Punisher (2004)
Comic book movies sometimes have a weird line to walk, as even though comics themselves are a limited, one dimensional art form, when a movie adaptation is made of one, more often than not studios pay far too much heed to the vocal minority of comic book fans who practically masturbate to their favorite characters on the printed page when they cry and complain on the Internet and elsewhere that said movie was not “faithful enough” to the pulpy magazine from whence it came, most notably when Spiderman 3 had record worldwide box office numbers, yet both the director and star were fired from the franchise when the comic fans complained of it being inaccurate. But in the end though, all that should ever matter is how the MOVIE alone should play out and what its quality level is when it comes to how it is being received by the mainstream public and not by a bunch of whiners who embrace their comic collection racks because they can’t embrace a girl. Thus is the case with this 2004 release, not the first (nor last) time this iconic character made the big screen, but easily the best all around adaptation compared to the 89 Dolph Lundgren version or the 2008 release that needlessly rebooted the character with a different actor. The comic book nuts stated that everything was done wrong right down to the locations, as budget constraints rendered that the film not be shot in New York City as the original comics had set it, but instead in Tampa Bay, Florida, which for the non-purist moviegoer turns out to be a wonderful setting, with the beautiful cinematography making it a unique and interesting backdrop for this tale of revenge. In the key title role, we have Thomas Jane, an ideal rugged leading man type who surprisingly has achieved more of a character actor status in his career, but nonetheless is perfect as Frank Castle, a former special forces veteran and undercover FBI agent whose last assignment goes a bit awry when a spoiled rich kid trying to buy some guns gets shot dead and even though his own true involvement is classified, the rich crime syndicate family of the kid orders the extermination of him and his whole family during a holiday reunion, which results in all of his loved ones (including his father played by a cameoing Roy Scheider) being killed and him apparently being left for dead before reviving and coming back as the titular “superhero”, though he’s more of a psychotic, ruthless, vigilante instead of a costumed buffoon. More interestingly, he pretty much comes back at first as his old self, only to evolve ever so slowly into The Punisher persona over the course of the film until by the end, Frank Castle no longer exists, which is an interesting psychological undertone for an origin story that neither Batman, Spiderman, nor any other big name heroes can claim. And Jane nails the bitter darkness of the character down perfectly, handling himself superbly in the action scenes (he trained for 6 months with the Navy SEALs to prepare for the role), and fielding the lighter, more comedic moments admirably with a straight face. A shame as Jane publicly announced his commitment to the character for future installments, only to be dropped reportedly because he wanted the next film to be more “hardcore” so to speak, and was turned away as a result. But the rest of the cast is also top notch as well, as in the Lead Villain role of criminal money launderer Howard Saint, they managed to land John Travolta whose mere presence here is a game changer in and of itself. An iconic screen legend playing the bad guy to a hero played by the lesser known Jane, and it works like a charm, as Travolta’s Saint is an obvious scumbag in the way he does his criminal business, but he also has a semi legit beef with Castle over the events leading to his son’s death, even if the revenge itself obviously was taking it too far, but in the end he is really just a grief stricken father whose own vengeance completely blows up in his face. Add to that he has Laura Harring at his side as the beautiful wife and mother who personally gives the order to wipe out Castle’s whole family, overruling her husband in the process (he just wanted Castle dead) and proving to have her own cobra like venomous hatred. There’s also Will Patton getting some of the best and juiciest dialogue in the film as Travolta’s best friend and right hand man (not to mention a closet homosexual) who oversees most of the dirty work for his boss. And finally there’s the three struggling souls who live in the burned out tenement building that Castle moves into to carry out his work who come to adopt him and think of him as part of their family due to his being a good neighbor and protecting them as well (which successfully brings out a more human side to Castle and the film itself) and played by Rebecca Romijn, Ben Foster, and John Pinette. The film also boasts a score by Carlo Siliotto that not only fits this character and story perfectly, but is right up there with John Williams’ work on Superman as being amongst the best comic book movie theme music ever. But most surprising is the directing style shown on display here by Jonathan Hensleigh (and on a paltry $33 million budget at that, far below the lavish $200 million plus that The Avengers commands), normally a screenwriter who penned the much maligned but still classic disaster film Armageddon, as some of the most grim moments still carry a dark yet surprising sense of humor that’s much appreciated (like a hitman’s dead body that remains at the bottom of the stairs in the apartment building’s lobby untouched for half the movie), and also the fact that the film early on takes an almost leisurely tone in introducing us to Castle, Saint, and their respective ill fated families (including Castle’s hot wife played by Samantha Mathis) before the heartstopping and extremely disturbing massacre scene (“Mom?”), and then when Castle “announces” himself to the world, the film’s pacing goes into overdrive as Castle’s tactics include not only violence but psychological warfare as well, manipulating The Saints and their allies into turning on each other without knowing that he’s behind all of it, all the while there’s one memorable moment after another involving various hitmen coming after Castle, including a 7 foot monster called simply “The Russian” (played by pro wrestler Kevin Nash) whose fight scene with Castle is almost They Live good, and one of the most memorable scenes in movie history when a “pro from Memphis” walks into where Castle’s eating, takes out a guitar, and sings the instant classic “In Time” as his own psych tactic prior to their showdown as written, sung, and played by country music star Mark Collie. It all leads up to the final denouement, one so amazingly powerful that it actually brings tears to this viewer’s eye , as while Travolta’s Saint is hardly one of the greatest villains ever (of course), there’s just such a sense of fulfillment here at seeing the way an evil son of a bitch finally meets his maker that you really couldn’t ask for anything more, and that’s why this movie belongs at the top of the list as not only one of the greatest comic book adaptations ever made, but also one of the greatest ACTION movies in the history of cinema…
10/10