The Punisher (2004)

Producers and distributors alike can try to market this as a superhero movie all they want but the fact is that at the end of the day The Punisher is an action movie – no more, no less. That is not to say it is a bad achievement, for the end product is fun, exhilarating and stylish. I do however feel it is extremely important to debunk the 'comic book' label since it is both unjustly applied and it will perhaps generate false expectations from the mainstream audience.

Although The Punisher is adapted from Marvel Comics, the R-rating alone should be blunt indicator of the path it intends to take. Half an hour into the film it still leaves us clueless and oblivious to the dark turn it will twist into. During which Thomas Jane undergoes an apt transformation of character from heartfelt family man on that one last undercover op to a hard-boiled, brooding vigilante who downs whiskey, swears, tortures and broods. The catalyst for this development is the brutal murder of his family and now he's out to get the hierarchy of villains (headed by John Travolta) – only he isn't just out for vengeance or justice – he's out to punish. In a corrupt city of thugs, Frank Castle becomes the judge, jury and executor.

What is so refreshing about Thomas Jane in the part of Punisher is that he is a sprawling surge of old school with a splash of Clint Eastwood protagonist – the detached, effortless action hero who is too cool for romantic interests, with hardcore one-liners and a merciless approach to duels. In this way, he is easily one of the most successful 'superhero' actors of the new millennium. But alas, Jane went unnoticed and Punisher did poorly at the box office probably BECAUSE it adopted this off-beat, old-school style to acting and action.

I also want to comment on said action, which was spectacular. Truth to be told, I have been waiting a long time to say that about a film. Usually it's the obligatory "the visuals are stunning" or "it's extremely fast-paced and kinetic" but here the sheer hand-to-hand combat is the film's goldmine because it moves back into close character mode instead of the epic scenarios that Batman, Superman and Spiderman dish out to keep out interest. It's gloriously gritty, graphic and dirty which unfortunately also begs the question of where the $33,000,000 budget went. Did they spend it all on late night taco runs?

For that matter, The Punisher is far from devoid of faults. Its fatal flaw stems, in part, from what made it a good film in the first place: its sparseness of effects, general minimalism and lack of superhero formula. Rather it is a model-kit assembled from seedy old-school revenge action movies, the type you'd sort of casually catch a bit of on TV one night.

7 out of 10

Fmovies: The Punisher put my faith back into revenge movies. The action in this film is unbelievable and grim. I found myself not wanting the story to end. Many of the movies based on superheroes in a comic book tend not to sticks gritty and real. This one was and then some. The movie has surpassed my expectation and I certainly look forward Punisher 2.

The next film sets itself up for a kick butt start. They should take a page from X2 or the Lethal Weapon series and just open the next film with a wild battle. You can grab the viewer right away and still tell your full story right after. I hope the entire cast as well as the director returns because they crafted one quality origin story here. In summary, I enjoyed everything about this dark tale.

This wonderful revenge film was acted and directed with complete conviction but still found the time to kick ass. This is one of the best movies I have seen this year and I go to at least one movie a week. The acting was good. I would recommend this movie to everyone. I thought it was going to be some type of 80's action movie, but it turned out to be great movie aimed towards an older crowd. The beginning is a bit slow, but the action really keeps you focused. Thomas Jane did an excellent job as the Punisher and Travolta's performance was much better than I was expecting. This is a movie that thinks so deeply about its conflicts and decisions that there are times when the audience itself feels like it has a personal stake in the outcome. This is by far the best film in the reinvigorated sub-genre of comic-book-to-screen conversions.

The Punisher fmovies. This is the second version of 'The Punisher', and while I enjoy the original that starred Dolph Lungren, I LOVED this one. Thomas Jane was amazing, he definitely had the essence of the tortured Frank Castle down perfect. The acting in this movie was extremely well done, a lot more well done than many people (critics) have given it credit for. I think that John Travolta even though he can be a bit annoying at times played a great bad guy, and his character was sinister, and cruel, but loving at the same time. Will Patton I think almost stole the show with his portrayal of his character Quentin Glass, because he had a charisma about him that was equally disturbing. It was a great movie, not just 'great for what it was'. The story was good, the stunts, and the violence amazing, and I really hope they greenlight for a sequel.

"The Punisher" is a shining example of revenge and vigilante-style justice done right. It's also yet another comic book adaptation done properly. I thought this movie was one of the best I have seen in a long time. In the compendium of comic movies, this falls just shy of the two X-Men movies and Spider-Man but easily surpasses Batman, Batman Begins, Superman and The Hulk. The fact that it is an R-rated movie will kill any possible chance of decent box-office numbers, but it was a necessary step to take, and the quality of the movie just makes up for it. Hopefully this was Thomas Jane's breakout role, as he was outstanding and has the potential to be a contender to Ben Affleck, Hugh Jackman, Colin Farrell, and Matt Damon as the next big action star. If you like action movies, check out this movie. If you like comic book adaptations, check out this movie. Heck, if you just like movies in general, The Punisher is two hours well-spent. Like Thomas Jane himself says, "Frank Castle is dead. Long live The Punisher."

Wonderful Camera work and acting.

There are no flashy CGI effects in this movie or fictional superpowers. It relies more on traditional technique's and delivers beautifully.

The director has done a superb job with the severely underfunded budget taking us to a realistic location that serves two purposes cheaper production costs and somewhere original that looks and feels real. After all that is what the punisher movie is about, making a comic book character fit into the real world with realistic situations.

This guy could be anyone out there with a vendetta up against believable enemies. There are no superpowers on show here just a guy with a vendetta up against a powerful man that wants him killed who can afford to hire realistic killers with personality I might add, to do the job

This goes down as one of my favorite films of all time mainly because of the beautiful camera work and realistic gritty style action. I'll be definitely keeping an eye out for this director's work in the future.