The Punisher
RATING: 6/10

Review Date:        April 17, 2004
Director:             Jonathan Hensleigh
Writers:              Jonathan Hensleigh, Michael France
Actors:                Thomas Jane as Frank Castle/The Punisher
                           John Travolta as Howard Saint
                           Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Joan
Audience of Choice:                 Action/Thriller/"Comic" Fans
Year of Release:  2004

STORYLINE: Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is a man who has seen too much death in his life, first as a Delta Force Op and later as an FBI special agent. He has managed to beat considerable odds, and is finally moving out of the field and into a normal life with his wife, Maria (Samantha Mathis), and young son, Will (Marcus Johns). On his final assignment, Castle plays his undercover role perfectly, but the operation spins out of control and a young man, Bobby Saint (James Carpinello), is inadvertently killed. This places the FBI on the wrong side of Tampa businessman Howard Saint (John Travolta) and his glamorous wife, Livia (Laura Harring). Notwithstanding their glossy social profile, the Saints are no genteel Florida couple; behind their copious wealth are violent beginnings, underworld ties and a chilling capacity for brutality. Inflamed by the death of their son, the Saints are willing to risk their newfound legitimacy on a wholesale mission of blood-vengeance. Castle's worst nightmare is about to come true, as Howard Saint and his lieutenants unleash hell at the Castle family reunion. But Castle, to his everlasting torment, survives. Until this moment, he has spent his entire life adhering strictly to the law. However, experience has taught him that the law cannot adequately penalize the people who murdered his family. Drawing upon all he has learned in 20 years, Castle sets in motion a plan to punish the murderers. He takes up residence in a dilapidated tenement building in Tampa's industrial district, where his fellow tenants include Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), a waitress at a nearby diner who is trying to put her life back on track; Dave (Ben Foster), a gangly twenty-something with a face full of piercings; and Mr. Bumpo (John Pinette), a rotund gourmand who rarely leaves his home. In preparing his revenge, Castle thoroughly familiarizes himself with the habits and routines of the Saint family. He traces the movements not only of Howard and Livia, but also their surviving son, John (James Carpinello), and Howard's second-in-command, lawyer Quentin Glass (Will Patton). Armed with this essential knowledge, Castle launches his first salvo against Saint's business interests. Stunned that Castle is not only alive but causing him harm, Howard Saint marshals his forces in an attempt to shut Castle down. He soon turns to the underworld's network of hired assassins, recruiting the laconic Memphis legend Harry Heck (Mark Collie) as well as the blonde behemoth known only as the Russian (Kevin Nash). Castle�s plan is proceeding apace, but his mission has the unintended effect of placing his fellow tenement dwellers in danger. Yet Joan, Dave and Mr. Bumpo rally for their neighbor, even at great personal risk. This makeshift family forgotten men and women with no one to protect them brings Castle the one thing he least expects: redemption. His personal goal achieved, Castle realizes that his life's work has just begun. As The Punisher, he will provide justice for ordinary people and exact retribution from society's villains.

MY REVIEW: Even though I had a great time watching this movie, I would not by any means refer to it as a "great" movie. I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. I liked the hard-core feel and tone of the movie, and thought that Thomas Jane was a great choice to play The Punisher, but much of the movie had something go against it in one way or another. For instance, there are tons of random scenes, funny humor when there shouldn't be, and unnecessary plot devices. I didn't get the point of a lot that happened in the movie either, but I do know that I was really enjoying myself with it. My biggest complaint is actually that after Frank Castle's ENTIRE family is killed off in a massacre type of slaughter, he doesn't seem to bust out his, shall we say, "shit". He seems like he's just.....waiting. They even tell you why in the movie, but it just feels wrong. I mean, this is the type of movie where after your entire family is slaughtered you bust out your fucking guns and blow everybody to shit!!! You don't sneak around while you devise clever plans and then at the "end" decide to blow the shit out of everyone. That's not the way to make a balls-to-the-wall action flick.

      Even with this complaint, I was still pleasently surprised to find the movie had tons of action and hardly any boring parts. It's basically just all out action, and even with his actually funny and clever plans that he divises, it was still incredibly fun. The movie is also very graphic, and that added to the dark feel for the movie. But speaking of the dark tone and feel, another issue comes up. How the hell can you have humor in such a hard-core and serious movie like this one? I didn't know until I saw this movie, but they shockingly pulled it off. Certain scenes, almost all including the "wierd and pleasent" neighbors or a witty quip from Thomas Jane. I never thought it could work, but somehow, it just did.

      My favorite scene in the movie was when the assassin known as "The Russian" busts in The Punisher's apartment and starts smashing the shit out of him. He was one scary mutha!!!! A very well done scene, with mucho throwing threw walls. FUN!!! Before I just end my review, I would like to point out my final complaint. There are certain lines in the movie that were just plain retarded. I couldn't stop myself from laughing. It dragged down the film a bit, but then again, so did a lot of things. Even so, the movie is very enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

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