MovieChat Forums > Punisher: War Zone (2008) Discussion > Tonally Inconsistent

Tonally Inconsistent

posted 10 years ago by the_raven75
6 replies | jump to latest

Just finished watching it. Pretty good movie.

Its only real problem is that it doesn't know whether it wants to be Marvel Knights Punisher (stupid, OTT villains, black humour) or Punisher MAX.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

I guess not all of us ( who don't read the comics) know the difference or even care that much.🐭

[–] roddersj04 9 years ago

He's saying the film doesn't know whether it wants to be over the top, or more stooped in gritty realism. And frankly, I agree.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

That's nice for you. And may be it deliberately trod a path between the two. 🐭

[–] ninthcentury 9 years ago

the film doesn't know whether it wants to be over the top, or more steeped in gritty realism.

It's both.

"Oooo, lookee, a Sneerfest I can jump in on!!!"

[–] Scrap_Iron 9 years ago

I disagree. War Zone maintained a consistent tone throughout its course--riding a fine gradient between gritty and over-the-top.

For a true example of tonal inconsistency, see the 2004 Punisher where the first half contains the ruthless massacre of the protagonist's entire family, only to suddenly shift gears midway thru to introduce bizarre characters and a violent slapstick fight.

War Zone on the other hand knew what it was going for from the start. It established a general mood and stuck with it till the end.

[–] G_Runciter 9 years ago

Yeah, didn't feel inconsistent to me either.
The grittiness is there in (most of) the visuals, and the cruelty of the characters, and everything else was deliberately over the top.