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The Punisher Lion’s Gate Home Entertainment (2004)
Summary: Punisher punishes all those who need punishing! My Thoughts: The Punisher has a unique place in film history, at least in nerd film history. The consummate actor Dolph Lundgren, most famous for beating up Skeletor as He-Man and getting beat up by Rocky Balboa, actually portrayed The Punisher back in the 80s. That Punisher film proved that nothing good was going to happen with superheroes in the cinema for a long time, and further solidified Dolph in the has-been hall of fame. As far as the character of The Punisher goes, I could take or leave him. Sure he’s tough and ready to blow shit up at a moments notice, but I never found him that interesting. He’s got enough style with his simple costume to make him visually appealing, yet boring at the same time. I always found him mostly useful teamed up with another superhero like Spiderman. I was a little leery about this flick sans a Spiderman, but I was pleasantly surprised after viewing this it. Thomas Jane plays an ex cop and special forces agent named Frank Castle who goes from a normal guy into a killing machine after his family is gunned down by the mafia. The biggest difference between the comic and the film version of Punisher is that Frank Castle’s family are no longer innocent bystanders. The filmmaker’s raise the stakes by having Castle take some guilt for their deaths. Not only that, instead of his immediately family getting killed, his whole family gets it including his mother and father. If there was any question about Castle’s motivation in the comics, there isn’t any here. The whole beginning sequence with the slaughter of Frank’s family is handled quite well, and I haven’t seen anything this well done since Mad Max. After this excellent beginning, the film isn’t able to keep up the pace it had been building. That’s not to say it’s a bad film, it’s just a little bit of a let down once Frank Castle starts his revenging work. Frank follows in the footsteps of other revenging heroes like Batman, setting himself up a lair. Unlike Batman, Frank Castle has to resort to living in a crappy apartment building. He's also a strong believer in the healing power of guns and that's made obvious by his arsenal. He’s seriously a wet dream for the NRA. After he gets his apartment set up, he even gets a Punisher-car. Unlike Batman, he doesn’t have a secret identity, and even confronts some cops in front of a bunch of reporters so the whole world knows he's alive. It does in one way make this a much different superhero film. Castle doesn’t need to hide behind a mask, because there is nothing to hide. The rest of the film goes from a dark revenge thriller to moments that are very light and humorous. The interplay between Frank and the other three tenants is enjoyable, but I could see where it might not work for everyone. As the other tenants become Frank’s new family, the film diverges from its inspiration of Mad Max and other films like it. They give Frank a purpose in life aside from avenging his family that surely would have led to his death by the end of the film. The one exception to this departure from Mad Max occurs at the end, however. I won’t ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but one character is given an impossible task in order to save his own life like at the end of the Mel Gibson classic. Thomas Jane plays The Punisher in an interesting way. I've never actually liked Frank Castle in any real way (I'm not sure you're supposed to) and Jane brings a personal touch to character that some fans of the comic might have a hard time swallowing. Other notables in the cast include the tubby version of John Travolta that, well is okay for the part. I also liked the casting of the other tenants in Castle's building. They make the interplay between the serious world of the Punisher and the daily, sometimes light hearted, world work. I must note that The Punisher is not for the squeamish. There’s at least one scene that had me cringing when one of the good guys gets tortured. There are a few henchmen demises that consist of some pretty brutal stabbings and arrow usages that were a little surprising to see in a Marvel film. I also must note that the film is much more satisfying if you watch it with the mindset that it’s John Travolta getting punished for making Battlefield Earth. The picture and sound on this edition are pretty good. The 5.1 surround mix dishes out the much needed goods during the action series. I'd like to introduce something new for this review. Sometimes I notice small things in film that bother me for no reason other than I'm either anal, a nerd, or both. The nitpick will be accompanied by sexy Vulcan T'Pol, who best represents the nitpick because of the way Trek fans got their Starfleet uniforms in a bunch over their problems with Enterprise. Plus, she's hot. Here goes:
Extras: For Punisher fans there are not a whole lot of extras on the disc, however what’s on it is pretty decent. The “Special Features” section itself includes some news clips that are a little bonus in themselves, I guess. The deleted scenes are pretty pointless and dull. At least they have optional director’s commentary. If you care about the really “cool” heavy metal band Drowning Pool the video for Step Up is included in the features section. It would be worth watching for the hot naked chicks in it, except for that they blurred out all the naughty bits. Dumb! The main chunk of what few special features there are a few featurettes covering the stunts, the on the set filming, the origin of the Punisher, and another one about the creation of the movie poster. The origin featurette goes a lot deeper into the comic history of the character than I’ve seen on a lot of other superhero film DVDs and it’s a nice watch if you don’t know the character very well. The other three are interesting enough if you liked the film a lot, but probably won’t be a big deal for anyone else. There’s also a commercial, I mean trailer, for the Punisher video game that everyone has already forgotten about. What really saves this edition from being completely ho-hum is the director’s commentary. While it’s not the best one I’ve ever heard, it provides plenty of insight and that’s the least you can ask for. Score: Film: 8.0 Extras: 6.5 Edition: 7.5 -Paul
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An
Overly Critical Nerd Nitpick: Early in the film
Frank's wife Betty yells at their son to get into the Jeep in order to get away
from the mobsters. Instead, they get into a Chevy Blazer, not a JEEP!
