie contains:

Loony Bin Jim.

Jigsaw.

Um…overcompensating, maybe?

CAUTION!

This podcast may contain High Levels of Daryl Surat.

Sinceramente não conheço bem esse personagem dos quadrinhos da Marvel; muito menos sua fase “War Zone”. Por isso mesmo assisti hoje (finalmente) ao filme O Justiceiro em Zona de Guerra (Punisher: War Zone) graças à uma cópia de serviço gentilmente enviada pela assessoria de imprensa da Sony. Estava curioso sobre esta produção que foi um retumbante fracasso de bilheteria nos cinemas dos Estados Unidos, arrecadando míseros US$ 8 milhões (para se ter uma idéia de comparação, Dragon Ball: Evolution faturou mais da metade disso em apenas três dias de exibição)! Queria entender o que aconteceu. Seria mais um filme medíocre do Justiceiro (como aquele com John Travolta)?

Sei que sua produção teve um histórico problemático pois a diretora-karateca Lexi Alexander não cedeu a certos pedidos. O resultado é que, apesar do fracasso nos cinemas, a maioria dos fãs do anti-herói da Marvel gostou do que viu nas telas! É que Alexander fez um filme extremamente violento, escuro, sem concessões. O Justiceiro age como os fãs do personagem esperam: se o cara é bandido e fez o que não devia, ele passa fogo sem dó nem piedade! Com ele, bandido da pesada não vai para a prisão; morre! E a diretora não poupou sangue nas cenas de ação. Talvez, por isso mesmo o filme tenha afundado nas bilheterias: o Justiceiro ficou bem próximo ao personagem dos quadrinhos. Sombrio, sanguinário, solitário, angustiado e com sede de vingança.

Claro que também não se pode esperar muito. Um dos problemas do filme é justamente o vilão-mor: o Retalho (Jigsaw) é caricato demais para esse estilo de filme. A cena em que ele aparece na frente da bandeira dos Estados Unidos recrutando os piores marginais e mafiosos da cidade chega a ser constrangedora. Mas, o público que curte sangue provavelmente nem vai ligar para isso. Ou seja, quem gosta do gênero, tem um prato cheio nas mãos!

Por conta dessa carreira desastrosa, o filme nem chegou a ser programado nos cinemas brasileiros, e foi lançado diretamente em vídeo digital. Aliás, as melhores videolocadoras já devem ter cópias disponíveis para locação desde ontem, data oficial de lançamento do dvd no Brasil (veja capa ao lado).

Para saber mais sobre este lançamento, visite o site oficial do filme em inglês e veja fotos, wallpapers, trailers e um vídeo-depoimento da diretora.

Para ler o que foi publicado sobre o Justiceiro (Punisher) neste blog, . Para baixar papéis de parede com o personagem, .

ROB ZOMBIE

ROB ZOMBIE is the busiest guy on the THRALL WORLD blogzine (next to DieTrich Thrall of course). Click HERE for proof.

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Gorillanaut Reviews PUNISHER: WAR ZONE

Punisher: War Zone – 2008

Direção: Lexi Alexander

Roteiro: Nick Santora, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Elenco: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchison, Colin Salmon, Julie Benz, Dash Mihok, Stephanie Janusauskas, Romano Orzari

Frank Castle está de volta, pela 3 vez e finalmente tivemos um filme que podemos dizer, “ai tá o Justiceiro”, mesmo que algumas coisas deixem a desejar. O Justiceiro é um dos meus quadrinhos favoritos e sempre ficava decepcionado com os filmes que faziam pra ele, não tinha violência, talvez por isso gostei deste filme aqui, mesmo com toda crítica negativa e distribuição de merda que recebeu.

A história de “O Justiceiro em Zona de Guerra”, segue se podemos assim dizer, o percurso do último filme, sem essa frescura de contar a história do zero. Aqui Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson), continua a sua saga de perseguir, julgar e matar os criminosos de Nova York. A ação começa com a visita de Frank a uma festinha na casa de Gaetano Cesare, um mafioso que acaba de ser inocentado em o que foi considerado um dos maiores erros judiciais. Lá na festa, Frank detona todo mundo em uma sequencia muito da sanguenta, exagerada e fodastica, mas o sobrinho de Cesare, Billy Russoti (Dominic West), acaba fugindo e Frank vai atrás dele no porto.

