director: Lexi Alexander
writers: Nick Santora, Matt Holloway, Arthur Marcum
staring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West
genre: Action,Crime, Comic
Punisher is one Marvel Universe comic book characters that should have taken the road of the of the Blade films. Ultimate focus on the main character and at the same time make a cool film with fancy effects and action so it could sell. Instead of that happening, people with wrong and awkward ideas of who Frank Castle the Punisher is make a film that makes a mockery of one of comics coolest characters.
Here the film kind of continues from the events of the first film (even thought not needed viewing to see this film). Punisher (Ray Stevenson) now in N.Y. is taking on the local mob boss Gaitano Cesare. Killing on sight in the crime bosses’ family home and not being shy on spilling a lot of blood, he does his job and cleans out the house. Billy Russoti (Dominic West) and his gang are the only ones spared and are later tracked by the Punisher at a local dock. There Punisher continues his slaying and kills without knowing a undercover F.B.I. agent. Too bad for the Punisher that he had to go messing with Billy Russoti and his disfiguring transformation into a loony psychopath now calling himself Jigsaw. He is now chased by a FBI agent who is after him for his ex-partners death. Punisher feeling guilty of what he’s done believes his duty to protect F.B.I’s agent family reminding him of his own tragedy and what turned him into a killing machine. But the only thing standing between safety for the family is Jigsaw thirst for revenge against the family and a F.B.I. agent who is commited to bringing the Punisher down.
Before seeing this film you have to know this is not for the faint of heart. This has a lot of blood and guts. Not to say it’s not fun to see a lot of blood and gory effects but they take it to far sometimes. And here we get to the problem with this film. It doesn’t know what kind of film to be. On the one hand it wants to be a crime/drama with the Punisher’s pain of losing his family and his connection to dead F.B.I. agents family that he’s protecting and the similarities to him. On the flipside this film is trying to be a bloody and disgusting action B-movie with silly characters, gore, stupid dialogue and insane situations. This film should have been one or the other the mix doesn’t work too well for the film.
The only thing this film has it going for it, is that it does have actors that go along with the material either trying to hit dramatic beats or silly blood scenes. For example the new actor playing the Punisher is not bad. Ray Stevenson is a capable actor, which is sad for him not having enough material to explore the character of Frank Castle. The film does have some set pieces that are quite nice to see the Punisher in action. And even the ludicrous performances of the bad guys can be salvaged for comic effect which film isn’t trying to do (at least not all the time). It's taking this film in an completely other perspective is the only way to enjoy this film to its fulles. Something that i find remarkable if possible.
A lot could have been done with this film. A good writer who knows what the Punisher is or who could bring a fresh take on him. That was to happen but the studio opted-ed not to go with TV show Shield's writer Kurt Sutter's script because it was too "serious". I advise only curious comic book fans and fans of gore too see this film. Anyone else should stay away because “Jesus doesn’t save, Punisher saves…”
Personal Rating:
Review by Paul
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