Episode Eighty-Six - The Punisher (1989)

01/02/24 • 76 min

Failure to Franchise is kicking off 2024 with our "New Year's Punishment Party!" No, it's not a weird S&M thing, ya freaks! Instead, we're spending January looking at not one, not two, but three failed attempts to start a movie franchise based on one of Marvel Comics most popular (and problematic) characters, Frank Castle, AKA the violent vigilante known as The Punisher. First up, we travel back to 1989, the year of Tim Burton's Batman, to look at the year's other comic book movie about a black-clad avenger. What's that? You don't remember another one? That's probably because 1989's The Punisher, starring Dolph Lundgren, was unceremoniously dumped straight-to-video in the US, and is largely forgotten today. But does the first cinematic Punisher movie deserve such a fate, or is it an underappreciated 80s action classic?

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Episode Eighty-Five - The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

The third annual "Failure to Franchise Presents Trev and Chris-Mas" wraps up (see what I did there?) with a look at 1999's The Thomas Crown Affair, a remake of the 1968 classic heist movie starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. This time around, the titular main character is played by Pierce Brosnan, taking a break from his then current role as James Bond (heard of it?), to try to add another blockbuster franchise under his belt. But despite bringing Rene Russo and Denis Leary along for the ride, getting acclaimed action director John McTiernan to helm the project, and the movie being a box-office success, Brosnan's hopes for a new franchise were still left unrealized. So what happened? Join us as we close out 2023 by discussing that very question, as well as our own thoughts on the film.

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Episode Eighty-Seven - The Punisher (2004)

The "New Year's Punishment Party" continues, as we take a look at the second big-screen Punisher adaptation, from 2004, starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta. Made as the character was enjoying a second-wave of popularity in the comics world, and produced right on the cusp of the incoming box-office and cultural dominance of comic-book movies, The Punisher (2004) is an interesting snapshot of a strange time for the genre. But does this one get the character right? Does it improve on the lesser-known 1989 version? Does he actually wear the skull logo?? Well, yes, I'll answer that one right now...he does. Join us as we discuss the film's wild tonal swings, the eclectic mix of supporting characters, and the unique revenge plot (and whether or not said plot truly feels like a Punisher movie).