A destruição que Frank detona a cara de Billy e causa um efeito colateral quando ele mata um agente disfarçado, Nicky Donatelli (Romano Orzari) . Com a moral baixa depois do erro, Frank decide se retirar da função de Justiceiro e abre uma brexa para que Billy, agora com o nome de Jigsaw, liberte seu irmão Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison) e continue uma negociação com um grupo de romenos que pretendem trazer uma arma biologica para a cidade.

Quando Frank resolve voltar para terminar o trabalho com Jigsaw, o vilão já está na cola da esposa de Nicky, Angela (Julie Benz), para recuperar uma grana que tinha dado ao policial. Após obter a informação da localização de Jigsaw, Frank tentar ir até a casa de Angela, mas no meio do caminho é preso pelo agente do FBI, Paul Budiansky (Colin Salmon), amigo de Nicky. Com Frank preso, Budiansky e o detetive Martin Soap (Dash Mihok) vão até a casa de Angela e o agente do FBI pensa que consegue resolver tudo sozinho, mas só consegue alguma coisa quando Frank que havia escapado do carro com a ajuda de Soap, entra na casa e salva Angela e sua filha, Grace (Stephanie Janusauskas), e as leva até seu esconderijo.

As coisas pareciam estar acabadas com Jigsaw, mas o cara tem uma carta na manga, o acordo com os romenos e usando esse artificio, consegue um acordo com o FBI de imunidade em troca da informação. Depois de delatar os romenos e conseguir uma grana, Jigsaw e Loony Bin Jim vão atrás de Angela e Grace e após sequestrar o ajudante de Castle, Microchip (Wayne Knight), os dois chegam ao esconderijo e pegam as duas, deixando o outro ajudante, Carlos (Carlos Gonzalez), vivo para poder dar a informação de onde encontrá-las.

Jigsaw quer fazer uma troca, Angela e Grace por Frank, que topa a idéia e pede a ajuda de Budiansky para que tudo ocorra bem. Sabendo que Jigsaw preparou um exército para recepcionar Frank, Budiansky entra em contato com o pai do grupo romeno que foi enganado por Jigsaw para dar uma forcinha, mas no final Frank vai ter que se virar sozinho para acabar com Jigsaw e Loony Bin Jim.

Acho que esse é o filme que melhor representa o que é o Frank Castle dos quadrinhos, é simples, objetivo e porrada na cara!!

Links

Las secuelas a veces asustan. Mas cuando traen tantos problemas en la produccion como los tuvo esta cinta. La primera The Punisher, protagonizada por Thomas Jane y con un enemigo de la talla de John Travolta no tuvo el exito esperado, aunque la pelicula no era mala. Se trataba de una cinta de accion, basada en un comic legendario de Marvel, pero a la que no le pusieron muchas ganas en su realizacion. Cuando se comento la posibilidad de hacer una secuela de una cinta de Marvel que no habia tenido exito, muchas dudas salieron al aire. Thomas Jane se nego a volver a personificar a Frank Castle, y todo comenzo a ir en pique. Pero una mujer, una bella y valiente mujer tomo las riendas del asunto y decidio hacerse cargo de la direccion de esta nueva cinta. La directora Lexi Alexander (Hooligans) pone como Frank Castle a un convincente aunque algo desconocido Irlandes Ray Stevenson (Outpost), a quien el personaje basado en el oscuro The Punisher de Marvel Knights le calza a la perfeccion. De esta manera, se nos muestra una historia simple, de venganza, muy al estilo comic, con una estructura que se basa en la violencia total del personaje contra los villanos que se le cruzan en su camino. Las escenas explicitas y el “gore” empleados en muchas de las muertes es digno reflejo del nuevo mundo al que Marvel comenzo a explorar. Mientras que siempre DC tuvo historias mas oscuras y profundas, Marvel siempre tenia historias un tanto simples de finales felices. Pero para no quedarse atras, la sangre y la violencia comenzaron a polular las paginas de los comics de la empresa de Stan Lee, y esta pelicula es una impecable muestra de esto. Quizas un punto flojo podrian ser algunas actuaciones, pero nada importante en realidad… al fin de cuentas, estamos viendo una cinta de accion basada en un comic. Personalmente, creo que esta secuela es superior a su primera entrega si nos ponemos del lado del “fanatico del comic”. Como pelicula de accion, quizas la primera sea mas seria. De todas formas, y sea como sea, esta cinta nos hace pasar un buen momento, entretenido, y lleno de todos esos condimentos que los mas aficionados al genero queremos ver.

