By Rusty
(You had me at stripper pole)
With the 1989 Punisher film setting the bar so low, it isn’t a surprise that this attempt is far better. The surprise however, is how good this movie actually is. By no means is it perfect, but it is a good movie overall. Thomas Jane and John Travolta star in the movie. The movie borrows elements from several of the comics, something its 1989 predecessor didn’t do. The plot follows Frank Castle and his transformation into the Punisher via the murder of his family, and his subsequent revenge on those who destroyed his life. Also, if you watch the extended cut (which I recommend), Frank also seeks the person who sold him out to the mafia.
The film opens with Bobby Saint and Mickey Duka meeting with an undercover Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) for a illegal weapons deal. The deal goes awry and the FBI shows up. Bobby is accidentally killed, along with Frank who is also “killed”. It turns out that Frank’s death was faked, so he could retire and spend more time with his family. Meanwhile it also turns out that Bobby Saint is the son of Howard Saint (John Travolta), a big time crime lord. At Bobby’s funeral, Howard orders the killing of Frank. His wife however decides that killing Castle isn’t enough and asks for his whole family to be killed. The hit is carried out in Puerto Rico, when Castle is attending a family reunion. After a car chase, Frank’s wife and son are run down by Saint’s thugs. Castle is shot multiple times, and “killed” in an explosion. Castle is nursed back to health by a local witch doctor. He goes back to Miami where he gets a room in a boarding house and plans his revenge.
One of the strongest things this film has going for it is Thomas Jane. When he was announced to play the Punisher, fanboys were ready to bear arms. His performance however, shut many of them up. As Frank Castle, Jane plays a caring husband & father. We see that all he wants is to have a happy family and peaceful life. However, when Castle is transformed into The Punisher, Jane transforms into a man who dosn’t care if he is alive or dead. All he cares about is revenge. The action in this movie is also fun to watch. The scene that stands out the most is the fight between The Punisher and The Russian (played by an unrecognizable Kevin Nash). Castle get his ass thoroughly kicked throughout the fight (he wins though) but with some comedy and and great facial expressions by Jane help it stand out. The way Castle plans his revenge is sinister and made think of the comic immediately. Also, the opening graphics are look great and the instrumental score is dark, fitting in well the feeling of the movie. It doesn’t hurt that The Punisher’s skull is in this move, unlike some other film I talked about.
On the negative side however, is a couple things both plot and acting wise. When Livia (Saint’s wife) orders Franks family to be killed, she doesn’t just mean his wife and kids, she means his whole FREAKING FAMILY. Everyone gets killed. Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, Cousin Larry, Grandma all dead. I found annoying how out of about 30 or so people, not a single one sees 4 heavily armed guys in black coming towards them or escaped. Also John Travolta’s acting is very mediocre. I’m sure they could’ve cast someone who plays a far better villain than him. I get the feeling they only cast him for star power. Also, the film is different than the comic. Sometimes, it is hard to translate something from it’s original source to film. The things that were changed don’t seem to be that hard to put on film. The comic takes place in New York, while the film is in Miami. Frank’s immediate (not extended and cousins twice removed) family is gunned down in central park, not Puerto Rico. Also, why no Micro Chip? I know the film is trying to be dark, but why would they put oddball roommates, but no sidekick/gun supplier guy?
Okay, I’m nitpicking near the end there. The Punisher is a fun film, it is by no means perfect but its a good comic based movie and is far better than the stuff that preceded it and some of the stuff that followed it (ahem … Ghost Rider). I suggest you check it out, and if you do watch the Extended Cut.
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really good review. I definitely loved this movie…I’ve never read the comics, and I haven’t seen the other punisher movie so I don’t have anything to compare it to. It was on tv today when I randomly stopped in the campus snack bar, and I got all excited that I got to see some of it haha
I especially liked how you commented on Thomas Jane’s acting. I had seen him in a few things before, so I was all “eh” when I saw he was in it, but…he definitely did a great job
Don’t worry, you aren’t missing much from the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie.
got this movie all right and all wrong at the same time. Its a horrible movie, much like Alien3 is a horrible movie. However, the director’s cut (or extended cut) make this a completely different movie…much like how the Director’s Cut of Alien3 makes it a completely different film. I felt Thomas Jane’s performance was good especially as pre-Punisher, Frank Castle. His interaction with his family really helped make the audience empathetic to his loss. However, I was never quite convinced as his transformation into the Punisher.
The Punisher of the comics sees the world in black and white and has only one thing on his mind: Punish the wicked…which in most cases means killing them. He was very humorless and you never saw Frank Castle…you only saw The Punisher. Thomas Jane’s Punisher leaked out a lot of Frank Castle at times which didn’t compare well to the character from the comics but was probably a choice made by the producer so that he didn’t become hard to relate to. From the looks of it, it feels like the new Punisher movie coming out soon is trying to tap in more to the comic version of the Punisher. But for a movie, this could be a good or bad thing.
As far as a comic book adaptation, this one ranks up there with Daredevil and Fantastic Four for me. But as a stand alone movie, its pretty entertaining and much better than those movies.