Watching this movie after waiting for the chance to do so for so long, I was more than a little excited to see it. I have read The Punisher comic books for a few years, and have loved him ever since I first read a story with him. My favorite story of his would have to be the Welcome Back, Frank series, so I was naturally thrilled when I found out that this movie was so heavily based on it. I've watched the trailers so many times that I can repeat all the lines and I've read everything I could find about the film. Clearly, I was looking very much forward to seeing it, and I expected quite a bit from it. Amazingly, it surpassed my expectations and proved to be far better than I could have ever imagined. The plot is great. It's a mix of various The Punisher story lines, mainly derived from Welcome Back, Frank coupled with some new, original stuff(I think... I haven't read all the comics). The pacing is solid and the film takes off pretty much instantly. The direction is clearly inspired by Sergio Leone and westerns in general, which only elevates it even more. The film stays in the viewers mind for much longer than the recent action-flicks that seem to appeal mostly to teenagers with low attention spans(Van Helsing, Blade: Trinity). The acting is mostly good, in a few cases great, and in one or two cases bad. Thomas Jane is The Punisher. I don't mean he plays him well, I'm not saying that he brings the character alive, I'm saying he is him, he becomes him. I haven't seen the Dolph Lundgren version of the film, but I'm willing to bet an astounding sum of money that it's nowhere as good as this film. I can't see Dolph as Frank Castle. I just can't. He has the muscle, but he hasn't got the brain or the charisma. Mark Collie makes a great Harry Heck(though he wasn't a big character in the comics). Kevin Nash was a great choice for The Russian, though he didn't really have to do much acting... but his fighting was excellent. Ben Foster makes a credible Spacker Dave. John Pinette made an OK Mr. Bumpo. I didn't entirely buy Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Joan, though. She was too sexy and sensual to be Mousy Joan(who was a fragile, nervous, tender girl in the comic). Some of the villains and minor characters are slightly over- or underplayed, but it didn't really bring the movie down, I think. The characters are well-written, credible and interesting. The action is intense and brutal. Very brutal. Perfect for The Punisher. I won't tell you what exactly you'll see in this film, because it would be a sin to ruin the surprise for any of the fans. Suffice to say, if you like the violence in the comics, you'll enjoy the action scenes. Without a doubt. The whole things is a treat for any fan of The Punisher... the one-liners, the humor, the action... all perfect in style and mood. Now, up until now, I've praised this movie, and you might be wondering why I didn't rate it higher than I did. But here comes the one negative thing about the film; the budget was clearly not big enough for the film and for what the director wanted, and it shows. It will definitely discourage some from seeing the film that the action doesn't have enough cuts and isn't always as intense as it should be, not to mention how much of the action just screams "we didn't have enough money to do this properly, but here it is anyway". I have a philosophy on things like that... "if you can't do it right, don't do it at all". Unfortunately, the director was either stubborn or just didn't care, so he didn't do anything to really hide this. The scenes are presented as if they look exactly like they are supposed to, which really takes the viewer out of the illusion, makes it seem less real. It felt like El Mariachi, only with better actors and without the tight editing that made Robert Rodriguez' low-budget action flick work. Keep in mind, this is the only complaint I have, and it doesn't make the film unwatchable, not by a long shot. It might make you want to watch it less times than you typically would an action piece like this, though. All in all, definitely worth watching if you're into vigilante/revenge films. I recommend it to fans of The Punisher comics, particularly the Welcome Back, Frank series as well as anyone who enjoys a solid action film and/or a vigilante flick, not to mention a good western. An unusually realistic comic book movie, and definitely one of the better of the bunch. 7/10
Review of The Punisher
