It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I didn't expect much from this flick. Cast wasn't tempting, I never heard of its director and The Punisher from 1989. was lousy, so I even thought of skipping this one. Fortunately I didn't. To date this is one of the best Marvel movies. Story is well developed but it's not too long or stretched, acting was very good (Travolta's performance was pleasant surprise), directing and music are good, it holds attention from the beginning to the end and it's easy to get involved with the story and characters. I never rated any Marvel movie higher than eight and this one is strong eight. So far, top 5 for me are Howard the Duck (1986), Blade II (2002), Daredevil (2003), The Punisher (2004) and maybe Spider-Man (2002). The rest of Marvel movies up to year 2004 are on scale from mediocre to complete failure.8/10

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.

While the 1989 adaptation of the Marvel comic was a cheesy, action-packed, B-movie starring Dolph Lundgren, the 2004 is a big-bucks Hollywood blockbuster which stands as a great example of its kind. Instead of being clichéd and tired, THE PUNISHER kicks backside from beginning to end, charting an unlikely path between human drama, comedy and balls-to-the-wall action, and succeeding admirably. The first half-hour of the movie – which sets up the events which are to follow – is absolutely tragic, and had me reaching for the hankies on occasion; afterwards, the film turns into a dark vigilante thriller, very violent in places yet touching and funny in others. A witty script and excellent theme tune really help to add to the proceedings.Thomas Jane (who has never had his chance at the limelight before, after appearing as one-dimensional characters like the hero in DEEP BLUE SEA), is outstanding in the role, not only massively muscular, but a quality actor too. Bad guy duties go to the tag-team of Will Patton (who looks like Ron Perlman in BLADE II) as a sadist and John Travolta, overacting to the hilt and remaining utterly enjoyable, as only he can, as the family man/crime boss. Director Jonathan Hensleigh also elicits some very good roles to the supporting likes of the three actresses, Laura Harring, Rebecca Romijn, Samantha Mathis, and also Roy Scheider, who really has been away from our scenes too long. Finally, there's Ben Foster, who seems to be carving a path for himself with slightly psychotic characters, in this and HOSTAGE.Of course, this is an action flick at heart, and there are some great scenes. The climatic shoot-out, complete with bombs disguised as champagne bottles and a wicked bow and arrow, is top-notch stuff, and you've gotta love the car-dragging sequence which follows – how perfectly cinematic can you get? Meanwhile, the over-the-top (but yet so cool) battle between Jane and a hired Russian assassin is one of the most brutal and exciting I've witnessed. Also watch out for one of the most painful sequences put on film, which shows you don't need gore for effect – all I'll say is that it'll put you off piercings for life! All in all, THE PUNISHER is a dark and brooding action flick, expertly directed and with real style. Bring on the sequel.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen. The script is horrible, the dialogue is horrible, the acting is horrible. The editors were not on their A game this day. With such a great story in The Punisher comics you would think you could pull off a great movie. I would suggest sticking with the Daredevil Netflix series to get a better representation of the Punisher. I am hoping we get a spin off series soon. This was just a very poorly executed film. As this review sums it up, I am going to pontificate nothing within these next two sentences. This is just an attempt to meet IMDb's silly policy of ten lines of text.