Fresh and Exciting

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film almost fails at every level but to be fair the budget cut made the film a whole lot different from what was planned. Referencing various films from the 60s and 70s and the skull shirt etc all have gone to waste. Sure, it's better than 1989 version but still not even close to being good. The skull shirt didn't suit this film which plays out as a generic action film at all while it wasn't used in the 1989 version where it could have gone well with that film's tone.

I think it is a good time to bring another movie review the 2004 movie The Punisher, directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. The reason I feel that it is necessary for me to bring this movie back up, is because of the new Netflix released series Daredevil where we see the Punisher make appearances in. If you are a fan of the series Daredevil I feel that it is a good idea to watch this film to better understand the Punisher. The whole point that I want to bring this movie back is because of how well it does in showing Frank Castles life change. The beginning Frank Castle is an FBI agent who works in busting international crime dealers. What seemed to be a routine last job went sideways. One of the people who were killed was the son of Howard Saint, who is a crime boss in Tampa. The Saint family are distraught over the death of their son they send their men to go and kill Castles entire family. After surviving the hit Frank Castle now wants to get back at the people who did this to him. So he makes his way back to Tampa and starts getting ready for what he calls is justice. Which is why I feel that its important to watch this film, to really see how Frank Castle turns into the Punisher. With that I felt that he plot was good. I wouldn't say it was the best but it defiantly did a good job with Frank Castle. The only issue that I have with it, is when Henry Heck came into town that part felt rushed through. It felt like it was an after thought with how short the scene was for that character. Other than that the movie flowed fluently throughout the movie, really showing how Frank Castle was changing from a man into a killing machine. The plot wouldn't be much though if the acting of the actor playing Frank Castle didn't fallow through, which I thought Thomas Jane did well. Thomas Jane plays Frank Castle in the film and does the transformation justice. When he returns to where his family was murdered that is where we first catch a glimpse of him becoming the Punisher. He I thought did a good job playing the straight faced, man who has been through a lot very well. Which was shown with the shape that he was in to play the role. Thomas Jane in the movie looked like a guy who was a mission when he to over as Frank Castle, with how big he was. To even help the case even more I felt that the cinematography was just what you would expect in an action movie. The fight scenes where they would focus on Thomas Janes' face really feel as a third party in the room. The steady camera work for one shot where Tomas Jane punches the camera makes you flinch to get out of the way was brilliant. In the end this movie did justice to the Punisher. It really makes you connect to him and feel him and would always want him to continue what he is doing. Also if you are a comic book fan this movie I felt brought the Punisher to life and which you would enjoy.

It wasn't bad, at least it wasn't as bad as the critics say, and let's face it, the Punisher is a pretty hard thing to translate into film. It has to walk that line between comic book movie, mafia movie, and serial killer movie and that is a hard line to follow.Punisher: War Zone leaned far too much towards the comic book angle and the film really stank because of it.The Punisher 1990 found that balance, but it did it in only the way a B-movie in the 1990s could.The Punisher 2004 tried to find it, but it got lost somewhere in the shuffle. What it got instead was a little too jumbled to be really good.For starters it suffered from origin syndrome. People walking into a movie like The Punisher already know the origin story. They know it as well as they know Captain America, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four, so for the comic book audience, which is probably the majority of viewers, a big part of the plot is revealing something that we already know is going to happen. We are forced to watch it all ply out before we can get to the plot.Conversely, those walking in completely fresh can easily be told the origin in a less painful way for Punisher fans.Besides the movie already got a solid "R" rating, there is no way you can show how Frank actually became the Punisher and keep it under NC-17 for violent content.In the case of the Punisher, the origin is something we'd all rather be told than shown. No one wants to watch that, even when you cut away to keep it rated R, we still don't want to see it.So the first chunk of a movie is a set up to watch children get murdered, and then we finally get into the story.Where the movie wins is the blood and violence. They keep it adult action movie enough to stay true to the Punisher comics. it wins out there and does it with a stylistic tone that helps redeem the film.The only problem is you have to sit through the set-up, watch material you already know by heart, only to see the disgusting act of violence that pushes Frank over the edge before you get to the redeeming parts of the film...and by then it's a little too late to completely salvage it.

An undercover FBI agent becomes a vigilante assassin and sets out to unleash his wrath upon the corrupt businessman who slaughtered his entire family at a reunion.The Punisher has had a rough ride in Hollywood. So far as I know, the first Punisher film was in the 1980s and is all but forgotten. Then this one came along, and is probably the best known and most successful. But apparently not successful enough to have the star (Thomas Jane) appear in the sequel, which brought in Ray Stevenson. And what is the deal with John Travolta as the bad guy? Was he still riding the wave from "Pulp Fiction", or maybe this was a small hump after "Swordfish"? Anyway, what they did here was a strange departure. You have the very core of the character -- a man avenging his family -- but that is about it. The FBI agent angle is a bit lame. Sure, you can't have him be a Vietnam vet anymore, but why not Desert Storm? It will be interesting to see how well the Punisher blends in to the "Daredevil" TV series. I feel like that will be the best incarnation yet, and who knows... maybe we will someday get the film we deserve. Though it is not likely, since we're still recovering from an endless stream of "Fantastic Four" and "Ghost Rider".