Puntaje: 7.5/10

Frank Castle has been cleaning up the streets in his own personal way as the Punisher but he now finds himself up against his most challenging target, Jigsaw.

Directed by – Lexi Alexander

Written by – Nick Santora, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Starring – Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchison, Colin Salmon, Wayne Knight, Dash Mihok, Julie Benz, Stephanie Janusauskas, Mark Camacho, Romano Orzari, Keram Malicki-Sanchez, Larry Day, Ron Lea, Tony Calabretta, T.J. Storm

Even after sleeping on it I still find myself up in the air over this one. Ray Stevenson is an amazing Punisher, it’s just that I found everyone else around him playing these over the top cartoon characters. You switch from the Punisher being uber serious to two bumbling cops that I’m not sure if I’m supposed to take seriously.

I kept getting this Ghost Rider vibe from it. Granted it’s much better than Ghost Rider was but alot of this flick seems really corny. That and I was bothered by the fact that the Punisher seemed to super hero for me. I can accept that he gets shot at and never seems to actually get shot, that’s typical action movie standards, but when he punches through a guys face (yeah, through his face) or jumps from one building to the next in a way that can’t be done I get annoyed. I know, I know, he’s a comic book character, but he’s not a super hero. He’s a regular guy with some serious anger issues. Thankfully those scenes are few and far between.

Overall it was a good action film, I don’t know how much that’s saying but that’s how it is. This is way better than the Thomas Jane Punisher and Ray Stevenson is much more believable. He’s old and grizzly looking and seems to fit the Punisher role perfectly. The problems in this movie are pretty easy to overlook even if they annoyed the hell out of me. Like how everyone has a bad accent, and I mean everybody. I think I would’ve been unhappy if I had spent $12 on this at the theatre but for a home viewing it was alright. Seriously though, someone needs to deliver me another Bourne movie. Action and intelligence. Stick to your super heroes Marvel.

Under the marquee – Will

Por Alessandra Marcondes

Para fugir do costume, publico hoje minha opinião sobre um filme triste, mas que não faz chorar. Sem piano de fundo, nem delicadezas que geralmente dão cor aos dramas de minha preferência, Green Street Hooligans é violento, repleto de testosterona e trata de um assunto que vai muito além da minha compreensão – o mundo do futebol. Deixo claro, então, que meu objetivo não é julgar se o filme foi ou não fiel à realidade das torcidas organizadas da Inglaterra; esta tarefa fica para quem a conhece mais de perto. Porém, sem abandonar minha ‘personalidade mocinha’ – que me fez desviar os olhos de muitas cenas violentas do filme, admito -, posso fazer algumas considerações quanto ao longa em si.
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Frodo Bolseiro sempre será um hobbit ingênuo, e nada que Elijah Wood faça apagará tal fama. Mesmo assim, Lexi Alexander, que assina a direção, consegue extrair uma dose certa desta imagem frágil para constituir Matt Buckner, que entra perdido no meio da torcida violenta do West Ham United. Na trama, sua aproximação com os GSE (Green Street Hooligans) se dá após Matt ser expulso de Harvard por um delito que não cometeu; e o filme erra quando parte do princípio-clichê de que jovens revoltados catalizam suas frustrações de forma violenta. Por outro lado, quebra-se a crença de que a brutalidade nas torcidas cresce proporcionalmente ao baixo nível de instrução de seus indivíduos: a história acerta retratando torcedores que se defrontam com uma torcida inimiga, mas que têm de levantar cedo no dia seguinte para dar aula de história, pilotar avião ou exercer outras profissões socialmente aceitas.
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É um filme de altos e baixos, no qual as cenas de confronto são um personagem à parte. Há quem diga que o sangue na tela acaba ocasionando mais sangue na vida real, e é verdade que Hooligans faz com que o espectador se identifique com um grupo passional, que faz de tudo em prol não só de seu time, mas da sua união, e desrespeita toda racionalidade necessária à manutenção da espécie. Contudo, o diretor consegue fugir de possíveis justificativas para a atitude dos briguentos, e termina sua história mostrando que a vida é muito mais do que o status buscado por quem faz parte da temida GSE. Em um detalhe, inclusive, quando Matt finalmente se vinga de seu inimigo principal, percebemos a opinião do autor da trama quanto às atitudes violentas retratadas pelo filme.
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As cenas das brigas recebem cortes inteligentes que não permitem ao espectador se perder entre os golpes, mas são capazes de poupar o estômago dos mais fracos. Mesclando tomadas lentas e rápidas, a fotografia também foi muito bem escolhida em suas cores frias, contrastando com o calor do momento e com um sangue mais vermelho do que nunca. Vale a pena comentar que, infelizmente, a figura feminina capaz de equilibrar o filme tipicamente masculino é pouco utilizada, na pele da belíssima Claire Forlani, de Encontro Marcado.
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O filme vale a pena não só para os homens que se deliciam com cenas de ação, nem para as mulheres que se contentam com o rostinho bonito de Charlie Hunnam, que interpreta o líder da GSE. A briga final, onde homens marcham feito soldados, rumo à incerteza e embalados por uma música que romantiza possíveis heróis, provoca reflexão sobre a violência em geral. Concluo então que guerras político-econômicas não passam de brigas entre gangues de jovens que, mesmo crescidinhos, ainda não possuem nenhum discernimento no que diz respeito aos seus motivos para perturbar a paz.
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Quando você percebe que o seu corpo não é feito de vidro
Não se sente vivo, se não testar os seus limites a todo momento
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Direção: Lexi Alexander
Gênero: Drama
Duração: 109 minutos
Elenco: Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Charlie Hunnam, Marc Warren, Leo Gregory, Terence Jay, James Allison, Oliver Allison.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450314/

