| THE PUNISHER |
 2004
- USA
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
- Reviewed by Jennifer 
Ahh! I loved The Punisher! I knew I would love it from the first time I
saw
the trailer, but was too embarrassed to ask anyone to go see it with me
at
the theater. We've all been Jean Claude Van Dammed so many times that
it's
hard to hold out much hope for the dark horse action film. The
Punisher is
proof that it's still possible to be pleasantly surprised.
Having said that, The Punisher makes Spiderman 2 look like a little girl's gymnastics meet. There's none of that tedious waffling over who he loves or what he wants to do. The Punisher knows what he's all about. Thomas Jane plays Frank Castle, a former FBI agent whose entire family is killed in an act of revenge by the evil crime lord Howard Saint (John Travolta). With nothing left to lose, Frank sets out to "punish" the men who destroyed his life, and hence becomes... THE PUNISHER!!! Thankfully Castle is no ordinary hero. He's sensitive, exceedingly attractive, whip-smart, and has an oddly deep voice. Such well-muscled arms have not been seen since Patrick Swayze did Dirty Dancing. In short, The Punisher is hot, but more importantly, he is bad ASS! He doesn't just kill his enemies, he builds contraptions, plays mind games, and orchestrates overly-elaborate deaths. What's more, The Punisher is funny. The movie blends stylized violence and reality so that it is not too gritty to be amusing, and not too amusing to be gritty. Anyone who saw Thomas Jane go after those aliens in Dreamcatcher could see that this is the guy you want on your side when the shit goes down. Castle's neighbors discover this early on, and he soon wins their undying loyalty. The bodies pile up and buildings burn with nary a glimpse of the police or fire departments. It makes no sense, but that's what makes it all so great. The Punisher's best allies are not other muscley-armed men, but an endearing fat man, a high school drop out, and a down-on-her-luck waitress played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Rebecca can't act, but it doesn't matter! She's nice to everybody and has a pleasant face. John Travolta is also lame, stretching his acting skills only by enunciating each word carefully without actually moving his lips. This is to help us differentiate Howard Saint from, say, Vinnie Barbarino or that guy from Look Who's Talking. He keeps his hair flipping habit from Pulp Fiction, perhaps to indicate that this character is tough. But who cares? You get to see The Punisher take him down! Yeah! And just when it seems like it can't get any better, The Punisher faces the camera and explains (and I'm paraphrasing here) that there will be as many sequels as people will pay to see. Woo hoo! Like the tortured tough guys in Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Rambo, The Punisher at last gives us a new action hero who doesn't wear tights. Amen to that! [Read Linda's contrasting review. Let's just say she didn't fall for The Punisher.] |
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