ROTTEN TOMATOES: Director Dahl Out of "Punisher 2"

Director Dahl Out of "Punisher 2"

by Fred Topel | June 13, 2007

Looks like "Punisher 2" is in even more turmoil after losing Thomas Jane. Now rumored director John Dahl has revealed that he's changed his mind about taking over the sequel. "I had talked to them about it but I'm actually not doing it."

The director of "Red Rock West" and "The Last Seduction" might have actually been a good choice, but even he feared he wouldn't be able to achieve his vision. "I love the idea of a kick ass vigilante that's got a really black sense of humor, that can throw three people into a trashcan, light them on fire and walk away while they're screaming. That just sounded funny to me but I wasn't sure that the script could really get there, that would have the sense of humor."

Add to that the pressures of replacing the actor, comic book fans and an original that wasn't a massive hit to begin with, and Dahl decided to stay out of trouble. "It also felt like it just had too much baggage, not in a bad way, but I'd be sort of digging myself out of a hole right from the beginning."

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(1-16 of 16 posts) | Reply

Bigbrother writes:
on Jun 13 2007 07:14 AM

Screw a sense of humor. All the best Punishers I remember I don't recall laughing that much at.

(Reply to this)

jeremyd4 writes:
on Jun 13 2007 08:02 AM

"I love the idea of a kick ass vigilante that's got a really black sense of humor, that can throw three people into a trashcan, light them on fire and walk away while they're screaming."

....damn, why couldn't this guy make the movie.

(Reply to this)

Merlin235 writes:
on Jun 13 2007 08:06 AM

Boy, this movie isn't really coming together is it?

(Reply to this)

Now it's dark writes:
on Jun 13 2007 08:20 AM

He's too smart to touch this rancid wannabe franchise. The guy who did Eragon is probly available.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jun 13 2007 08:47 AM

Damn. I really began to hope for this movie.

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the-russian writes:
on Jun 13 2007 08:49 AM

They should just give it a Batman Begins style reboot. No, that wouldn't work so soon, mabye in 12-15 years though? God damn it, they fucked the character over.

(Reply to this)

taran72 writes:
on Jun 13 2007 10:00 AM

He made the right move.

(Reply to this)

Shatter24 writes:
on Jun 13 2007 01:08 PM

[b]Damn you Hollywood[/b]
If you can regurgitate a new Saw movie, you can make another Punisher film. Get the guy who directed the first Saw movie to direct Punisher II. Re-work the script with a war story writer, attach a good but underappreciated director of small budget stuff, then go kiss Thomas Jane's ass, and ask him to come back. If they don't do it this year, it ain't gettin' done.

The first film was actually pretty good, not great, but worthy of an encore.

(Reply to this)

Ash Talon writes:
on Jun 13 2007 03:19 PM

[b]Punisher should not be "funny"[/b]
Sorry, but I'm glad Dahl isn't doing this flick. Punisher does not have a sense of humor. The first movie was based off Garth Ennis' first run of the character and tried to be funny. It didn't really work (in the comics or film).

Garth Ennis' second (MAX) run of Punisher has straight-up, hardcore vigilante action. No humor (or at least very seldomly). It has become the definitive run of Punisher comics.

What's so hard to get here? Punisher is a force of vengeance that kills very bad people. He doesn't smile about it. We should root him on and be sickened by the carnage he creates. That's the material. Not how funny it is that people are dying. It wasn't a matter of the script not getting there; it's a matter of Dahl not understanding the character and trying to put his own spin on it.

Granted, I haven't read the Punisher 2 script.

However, how hard is it to write this thing? Lionsgate (if you're listening), I'll write you a shootable Punisher 2 script. It'll take me about a month. And I'll do it for free. I guarntee it'll be better than any version you've received.

(Reply to this)

Boss Fan writes:
on Jun 13 2007 05:05 PM

In reply to this comment (#869131)
I can see the credits now: "Written by Ash Talon"

Hey, I'll direct!

Yeah, why is this so hard to get off the ground? Seems like a no-brainer. Just listen to the fans and they should be fine. Although, I was fine with the first one, save for some hokey moments and performances (sometimes it felt like they didn't know if they wanted to be a comic book movie or a dark, kick-ass revenge flick - like they wanted to appeal to everyone and have their cake and eat it too - but, at the very least, it had great moments).

What Dahl said is right though, at this point, he'd be digging himself out of a hole. Wish somebody had the balls to step up to the challenge.

(Reply to this)

dylan21484nj writes:
on Jun 13 2007 05:33 PM

In reply to this comment (#869128)
wait, wasn't the Thomas Jane movie a reboot of the Punisher franchise? have we all forgotten that Dolph Lundgren atrocity? truth is, Punisher's not that well-known of a character, so expecting a Punisher movie to have a huge box office run is unrealistic. and the fact that The Punisher is a very adult character, so the only kind of Punisher movie that would do the character justice is an R-rated movie, and R's don't typically do the kind of box office numbers PG or PG-13 films do.

i thought the Tom Jane movie was okay, but it didn't knock me over. and yeah, it's too soon after the Tom Jane movie to do (another) reboot. and i'm sorry, but a gritty revenge movie with dark humor set in New York is more interesting than a gritty revenge movie with dark humor set in Tampa freakin' Bay.

(Reply to this)

GreenBastard writes:
on Jun 13 2007 08:16 PM

Why not bring back Dolph Lundgren? he's do it for about $300. Get Uwe Boll to direct it. And to top it off bring Chuck Norris in to be the bad guy. I'd pay to see it!

(Reply to this)

Callpacas writes:
on Jun 14 2007 12:15 AM

In reply to this comment (#869130)
Saw is one weak horror franchise. Its derivative of the Cube series, and others of a similar 'trap(frame), theatrical kills , twists that you already expect from the beginning (OMG its him. Could be the other guy but the writer chose him. Oh well..)' style present in Direct TV and DVD movies in the decades leading to the Saw series. The only difference is that Saw got a huge marketing budget historical comparatively speaking.

How can you love the film when you hate the protagonist. He deserve to be killed as much as anyone else killed by him.

(Reply to this)

frogleg writes:
on Jun 14 2007 05:37 AM

I think Travolta did a lot to derail the Punisher. It wasn't perfect by any means. It was alright, but not as cool as the comics. Not by a long shot.
I didn't mind the humor all that much, because they really didn't hit us over the head with it (at least, not that I can remember). It had good stunts, and I think Jane did fine with the character. But I actually thought the script was pretty boring for long stretches.

(Reply to this)

Product_of_You writes:
on Jun 14 2007 09:36 AM

I liked the first one. I don't get why everyone hates it so much.

(Reply to this)

Big Boss writes:
on Aug 16 2008 11:32 PM

Wow this looks horrible. The actor looks unconvincing and everything else looks cliche. Punisher is an awesome bad *** but the first movie ruined this franchise. If they are going to reboot it they need sumone like Christopher Nolan.

(Reply to this)

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