When it comes to Hollywood, it seems that the simpler the concept, the more they fuck up. There’s been six movies about a man who dresses up as a giant bat and fights villains like a penguin-like crime boss or a murderer who dresses up as a clown — and out of those six movies, only the two directed by Joel Schumacher aren’t above average (in fact, are as far below the average as the center of the planet is from the top of the Everest).

And then we’ve got a vigilante who is simply in a constant state of anger and kills criminals because criminals killed his family.

Period.

And Hollywood has consistently failed to get him right, even though recently Garth Ennis did on the comics with his phenomenal “Punisher Max” series. And even basing the movie on those comics has resulted in yet another failure.

First, we had the 1989 Punisher, who was played by Dolph Lundgren. I could go on, but it’s unecessary. Dolph Lundgren.

Then, in 2004, Thomas Jane did a good job as Frank Castle but the script and the direction failed by not only choosing Tampa for a location instead of New York City, but by having poor dialogue and badly-chosen characters — who worked well on Ennis’ comics but not in the film.

And finally, after two movies that were practically a manual on how not to make a Punisher film, director Lexi Alexander and screenwriters Nick Santora, Kurt Sutter, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (the latter two wrote the exceptional “Iron Man”) started working on a new movie with Ray Stevenson, famous as Titus Pullo from the HBO series “Rome” (which I have not yet watched). This time, it looked like it was going to work. A seemingly dedicated director, two writers from “Iron Man”, another two from acclaimed TV shows like “Prison Break” and “The Wire”, two movies’ worth of experience so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes…

… and the result is another failure, if still the best Punisher movie yet.

Screenwriter Kurt Sutter left the project (which is why he’s uncredited) claiming they had decided to make a superhero movie instead of a crime drama. He was absolutely correct. Very loosely based on the comic series — I mean, on the characters of the comic series “Punisher Max”, the plot is about Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, accidentally killing an undercover FBI agent. Feeling guilty, he decides to retire — but while he tries to make up for the man’s widow and orphan, Billy Russoti, aka Jigsaw, gets an army together to kill the vigilante, who ruined his face – hence his nickname.

Sounds like a down-to-earth plot, correct? Sadly, the creative team failed to understand the Punisher at all — even the 2004 movie portrayed his methods better. Let’s describe the first action scene, shall we?

A group of mob bosses are having dinner. The lights go out. The Punisher appears on the middle of the table, lighting a red flare. Very good theatrics, but I don’t think surrounding yourself with armed mob bosses is good combat strategy. Luckily, the mob bosses seem to be idiots, since they just sit there while the Punisher calmly walks up to capo-de-tutti-capi Massimo Cesare and cuts his entire head off with a single slice of his combat knife — since the creative team of this film apparently believes it’s easy to cut a man’s head clean off. With a knife, no less.

