Rambo ain't got nothin' on Frank Castle. Tonight at Comic-Con, the folks at Lionsgate unveiled a new trailer for The Punisher: War Zone, their upcoming reboot of the Marvel Comics franchise with Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo of HBO's Rome) replacing Thomas Jane in the titular role of the ruthless vigilante anti-hero. And while the flick's slick, quick-cut ("candy-coated," as one witness aptly put it) preview elicited only a mildly positive response, a follow-up montage of the film's most violent moments, set to the music of Ramallah's "Days of Revenge," garnered raucous applause from the fanboy-heavy audience.
The copious images of machine-gun fire, exploding heads and eviscerated bodies reminded me of Sylvester Stallone's reboot of Rambo, which to this day remains the most violent mainstream movie I've ever seen. On the other hand, the trailer reminded me of Joel Schumacher, who you may remember directed a little movie called Batman & Robin. Take that as you will.
P.S. -- Stevenson is definitely an upgrade over Jane. More to come tomorrow...