In 1989, "The Punisher" was released. I don't remember if it ever made it to the theaters here in the U.S., but if it did, it didn't do much. In fact, I think the movie made less than a million dollars world wide, and it cost about $10 million to make. It gained some notoriety in home video, but I don't think that notoriety translated to money. It was a box office disaster, and it's easy to see why. The movie was a complete piece of shit. The title character was played by Dolph Lundgren (in one of the most wooden performances in the history of film), and though the film was based on the Marvel Comics character, the character's trademark skull image that was supposed to be emblazoned on his chest wasn't there. So the comic book geeks were pissed, and the quality of the film did nothing to make up for it. The movie remains one of the worst comic book movies ever made.
Fifteen years later, "The Punisher" is back! Thankfully, it's not a sequel to the 1989 piece of shit, nor is it a remake. In fact, this film was made as though the 1989 film never existed. The filmmakers stayed true to the comic, including supporting characters and moments taken right from the comic books. And yes, this time, that big white skull is on his chest.
I didn't want a lot from this film. I wasn't hoping for the best comic book movie ever, nor was I looking for a great movie. I was simply looking for something I could enjoy, a "Punisher" movie that could replace that embarrassing 1989 film. Fortunately, that's exactly what I got. This most recent feature film version of "The Punisher" isn't great, not by a long shot, but I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
"The Punisher" isn't an easy character to make a movie out of. There isn't a lotta depth to him in the comic book. I can sum everything up very briefly: "Frank Castle" is a loving husband and father who watches his family get massacred. He gets his bloody revenge, but it's not enough, so he goes on a killing rampage, going after evildoers, and he does so as "The Punisher." That's it. Over the years, a lot has been added (thanks to comic book writer extraordinaire, Garth Ennis), but it's still pretty thin.
"The Punisher" was recently moved to Marvel's MAX line of comic books, comics that are for adults only. "The Punisher" comics were violent before, but now that it's a MAX comic, it'll be REALLY violent. If any of my fellow comic book geeks are familiar with Garth Ennis' work in DC's Vertigo line ("Hellblazer," "Preacher"), they know that he has a gift for writing very dark, disturbing, and violent stories, but they always have a snarky sense of humor. "The Punisher" comics will be better than ever now, I'm sure.
My reviews of comic book movies tend to be really long, mostly because I'm so easily sidetracked. The above paragraph is a shining example of that. That paragraph was supposed to be about "The Punisher" (the movie, not the comic book) being an R-rated film, but I was too busy writing about the comic to get to it. Lemmie try again.
Contrary to popular belief, a lotta comics are NOT meant for children. "The Punisher" is one of those comics (especially now), and because of that, the movie has been given it's proper R-rating. I can't imagine how bad this movie woulda been if they tried to make it PG-13.
I'm usually very picky about a comic book movie being faithful to the comic it's based on, and although the movie takes a lotta liberties, it's pretty true to the source, at least in spirit. In at least one case, a change is absolutely necessary. In the movie, "Frank Castle" was born in 1968, during the Vietnam War. In the comic book, he's a Vietnam veteran. The changes, especially that one, are pretty much acceptable (he's a Gulf War veteran in the film, by the way).
The title character is played by Thomas Jane, and hopefully, this movie will make him a star. Maybe you've seen him before, he had a leading role in "Deep Blue Sea," as well as the HBO TV-Movie, "61*," where he played "Mickey Mantle." Also, he was the male lead in "The Sweetest Thing." Or you may remember one of his smaller roles, like in "Boogie Nights" as the drug dealer who befriends "Dirk Diggler" and gets him into cocaine. He's one of those actors where you've probably seen the face before, but you don't know the name. Thomas Jane is a very good actor (and he's a comic book geek, so he's one of the good guys), and I really liked his performance in this film. Was he the perfect guy to play the role? No, I don't think of him when I read "The Punisher," but he delivers a believable performance that's crucial to the film.
For the first time in a long time, John Travolta plays a supporting role in a film. He needs a hit badly, his last five movies were "Basic," "Domestic Disturbance," "Swordfish," "Lucky Numbers," and "Battlefield Earth." Not a single one saw profit during the theatrical run, and some were, quite simply, huge box office disasters. Maybe that's why he decided to let someone else get top billing. All that notwithstanding, he does a great job as "Howard Saint," yet another villainous role.
With her role in "The Punisher," the beautiful (and now single) Rebecca Romijn-Stamos plays another comic book character, though "Mystique" is a lot cooler than the one she plays in this film. Romijn-Stamos is one of the most beautiful women in the world, so she seems miscast as "Joan," a former drug addict and alcoholic. In the comic, the character is known as "Joan the Mouse," and she's a frail, tiny young woman who's afraid of her own shadow. She shouldn't have been cast in that role, but to her credit, even though the character is very different from the comic, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos makes the change acceptable... though not very believable. She's too pretty! By the way, if you're a fan of Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, I highly recommend the underrated Brian De Palma flick, "Femme Fatale." She does a fantastic acting job, but not only that, she gets naked. And she has a lesbian scene with another supermodel. Rent the DVD. Seriously, do it now.
As for other people in the film, Will Patton is excellent as "Quentin Glass," John Pinette (the hilarious overweight comedian..."You go now! You been here four owa!") is great as "Bumpo" (though the character was MUCH fatter in the comic book), and Ben Foster (looking COMPLETELY different from how he looked in "Big Trouble," where he played Tim Allen's son) is really good as "Spacker Dave." The movie is very well acted, and everyone in the cast should be very proud of themselves.
"The Punisher" was directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, and this is his directorial debut, though he's already a well-known writer of action films. He wrote "Die Hard with a Vengeance," and he helped write "Jumanji," "The Saint," and "Armageddon." He also wrote the script for "The Punisher," with help from Michael France (who helped write "Hulk," "GoldenEye," and "Cliffhanger"). As a director, I think Jonathan Hensleigh is good, but not great. I don't see him being a premier action director, but there's nothing about "The Punisher" that struck me as bad. It got a little cheesy at times, but most of it was comic book cheese that's somewhat acceptable (like in "Daredevil"). The script was good, but yeah, kinda cheesy.
The movie combines elements from two "Punisher" comics, "The Punisher: Year One," a mini-series written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, and "Welcome Back, Frank" a 12-parter written by the great Garth Ennis. I don't know who the official creator of "The Punisher" (the character) is, and no credit is given in the movie. I DO know that the first appearance of "The Punisher" was in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974), and that issue was written by Gerry Conway with art by Ross Andru.
Reviews of the film have been pretty negative, but I'm very forgiving when it comes to comic book movies (like I said, as long as it's true to the comic book it's based on), and I was thoroughly entertained watching this movie. Yeah yeah, there are cheesy moments, it gets ludicrous at times, and very little about the story is believable, but it's fun to watch. And thankfully, Dolph Lundgren is nowhere to be found.
Scale of 1-10: 8