The Punisher then proceeds to wrestle with Cesare’s wife, who was the only person at a table with ARMED MEN to pull a gun — so he breaks her neck while everyone gasps, still not understanding that he plans to kill them ALL. The lights return for some reason and now the Punisher is in the middle of a room surrounded by men who finally drew their weapons. So what does he do? He climbs on a chandelier, hangs upside down from it with two sub-machineguns and spins while shooting at the army of wiseguys that enters the room.

…

Let me repeat this.

He climbs on a chandelier, hangs upside down from it with two sub-machineguns and spins while shooting at the army of wiseguys that enters the room. And the funniest thing? He doesn’t miss a single one, because hanging upside-down is seemingly very good for one’s accuracy. And the wiseguys, of course, are unable of hitting a stationary target in the middle of a dining room. An upside-down stationary target.

And incredibly, the movie isn’t a disaster, because it manages to be more entertaining than the two previous Punisher films combined. Despite the preposterousness, the action scenes are well-edited and surprisingly violent — Lexi Alexander does not subscribe to the Tony Scott style of directing, which consists of putting the camera inside a blender and hoping it will capture some interesting footage. The violence is the source of some great dark humor that would probably make Ennis proud — although I suspect it’s the only thing that would make Ennis proud in this film.

For no good artistic reason (but pretty good financial ones), the screenwriters decided to use the names and likenesses of Ennis’ characters in “Punisher: War Zone” — however, their film versions are very shallow versions of their interesting original selves. Maginty is a drug addict and parkour artist, Soap is a complete idiot but not in a fun way, Budiansky is the typical by-the-book cop who wants to do the right thing, Pittsy is an actually quite calm right-hand-man while Ink is an eager kid. All of these characters could have used completely new names, but instead, the creative team decided to waste them in deluxe cameos, so the fans would go “look, it’s from the comic!”.

Then we’ve got the cringe-worthy acting. The scenery-chewing award goes to Dominic West, an absolutely horrendous Jigsaw. Resorting to cliches, like grabbing his girlfriend by the neck because she touched his precious hair just to show how evil he is, he’s unable of speaking his lines without twisting his face in ten different versions of scowling. Being covered in make-up does not improve his work. Colin Salmon is pathetic as Budiansky, insisting on looking badass or rolling his eyes whenever the law is bent. Julie Benz can’t do much with her limited widow, and Doug Hutchinson refuses to add any depth to Loony Bin Jim and simply scowls at everything looking psychotic. The rest of the supporting cast follows the same line.

Ray Stevenson manages to hold his ground as Frank Castle, but Thomas Jane remains the best interpreter of the character so far, because Stevenson is forced by the creative team to smile sometimes and, well, to hang upside down from a chandelier. Marlon fucking Brando would have a hard time with this Frank Castle. His costume does not help either, since this version of the character thinks it’s effective to be covered head to toes in heavy body armor that makes him look like a reject from the game “Gears of War”.

With so much bad dialogue, irregular direction and poor characterization, how is “Punisher: Warzone” the best Punisher film yet?

One of the main reasons is the stupendous cinematography — if this was a better movie, it could actually be nominated for an academy award in this aspect. The frames are incredibly well-composed and the colours are strong and oppressive– usually yellow, red, orange, green and other “pure” tones dominate the visuals, creating an interesting New York City. Despite some poor frames chosen by Lexi Alexander (the low angle showing the Punisher on the chandelier — and in slow motion), the cinematography is pure eye-candy from beggining to end. There’s always something interesting to look at.

The aforementioned action scenes might be preposterous, but always easy to follow and there are some truly excellent moments, like the fantastic camera movement that shows a wall between the Punisher and an army of wiseguys — and the Punisher’s tactic to clear the room is great. I also applaud the violence, which is more than appropriate, despite Alexander resorting to some very gratuitous moments like a guy on a toilet having his head randomly blown away. However, the scene Castle casually kills an unarmed man with a shotgun, startling Budiansky, is one of the best scenes of the film.

Also, despite some poor choices, Alexander does not lose track of the narrative — it might be weak, but she keeps her eye on the ball. I particularly like the scene where Micro predicts that Castle will come back to his doorstep just seconds after leaving — he even counts “three, two, one…”. And this movie, to my utter surprise, has some of the best dramatic moments in the Punisher series.

No, seriously. I was baffled myself.

The scene where The Punisher watches the widow’s child playing with the toys of his deceased kids is poignant and doesn’t resort to any cliches or exaggerations. And when faced with a choice between the lives of two friends, in the film’s climax, Castle makes the choice the Castle from the comics would no doubt make.

