The Punisher DVD > Reviews > The Punishment Begins

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Good
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	Thomas Jane is a good Punisher
Disadvantages:	John Travolta is cack, cack, cacketty cack

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Frank Castle is on top of the world. Highly respected at work (he is one of the force's most decorated undercover officers) and adored at home by his wife and son, he decides to retire from the force and enjoy a quieter life with the family. But in his professional life, Castle made enemies. Lots of them. And now one of those enemies decides to avenge the loss of his own son by exacting a terrible act of retribution upon Castle, killing his entire extended family, his wife and his only son before putting a bullet in Castle's head. Castle, however, is not dead. Whilst his heart may be broken and his soul crushed, his body manages to recover. And so The Punisher is born - and the underworld had better watch out.

As the onslaught of comic book to movie adaptations continues, some directors are attempting to try and break away from the mainstream. Whilst Spiderman, Hulk and The Fantastic Four may be filling cinemas all over the world, they lack the dark edge that many comic fans crave to see re-created in film. This isn't the first time that somebody has tried to create a film version of Frank Castle's misadventures. In 1989 an extremely poor version of The Punisher was released, with Dolph Lundgren in the lead. Say no more. The film bombed terribly and nobody ever really took an interest in the Frank Castle story. I always thought this was a shame. Frank Castle is a great character and I was genuinely intrigued when I heard that Jonathan Hemsleigh was going to try to resurrect Frank from the dead.

The trouble is, this was always going to be a difficult film to make. The Punisher is an unusual comic-book character. He was first introduced in the Spiderman comics of the 1970s, and was essentially considered simply to be another villain. As soon as he had appeared however, his popularity soared and he eventually went on to have his own comic-book series - or three. What makes his character so difficult is that he isn't a good guy. At best he is a vigilante, exacting vengeance on the criminal low lives that he associates with the death of his family. At worst, he is a psychopath, taking out anyone and everyone who gets in his way, without sparing a thought for any of them. This makes him hard work. Nobody likes a film where the lead character is a bad guy. So the creators had to try and make him a bit of a good guy.

This for me is where The Punisher falls down. Frank Castle is a wholesome, loving family man (no problem there) whose entire life is shattered by a terrible, murderous act. In the comics, this essentially pushes him over the edge, and he leads a solitary life, trusting nobody apart from himself and shooting first, thinking second. In the film, a sub-plot is introduced showing Castle living in an apartment block, where he befriends a group of nerds suffering from one form of bullying or another. Castle becomes their hero, shooting violent, unwanted boyfriends and in turn, receiving their help when the bad guys come looking for him. It's all a bit unlikely, a bit sugary sweet and not exactly in keeping with the comic book traditions. I can see why the film makers did it. They wanted a character with whom the audience would empathise, but fans of the dark violence of the comics will feel betrayed at the portrayal of the new-look Punisher. Don't get me wrong - Castle certainly isn't happy-go-lucky but I still thought that he needed a hot injection of maniac juice.

That doesn't mean that the film isn't violent - it absolutely is, and the level of violence is surprisingly high for a comic book adaptation. (The 18 certificate is the clue). Strangely enough, however, I didn't really think the film was violent enough. Whilst the Punisher isn't particularly sadistic, he is quite inventive and I was expecting rather more from the film than I actually saw. Rather than considering the film to be ultra-violent, I would describe it as ultra-cruel - this is a story about retribution and the drive towards this from absolute cruelty. The climactic sequences are probably the best, with Castle finally let loose on hordes of underworld henchmen, and clearly loving every minute of it.

Thomas Jane was a bit of a surprise for me in this film. I only really recalled him from Deep Blue Sea where, although buff and bronzed he was also pretty dumb. In The Punisher, he's still buff, but now he's mean and certainly does his best to bring out the menace in Frank Castle. Castle's adversary Howard Saint (geddit?) is crap. There is no other word for it. And so is John Travolta. John Travolta only ever really gets away with being a good guy. I think it's that big dimple in his chin. He's completely out of place here but his screen time is mercifully quite short. Whilst he might be a ruthless adversary, he isn't a strong enough opponent and eventually I couldn't be sure whether it was Saint who was dragged away kicking or screaming or my will to carry on. The Punisher is cool. The Saint is not.

The Punisher is a fairly good movie. It's not something you would queue up to go and see, nor would you probably bother buying it. Rent it one evening when you're feeling particularly pent up and relish the sight of a fellow psychopath stalking around with a rusty guillotine blade. You have been warned. There's a sequel next year, too. Yay!

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