| Review by Jim |
| Plot: After ex-cop Frank Castle's family is murdered by the mob and he's declared legally dead, Castle launches a one-man war on crime with the help of a drunken thespian and his abundant armory. Just as Gianni Franco is taking full control of the mob and Castle's ex-partner Jake is looking for him, the Japanese yakuza devise a plan to take over all of the organized crime by kidnapping every mobster's child. Now Frank and Gianni form a partnership to storm the yakuza headquarters. One way or the other, the guilty will be punished...with lots of bullets! Review: First things first: this is Dolph Lungren's best movie, don't even try to argue that point. As far as I'm concerned, Dolph Lungren IS Frank Castle. Secondly, this comic book adaption has gotten lots of flack from a lot of people, but I'm here to say it's a good movie. Let's get this outta the way first for all the hardcore fans of the comic--yeah, he doesn't have the classic skull t-shirt and I know it's kind of disappointing, but get over it. Just because he doesn't sport the tee doesn't mean this movie's a bomb. It's only loosely based off the comic, meaning that they use the name and a few references, but it can't mirror the comic completely. That means no skull tee and other things get changed around. For instance, Frank is a cop and has never been in the military and he hides out in the sewers. Also this is a pretty low-budget movie and we see the same scenes with Frank cruising the sewers on his motorcycles over and over again. In my opinion the low-budget production gave the movie a gritty and dark feel to it to where the atmosphere did feel like a Punisher comic. Okay, I'm not a fan of the Punisher comics, but I'm always up for a vigilante flick. Since it's low-budget it does have its cheesy moments, for instance the famous scene in which Dolph whips out a gigantic big fucking automatic gun and starts mowing down slot machines (just look at the expression on his face). And then there's the irritating sidekick character they added to the movie--Shake. You see, Shake is a homeless actor and is an alcoholic. Supposedly he's valuable to Frank for information and so forth, and he calls him Mr.P! Wait, Frank is listening to info that if gotten wrong could cost him his life from a guy that chases a remote-controlled car with a bottle of wine without being a little bit suspicious? Shake isn't someone I'd count on in my hour of need. Shake got on my goddamn nerves, there was no two ways about it. File him under "annoying comic relief guy." Also the relationship with Frank's ex-partner, Louis Gossett Jr., is rather tedious and distracting from Dolph's revenge-fest. Why is he so damned obsessed? And then there was Gossett's new partner...who added zilch to the overall film. What the hell was she in there for? Gossett's a good enough actor, but if he's not kicking Richard Gear in the balls, then I'm not interested. As I said, Dolph Lungren is the Punisher. He blends in with the dark atmosphere perfectly and he looks so pale you'd think he had the flu for a few weeks. He also delivers his snappy comebacks like you'd expect the Punisher to and overall is every bit as intense and zealous as the comic Punisher. He does have an accent and no skull tee (which let's face it, makes the Punisher the Punisher). On the downside, he has this bad habit of praying to God in the buff. If you've ever wanted to see what Dolph Lungren's ass looks like, then here's your chance. Even though Dolph didn't fight any recognizable villains, the film did give us some good villains. Kim Miyori as Lady Tanaka gave a pretty cold performance and you can't help but love to hate her. She was a bitch, and was perfect for the role. Gianni Franco was a likeable and at times sympathetic villain. The scenes with his sons, you couldn't help but like him. While all this acting and emotional stuff is fine, the Punisher still about only one thing--killing lots of baddies. Dolph blows away mobster and yakuza alike in any way he can. Whether it be shooting them up, throwing a knife through their head, or hanging them, you can bet your ass the guilty's going to be punished and it's not going to be pretty. The film carries a heavy body count, maybe not as much as in the final scene of Commando, but good enough for me. The fight sequences were grade A material all the way and looked gritty enough to fit the tone of the film. Dolph is a black belt, after all, and this was a perfect opportunity to kick some asses. The action never took a back seat to the story, and for that I'm grateful. Dolph Lungren is an ass kicking machine, could you imagine the Punisher any differently? There's a new Punisher movie coming out, but I have a feeling it'll be a wimp-ifed version of the tale. No skull tee and Dolph's ass shots aside, this a pretty good action movie with some solid acting to back itself up with. I know fans of the comic have long since abandoned this movie and considered it an abortion, but I'm here to say it was pretty damn entertaining. Lots of people get punished and Dolph gives his best performance yet, so I say take a seat and watch this one. There's limits to revenge? Not for Dolph Lungren! |
| Rating: *** |
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