But this is counter-balanced by Castle’s slight smile when he destroys Jigsaw’s face (The Punisher isn’t interested in torturing his enemies, just in killing them – also, he doesn’t smile) and his poor combat methods, which makes it ridiculous how he manages to kill armies of wiseguys and remain mostly intact.

And finally, the movie actually seems to PRAISE Castle.

Yes, he might kill horrible criminals, but he is also a VERY sick man — an ambiguity the film doesn’t seem interested in acknowledging — and even the characters come to AGREE with his methods toward the end, saying he’s “one of the good guys”. And if Castle had said “No I’m not” and walked away, this ambiguity would have been recognized and enriched the film. However, he doesn’t. And we’re left with the impression The Punisher is somehow the “solution” to crime.

Despite being very flawed, “Punisher: War Zone” is a surprisingly entertaining, visceral film with beautiful cinematography, excellent technical aspects and some moments that make it worth watching. But it is far from the cinematic potential a character like The Punisher has, and it pointlessly wastes many good characters created by Garth Ennis or improved by him in some way.

Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchinson, Colin Salmon, Julie Benz

Director: Lexi Alexander

Writers: Nick Santora, Art Marcum

Cinematography: Steve Gainer

Original Score: Michael Wandmacher

Running Time: 103 Mins.

Punisher: War Zone is the third attempt to jump start the Punisher as a franchise, on the evidence of its box-office reciepts stateside it looks like it has faltered once again, which is a shame as there is much to enjoy here, despite its flaws. As ever the punisher is Frank Castle, a vigilante out for revenge on the whole of New York’s ’scum’ following the murder (which is hinted at in flashback) of his family. This time round Ray Stevenson of Rome fame is Frank Castle, following in the footsteps of Dolph Lundgren in the 1980’s and Thomas Jane more recently, and boy is he angry, very angry, this guy could give the Incredible Hulk a run for his money!

But therein lies the problem, Stevenson gives the character his best shot but the Punisher’s range is limited to killing people and endlessly feeling sorry for himself, Spiderman he is not, simply put he hasn’t got the Bruce Banner to match his Hulk. But honestly, when the film is this damn enjoyable and in all honesty sets out to do one thing, you can’t complain at lack of character development.

For this is a balls out action film, directed with just enough pizazz by Lexi Alexander (Green Street) to elevate it beyond run of the mill straight to DVD fodder. The score and city scape shots bring to mind The Dark Knight and it is obvious that that particular comic to screen masterpiece was an inspiration, especially in its depiction of larger than life villains with a mob connection.

Sadly it is in it’s depiction of the villains that are the primary stumbling block, Jigsaw (West) and Looney Bin Jim (Doug Hutchinson) (who was written specifically for the film) are cardboard cut-out psychos of the highest order, this in itself would not a problem but when it is coupled with the worst over-acting this side of Julian McMahon’s Dr. Doom there really is something wrong. Jigsaw is a blatant rip-off of Jack Nicholsons Joker, played as an unhinged mob boss seeking revenge for the Punisher’s disfiguring of his face there is zilch in the way of a story arc, simply put he gets angry and slightly MORE unhinged.

Which strangely brings me to the films strongest point, it’s gory and quite explicitly so. Something which both past incarnations have failed to do for fear of losing its key audience of teenage boys. No such qualms this time, heads explode, faces are slashed, limbs are hacked off, I’m no masochist but the Punisher is meant to be brutal, gritty and in your face it’s just a shame that Stevenson is unlikely to get the chance to give the chracter a little more depth.  

VERDICT

Unashamedly bereft of any depth, Punisher: War Zone is the most likely going to end up being the most ballsy action film of the year (let alone the goriest!), Ray Stevenson makes a good fist of the anti-hero with what he has to work with, but is let down by some hammy villains who really look the part even if they don’t act it, though be warned it’s not for the faint-of-heart just as a Punisher film shouldn’t be!

After two previous stabs at the vigilante justice of Frank Castle (including Dolph Lundgren’s awful 1988 direct to video cheese fest and the far superior but flawed Tom Jane version from 2004) the makers of Punisher: War Zone have finally hit on a satisfactory formula for one of the most violent comic book characters there is.

