Review of The Punisher (2004) by Celidor — 10 Dec 2018

Firstly I want to say this is another case of the respected critics seeming to not live in the same world as the rest of us. Not everyone will like this movie but rating it so low just tells me that the respect these critics have is not deserved.

I really enjoyed this movie. Classic revenge story (sorry, Punishment story), with a bit of unexpected almost goofy humour along with some seemingly intentional tongue in cheek scenes that I very much enjoyed. Plus penty of old west style quick-draws to add to the fun. Captured the essence of a comic book better than most comic book movies. Interestingly John Travolta doesn't stand out as some over the top villian like he usually does in other villian roles. Instead he, and everything else, somehow has a believable realistic feel to it. It makes it more disturbing that he feels like a real person that surely exists in the real world in some form. An interesting balance was achieved in this film between reality and comic book fantasy, as well as seriousness and humour. It all feels more believable than something like Batman Begins, which itself aimed more for realism than past comic movies. The superhero is never really super (though that is true of the comic it is based off of). And there is plenty of luck involved in his success as well as some clever preparation and equipment.

I have no real issues with the film. Only really wanting more from it. Wish they'd fleshed out the bad guys wife a bit more since she was a key player. I rate it an 8 but I am up to rewatch it more often than many other movies I'd rate at 9. It does what it does really well.

The movie that comes to mind that is most alike to this is "Payback" with Mel Gibson "Payback" is cooler and grittier but "Punisher is more fun and with several humourous scenes that always maintain the overall seriousness of the subject matter without ever getting too dark. If you like that film you should enjoy this one and vice-versa.