Violence/Gore: Oh yeah baby! This movie revels in brutality, such as dragging a guy behind a car through numerous fiery explosions, ripping out all the rings from a heavily-pierced guy’s face, an arrow through the neck, and let’s not forget the savage slaying of an entire family, children included. No punches pulled here.

Sex/Nudity: The movie is much more concerned with keeping its characters immersed in blood and gore, thank you.

Best Line: “God’s going to sit this one out.”

Score:

In this adaptation of the classic ’70s and ’80s Marvel character, Frank Castle (well cast with Thomas Jane in the lead role, effectively burying the sad memories of that other Dolph Lundgren-led production…ugh) is an ex-CIA agent - not a Marine as in the comic - whose old foe, Howard Saint (played with equal parts gusto and restraint by John Travolta of all people), decides to wreak vengeance by quite literally murdering every single damned member of Castle’s family and then offing Castle himself. But wouldn’t you know it, Frank is a pretty resilient guy, and after he spends some quality time cradling his dead wife and son in his arms, he picks up some hair-trigger weaponry (personally modified by his now dead dad, JAWS’ Roy Scheider in a cameo) and rides off to punish the guilty. Woe to anyone who gets in the way of his steely stare and equally steely knives. This guy means business, and we get to sit back and watch the carnage unfold.

While Castle’s revenge is elaborate, it’s also brilliantly conceived. Rather than simply kill Howard Saint, he undermines everything Saint relies on first, turning Saint - incorrectly - against his best friend and wife before finally delivering the killing blow. It’s the way in which Castle first crushes Saint’s spirit before he does the same to his body that really ratchets up the cruelty factor here, but I would argue that given what Saint does to Castle in the opening of the film, virtually everything Frank does from that point on is, if not completely justified, then at least understandable. To put it succinctly, I’m with ya, Punisher!

The more mindless aspects of the plot are bolstered by the presence of a lovable supporting cast of characters who serve as Frank’s last remaining connections to humanity. Frank’s lost everything, including his soul, but in the apartment building where he plans his revenge, he becomes the unlikely “friend” of three losers who wallow in obscurity but prove to be far nicer people than most. Fat guy Bumpo, quirky punk Spacker Dave and the plain jane Joan (played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in the film’s only major casting misstep) try to draw out the man in the cold machine-like Castle, and while he can never be what he once was, he does develop attachments to them that are at once a weakness and a strength. There’s also a nifty pay-off to those relationships - quite literally - at the end of the film. For those who might not know, these characters and some other story elements were lifted from Garth Ennis’ superb revival of the Punisher in the Marvel Comics story arc, “Welcome Back, Frank.” Credit where it’s due. And watch out for the Russian!

This movie got a bad rap in its initial release - it was never going to be another SPIDER-MAN - but it’s good old-fashioned action film making as pure catharsis, and I say there’s a place for it if you walk into the experience with your eyes and mind wide open. This isn’t Oscar material and it doesn’t pretend to be, but it sure as hell delivers on the blood-soaked high-octane excitement. The movie’s called THE PUNISHER, so what did you expect, lots of cuddly bunnies and feel-good life lessons? We’re here to watch a guy get revenge, pure and simple. I’m actually hoping Frank gets a chance to riddle the silver screen with another spray of bullets real soon. Vaya con Dios, Castle!

DVD Extras: A smattering of deleted scenes, commentary by director Jonathan Hensleigh, and some nice behind-the-scenes featurettes cover the typical DVD basics well enough, but you’ll also find some neat comic book-based perqs as well.

ATB