Ray Stevenson (Rome’s Titus Pullo) plays the former undercover agent who after loosing his family in a mob killing takes justice into his own hands and punishes the guilty. The film forgoes any origin story to get straight into the action and boy does it start with a bang. War Zone contains some of the most vicious and gory deaths I have ever seen. Bones break in their hundreds and bullets fly in their thousands with suitably copious amounts of the red stuff. The purpose of all this violence? After accidentally killing an undercover FBI agent Frank vows to walk away from his line of work suffering from the guilt of leaving a mother and child fatherless. But when it turns out that the mobster the undercover agent was working for Billy Russoti is after the mother and child Castle takes action to protect them. The problem is Castle already killed Russoti once, at least he though he did when Castle put him through a glass smashing machine. Turns out he didn’t die but the experience completely destroyed Russoti’s face and now re-born Jigsaw he’s out for revenge.

The plot, like in most films of this kind, is largely inconsequential and a means for us to move from one action scene to the next, and in that respect the screenplay for War Zone does its job beautifully. Castle, like in the Tom Jane version, is a difficult character to sympathise with. We like him purely because he is tough and (mostly) does the right thing, dealing out real justice to the bad guys. But the fact he is largely silent and has to do little more than look moody and fight means it can feel like there’s little to grab onto at times, though Stevenson does well with what he’s got and makes a convincing killing machine when fully fitted out in the Punisher garb.

Dominic West plays Jigsaw in a suitably over the top manner befitting a comic book villain, but one can’t help feel but underwhelmed by such simple characters after Heath Ledger’s multi faceted portrayal of the definitive comic book villain. The rest of War Zone’s cast generally ranges from bad to worse with the long lost Wayne Knight in the thankless role of Castle’s arms/tech supplier micro, a terrible Dash Mihok as nervy head of the police’s Punisher task force Martin Soap and fellow brit Colin Salmon once again sporting his bizarre American accent. Worst of all however is an actor I hate so irrationally that it threatens to destroy any positive feelings towards films I see him in and that’s Doug Hutchinson. I won’t go into it here but he’s almost unwatchable as Loony Bin Jim (cause he’s a nutter you see), a horribly cliched psychotic character who has somehow developed acrobatic abilities rivalling the world’s best gymnasts despite being locked in a mental home for what must be a significant amount of time.

Where the film really shines is in its tone. It’s got the feel of the world just about right (although that’s coming from someone who’s read very little Punisher in the past). There are some moments of dark humour which feel a little out of place but this is mostly the ultra-violent revenge fest we were all hoping the first one would be. Some of the kills defy belief. Literally punching someones face in, check, exploding heads, check, impalement, check, it’s all here and then some. If you like your films violent and loud you will love this. It’s also refreshing to see a character who makes almost entirely rational decisions (ie. rational being the decisions I would have made in the same situation) even if they aren’t the ones that fit the cliche of the anti hero.

The film failed to light up the box office in America but director Lexi Alexander’s neon saturated Punisher is a much better version of the character’s story than the oddly toned, overacted and underwhelming Tom Jane version, at least they manage to set this one mostly at night time. The most enjoyable movie of the year so far. Not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination but a film I would gladly watch again.

ROB ZOMBIE

As mentioned in a previous THRALL WORLD posting, the busy Mr. Zombie is shooting for an August 28th release date for ‘H2′.

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'H2': MICHAEL MEYERS, ROB ZOMBIE, And TYLER MANE Will Return

Read more HERE.

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Gerald has a few thoughts for you on the attempted “reboot” of The Punisher.  Why do you need to “reboot” a francise that was just launched a couple of years ago?  Click here to read the full review.

I’m not a comic reader or an action hero fan; however, I enjoyed the dynamics of this cinematic thriller. It is reminiscent of Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy with a dash of McGuyver (using any item to make a weapon) thrown in. This movie is for an action hero comic book enthusiast who wants to see the hero the big screen.

Wow. Thing One and Thing Two told me to be ready for a very violent movie, but I was not as prepared as I should have been. The beginning and the end were pretty good, but there seemed to be a fair bit missing in the middle (Thing Two is looking forward to the extended director’s cut – I may skip that one). There are a few too many characters, so that very few of them get developed much, and while Julie Benz gets third billing on the credits, she hardly has any screen time and even less to do. This movie appears to be closer to the comic books than the movie with Thomas Jane, and was a violent, fun little movie. Worth renting, but probably not something you need to see on the big screen, but I warn you – It is violent.