The Punisher (2004)

Captivating movie !

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Just an average action movie. Reminds u of Mad Max. Too bad some of the parents don't take Justice in their own hands with HS shootings. Thomas Jane played a great role. He looked the part.

I'm a Punisher fan and I think this is the best superhero film since the Spider-Man movies. This has the be the best Punisher film I've seen and the reason why I'm re reviewing it because for the honor of the Netflix series be release and I've seen parts of the show and I like it so far. Honestly this is better than Hulk (2003) and beat the other Punisher movies. I love this as much as Spider-Man 2 (2004) (another good film from 04) and I like pretty much everything in this film. Defiantly worth a watch my dude

I don't even count Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. His version of "The Punisher" pales in comparison to this one by leaps and bounds. With Thomas Jane at the helm, he brings Frank Castle to life in this version that is worthy of the source material. Mr. Jane is an action junkie that never fails to impress. "The Punisher" is not supposed to be this cheesy PG-13 character with corny dialogue that makes sense to no one and has no energy when it comes to eliminating the villains; he is the take-no-prisoners, R-rated warrior who tells it like it is and isn't afraid to get his hands bloody along the way.I have always been partial to revenge movies and this one is no different. From beginning to end, it keeps you on your toes. Blink and you might miss something. Seriously. Unlike some revenge movies that have no plot, this explains literally everything: Frank is a veteran FBI agent who takes out a kingpin's son, Frank and his family are marked for death by the kingpin's wife, Frank moves away after being nearly killed, Frank prepares himself for taking out the villains, Frank moves on to other villains. It is just that simple.Good music, good action scenes, even some pretty memorable dialogue. I saw this movie when I was 17 (one of many where I had to show my ID without hesitation) and I have never stopped watching it. For any action junkie or a comic lover, you will not be disappointed with this one. I highly recommend it. "The Punisher" is not supposed to be sunshine and rainbows; it is the way it is: dark, gritty and violent. That's all there is to it.

I like the idea behind this movie more then I like the movie itself. Director Jonathan Hensleigh had an idea to adapt the Punisher but in a serious (totally not comic book) way while incorporating stylistic elements from gritty action movies from the 60s and 70s. He approached actor Thomas Janes about playing the Punisher and at first he wasn't interested but when he read the script and saw what Hensleigh planned to do with the character in the film he signed on. The movie's production was also troubled; both budget and time to shoot were both cut in half meaning that Hensleigh had to cut out a lot of the more expensive action scenes, and on top of this Artisan Pictures was bought by Lionsgate during production. Despite all this Hensleigh delivered the movie on time to lukewarm reviews but modest box office success making $ 54,500,000 against a budget of $33,000,000. And yet…I'm not very fond of this movie, I like the idea and I admire the work but this movie is a bit flawed. Frank Castle is an undercover FBI agent and family man, he plans to do one last job and retire to a desk job. Unfortunately on his last job he accidentally kills the son of a powerful crook called Howard Saint (played by John Travolta) who gets his revenge by having Frank's entire family gunned down. Frank survives the incident and becomes The Punisher, a skull t-shirt wearing gun toting vigilante with no qualms about killing those who he deems deserving of punishment. This movie's plot is solid. An origin story combined with a revenge plot line similar to a 60s or 70s action movie. The action is well choreographed. And… I'm sorry but that's where the good runs out I'm afraid. So such a simple movie there are times it feels needlessly complicated especially involving a certain subplot where the punisher tricks Saint into killing his wife and best friend which was only there as a reference to a similar plot in a James Bond movie. This movie also has a tone problem because the punisher is a harsh concept but the movie doesn't go far enough with it meaning the harsher scenes feel out of place. This is not helped by a horribly out of place, even if funny, trio of comic reliefs and a weak villain. Yes while john Travolat is a good actor he is not in top form here. He simply isn't menacing enough as a villain which in a regular action movie would be one thing but in a punisher movie you need a villain the audience can buy or the punishment seems mean spirited and harsh. Overall this is a weak movie. The good stuff only manages to make this movie average while the bad knocks it down to below average. Thomas Janes gives a good performance and there are some enjoyable bits but the bad knocks it down. I don't recommend this but it's not awful.