First of all, I'm a huge fan of the character. I enjoyed both other movies, especially the Lundgren one, because they were so damn entertaining. I loved the show because of how raw, brutal and emotional it was. I'd seen lots of fan reviews of this version, most of them absolutely scathing, but I thought I might be able to find some good things in here, as I usually do with bad movies.This one doesn't know if it wants to be a mindless, dumb action movie, or an important, depressing revenge movie. It accomplishes neither, and just ends up being boring, with a boring villain with boring henchmen, a boring supporting cast and a hugely toned-down lead.It also barely even warrants an R-rating. Most of the deaths consist of bad guys shooting into the crowd, and random family members falling down, with the exception of the climax.Avoid as a punisher movie, avoid as a movie. Go for the 1989 movie instead. It's a blast.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen. The script is horrible, the dialogue is horrible, the acting is horrible. The editors were not on their A game this day. With such a great story in The Punisher comics you would think you could pull off a great movie. I would suggest sticking with the Daredevil Netflix series to get a better representation of the Punisher. I am hoping we get a spin off series soon. This was just a very poorly executed film. As this review sums it up, I am going to pontificate nothing within these next two sentences. This is just an attempt to meet IMDb's silly policy of ten lines of text.

The Punisher is the first on-screen iteration (not counting that awful one from the 90s) of the titular ultraviolent Marvel character, starring Thomas Jane. This movie is a well-acted, well- directed revenge flick that's obviously dark and R-Rated, but also maintains a sense of fun and amusement. A fun, dark tone is a very rare thing in a revenge movie such as this. It's not full-on comedy like Deadpool and it's nowhere near as dark and brooding as the 2016 Jon Bernthal edition in season 2 of Marvel's Daredevil, but it's somewhere in between. This is worth a watch and certainly enjoyable, a worthy adaptation.

Odd Ball "Hero", The Punisher (2004 film) Although the character The Punisher has a lot to do with revenge and justice, the message behind this particular film is that it's possible to overcome the painful memories from a tragedy and continue with life by making new, good memories. This is not the normal message behind most films with superheroes/heroes, but this also isn't a normal superhero/hero movie.When compared to a stereotypical superhero/hero movie, this one hardly fits in. The perfect way to describe the differences between this film and the average superhero film is by the first ten seconds of The Punisher (2004). In the introduction of the film it shows the standard red and yellow Marvel sign in the center of the screen. Within a few seconds the colors fade until the whole thing is gray and black, then bullets rip through the letters. This is a perfect way to visually see the mood of the film. It starts off with something that could be compared to an average superhero film and then immediately turns dark and gruesome. It is certainly aimed towards a more mature audience and isn't exactly kid friendly.Don't get me wrong, there is still a slight superhero feel. There are still a few characters in there just to serve as comic relief, there is still that main character who completely changes from some event and turns into something unique, and there is still the main character with his own signature weapons and uniform. However, instead of wearing bright red white and blue on his uniform like Captain America, The Punisher wears all black and a white skull on his shirt. Sometimes he wears a long coat as well. His uniform slightly resembles the grim reaper. Not to mention the name The Punisher. Also, the event that changes him wasn't some lab experiment, it was watching his entire extended family get slaughtered in front of him. The Punisher doesn't get some super powers from this event, the only thing he turns into is an alcoholic. It's almost like a deranged play at a superhero movie, but it's a nice change from the standard Marvel film.The music in the film was an interesting choice. It was always dramatic and a little suspenseful. A fair amount of the music played was from an orchestra and can be compared to that of an old horror film. The introduction, specifically, has an orchestra playing a particularly dark and mysterious piece and then the music is cut off by the sound of a boat horn. Interruptions like this take place constantly throughout the film. This immediately sets the mood of the film and foreshadows how disruptive the future events will be.The scenery in the film is always a little dark and sketchy. Take his new home for example, it has absolutely no color, it looks old and beat up, and it looks like it's been a crime scene about a dozen times. Perhaps this reflects how empty his life was after the tragedy. At the end of the film, he moves out, so maybe this shows that his life isn't quite as empty now that has overcome some of the horrible memories. In addition to the house, the film as a whole is practically black and white with the exception of the brightly colored cars and dresses. What's odd is that the bright colored objects are usually associated with the criminals rather than the good guys.The fighting that takes place is way more gruesome than the average superhero film. There are scenes where a guy has every one of his facial piercing pulled off with pliers, a man gets a knife through his throat and is visible in his mouth, another guy gets his head split by some sort of paper cutting blade, and another guy gets an arrow through his throat. In all of these scenes there is large amounts of blood and added effects to make the gore seem more realistic. This is very different from the usual comic book style fighting that seems to never cause a drop of blood.The Punisher's signature weapons, although he uses a large number throughout the film, are the two customized 1911's his father owned. The 1911 is arguably one of the most recognizable and patriotic handguns, so it is no surprise that it would have a role in the film as his means of getting justice. However, it surprising that they would have an ex-navy seal use what is in some ways an outdated weapon. However, his father added a compensator to the end of each handgun. This reduces the recoil a little but also makes the gun much louder. Maybe it's because The Punisher wants to make as much noise as possible. This makes sense when comparing it to the fighting style where at one point he stands out in the open with his bullet proof vest and essentially absorbs the shots rather than trying to sneak around and pick people off. The guns have a relatively traditional style in terms of finish and grips, but then after the customizations they look similar to modern competition handguns. They resemble a modern twist to something traditional. I think this reflects well with The Punisher because he is also sort of a traditional hero with a modern twist. The message of this film is helped displayed by the mentioned scenery, music, fighting, and guns as well as Frank Castle's development through the story. His development is significant because he eventually decides not to give up and that he can still do something with his life. Of course his version of doing something with his life is becoming a vigilante and essentially hunting down those who have done wrong. The lesson to move on is an important lesson to learn for anyone who is trying to get past difficult memories or just move on from small things that might bother them.