Movie Review: The Punisher

Bottom line: I thought this film was an average film but a pretty good adaptation of the comic book.

For the most part, the Punisher is a brooding, dark film. The Punisher, as always is pretty meticulous with delivering his "punishment" and that makes the film good. Also well done was the origin and backstory for the Punisher. With minor changes, the story stays true to the comics, and even includes a few elements directly from them.

The script isn't anything amazing, the acting is about average, and some of the peripheral characters seem a bit unncessary. The one thing they missed but tried to capture was the dark humor that Ennis infused the comic book with during the early part of his Marvel Knights run.

Review: Wolverine: The End #5

Wolverine: The End #5
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Claudio Castellini

Before I dig into this book, I just think I should say that because of all the delays with this title, I have trouble remembering everything that happened before in this story.

However, that said, this has to be one of the worst comics I've ever read.

I am a pretty big Wolverine fan. Why is this a bad comic? Because it pretty much doesn't make sense.

Right off the bat, this book suffers from several problems. First, my impression of "The End" stories were that they were supposed to be the real ending of the characters' lives. Hulk: The End and Punisher: The End were both single issue stories that sort of lived up to that concept. They sort of follow the character as he goes for "one last hurrah." Wolverine: The End is too long -- six issues to tell the end of a single character's plight is unncessary. Also, how does it tie-in with X-Men: The End, which also features Wolverine?

Put that aside. The thought was that somehow this story should bookend Origin. Not a terrible idea, hence the parallel six issue structure, but Origin was decent, this is not.

I've read four major titles by Jenkins: Inhumans, Sentry, Origin and Wolverine: The End. After a great story like Inhumans, and decent set-ups in Sentry and Origin, it's amazing how far he's fallen in writing this incomprehensible title. The delays don't help, but it's incredibly difficult to tell what is going on in this book.

The final problem with this book is that it doesn't really get to the core of the character. It seems to be a six issue gimmick to deal with the idea, "What happened to Wolverine's brother from Origin, who he hasn't seen all his life and is out to kill him?" Wolverine has always been about the man within the beast. This does nothing for that. The book is very disappointing and unclear. This was an ill-conceived idea.

I guess they don't all work out.

Quick Hits

It's been a long time since I've posted here, and I apologize. My goal is to have well-thought posts on this blog, however, with time constraints I've been less able to do that. For stupid thoughts on my mind, check out the Kitchen Fresh Blog.

I think I'm trashing on some of my favorite writers recently (Bendis, Ellis, Waid) but their work is just not grabbing me like it used to/usually does.

Quick thoughts on comics I've read recently:

Avengers #502 - The general mood online seems to be mixed about this book. In my opinion, I expect more from Bendis, so this is disappointing. I'm also down on the upcoming idea that Wolverine, Captain America, Spider-Man, Power Man, Iron Man and Spider-Woman will make up the new Avengers team after this is all over. But it's not an awful story. It's just about average.

Sleeper: Season 2 #4 - Buy this book. It's good. I don't watch the show Alias but it seems very similar.

Teen Titans #15 & #16 - This book is not as strong as it had started but it's still entertaining. Sort of like a more serious version of Young Justice, but still retains the spirit of fun.

Wolverine #19 - Rucka's run ends but this story was just too long. Seven parts is long period. I wonder if that was his doing or Marvel's (trying to milk his story for a few more issues). Rucka was better than what came before but I've seen overall better stuff from him.

Identity Crisis #4 - I've heard some online rumors about who the killer is that I don't really like. But so long as they stay untrue, this story is headed for greatness. The mystery/suspense is excellent. Mysteries like this haven't really happened a lot in comics recently.

Astonishing X-Men #5 - Great book. Captures fun, drama and action of X-Men perfectly. Might be the best X-Title out there right now.

Runaways #18 - First series ends, and they try to set a new status quo for the kids. In a sense, this issue is more of a transition than really an ending.

X-Men: The End - Dreamers & Demons #3 - Longest title for a comic ever? Touching on all the various X-Men, this series has an epic feel to it. Let's see if it will be comprehensive in resolving the X-Men story.

Marvel Knights - Spider-Man #6 - Somehow, I expected more. Adding the X-Men brings some suspense, and the Venom symbiote for sale seems interesting.

Pulse #5 - More mediocre Bendis. Mediocre Bendis is just a disappointment. Sometimes I think that Jessica Jones is Benids, just a woman.

Ultimate X-Men #51 - I don't like Gambit, but this story seems like the best way to bring him into the Ultimate universe.

Ultimate Nightmare #2 - Not the best work from Ellis. I am also disappointed by his Ultimate FF as well.

Ex-Machina #4 - Different from other stuff I'm reading. Vaughan - always with the cliffhangers!

Wanted #5 - Ha. I had forgotten this book was still coming out. I'll need to re-read the whole miniseries for total judgement.

Sorry...

Sorry I haven't updated this lately. Massive update to come soon! Hopefully by the weekend.