The comic book industry has survived a number of setbacks over the years, going from feast to famine to feast yet again. These days comic book sales may be nowhere near the pinnacle of their halcyon days in the late eighties and early nineties. Still, the characters themselves have become very hot properties, a fact the recent non-stop parade of superhero films will attest to.

The most recent of these is The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta. This is not, however, the first big-screen interpretation of the character; fans may recall an earlier, 1989 film of the same title starring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle, the Punisher. That version of the Punisher was one of the better Marvel-comics based movies of the day, which should tell you something about how truly bad the eighties Fantastic Four and Captain America movies really were.

So, the Punisher was to be resurrected in a new film, one hopefully much better than the 1989 version. But did that really happen? Re-writing parts of the Punisher saga for the new film has left a slightly bad taste in this reviewer’s mouth, for reasons soon to be explored.

FBI agent Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) has spent years moving his family around the country, and for their own good. He’s a highly trained special agent who has made a few enemies over there. And when a raid on an illicit gun deal ends up in the death of the son of crime lord Howard Saint (John Travolta), he’s made his worst enemy of all.

In retaliation, Saint orders Castle’s assassination, along with his entire family for good measure. Unfortunately for Saint, the job gets botched and Castle is left as the lone survivor, unbeknownst to anyone. After recovering from his wounds, Castle moves into a Tampa apartment building to plot the punishment his enemies so richly deserve.

And it is there that Castle is befriended by an unlikely trio of misfits, who become both assets and liabilities in the Punisher’s war on crime. But will the Punisher be able to single handedly take down Saint’s formidable crime empire?

The answer is, of course, as predictable as the plot here. And although the film is true to form in many respects to the comic book stories that inspired it, The Punisher misses several opportunities to add a bit of originality. Certainly, the film’s dark tone matches that of the comic, and the high level of violence (hence the R-rating) make this a film not intended for kids.

When accepted as escapist comic book fun, The Punisher is just that: fun. We enjoy watching Castle punish the bad guys. We enjoy the human touches added by Castle’s neighbors, and the one-sided romance between Frank and Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos). And there’s even a touch of humor at times.

Unfortunately, the film is often predictable, too, and sometimes more violent than it needs to be. That’s particularly the case when Castle’s family is murdered. In the comic book storyline, Castle’s wife and son are caught in the crossfire of a mafia war in the midst of Central Park. Their deaths are impersonal and unintentional, but all the more tragic for that very reason.

In the film version, Castle’s wife, son, mother, father, brothers, aunts, cousins are killed…his whole family. That seems a bit much, and just doesn’t work as well as the original storyline.

Castle’s neighbors and most of the villains are drawn from some of the more popular comic book storylines. And while this works, some aspects could have been much better (The Russian, for example, is a really fun villain, but gets no lines and an all-too brief screen presence).

Jane gives a credible performance as the Punisher. For the most part, he’s flat and lifeless, but this is by design. He’s a man who has lost it all, after all, one who doesn’t care if he lives or dies.

Travolta, by contrast, is certainly not at his best. Perhaps that’s do to the character he’s portraying and the lines he’s given, but we’ve certainly seen better performances from him. Add to this a sort of anti-climactic ending, and you have an average film overall.

Is The Punisher worth seeing? Sure it is. It’s not a bad film, but it’s not a great one. Fans will likely enjoy it, but this is certainly not your average superhero movie, so you can enjoy it even if you’ve never read a comic book in your life. Don’t rush out to the theater, though. It’ll be in the video stores soon enough, and in that way you can at least spare your wallet a bit of punishment.




Recommended: Yes