The Punisher (2004) review

In 1989, Marvel made the first of what would ultimately be three attempts at bringing the character of Frank Castle, AKA The Punisher, to the big screen with the 1989 film 'The Punisher' starring Dolph Lundgren in the role of Frank Castle. However, the film did not fare well as it was not only a critical failure, but it didn't even see a theatrical release here in America. The first real theatrically-released Punisher movie was 2004's 'The Punisher', starring Thomas Jane as Castle. This almost saw a sequel, but the plans never went through and Marvel would reboot the franchise again in 2008. But what about this film? Well, we have a great lead performance by Jane in the lead role, but the movie around him is plagued by its inconsistent tone, which ruins what may just be the best interpretation of the character on the big screen to date.

The film opens as FBI agent Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) completes an operation which results in the death of the son of crime boss Howard Saint (John Travolta). Castle then retires from the force in order to be with his wife Maria and their son Will more. Meanwhile, Saint vengefully orders the death of Castle and his whole family to 'settle the score'. Castle is attacked during a family reunion and his entire family is killed, including Maria and Will, while Castle himself is left for dead. Castle survives the attack and, now haunted by the death of his family, vows revenge on Saint and his men as he wages a one-man war against them as 'The Punisher'.

What drives this movie is Thomas Jane's performance as Frank Castle. I may not have read any of the comics that this was based on, but it seems like Jane got the traits of the character down; cold, vengeful, and brooding. Keeping in tune with his performance, the movie is really dark and gloomy, which does lead to one of the problems of the film in that it may just be too dark. No, this isn't a really graphic movie, but the movie as a whole comes off as being way too depressing. Not only do we have the murders of Castle's entire family, but Castle himself comes off as being way too cold because he never really cracks a smile and spends most of his time drinking away his sorrows. This is not Jane's fault, however, because he stays consistent in the role.

This film's tone is really the biggest flaw of the film, as it seems like the filmmakers couldn't decide what route to go when making this movie. First, we have the dark nature that is present throughout the entire film but then some scenes include moments that try to liven up the mood with humor. There's a fight scene that takes place during the film between the Punisher and this huge guy named 'The Russian' and during it, we frequently cut to a scene of people dancing to 'La donna è mobile'. These people in question are three outcasts (played by Ben Foster, John Pinette, and Rebecca Romjin) who live in the same tenement that the Punisher lives in after his family is killed and become his closest allies. While they do keep the movie from being totally depressing, they don't really add much to the story either.

All in all, 2004's 'The Punisher' may have been one of the closest in truly representing the character of Frank Castle in the right way, but while Thomas Jane does an excellent job as Castle, the movie in general is a mixed bag with a tone that is not just incredibly gloomy, but one that unsuccessfully tries to add in humor in order to lighten up the mood. As we know, Marvel did not go ahead with a sequel and instead decided to reboot the franchise again for a third time. However, I feel that a sequel could have worked. If they did do one, I bet it would've worked out better. Maybe the tone would've been much more consistent. This film is probably your best bet if you're looking for the ideal representation of the character of Frank Castle. Just don't go into this film expecting a masterpiece.

 

Rating: 2.5/5