Smoreni Zmaj
I didn't expect much from this flick. Cast wasn't tempting, I never heard of its director and The Punisher from 1989. was lousy, so I even thought of skipping this one. Fortunately I didn't. To date this is one of the best Marvel movies. Story is well developed but it's not too long or stretched, acting was very good (Travolta's performance was pleasant surprise), directing and music are good, it holds attention from the beginning to the end and it's easy to get involved with the story and characters. I never rated any Marvel movie higher than eight and this one is strong eight. So far, top 5 for me are Howard the Duck (1986), Blade II (2002), Daredevil (2003), The Punisher (2004) and maybe Spider-Man (2002). The rest of Marvel movies up to year 2004 are on scale from mediocre to complete failure.8/10
generationofswine
It wasn't bad, at least it wasn't as bad as the critics say, and let's face it, the Punisher is a pretty hard thing to translate into film. It has to walk that line between comic book movie, mafia movie, and serial killer movie and that is a hard line to follow.Punisher: War Zone leaned far too much towards the comic book angle and the film really stank because of it.The Punisher 1990 found that balance, but it did it in only the way a B-movie in the 1990s could.The Punisher 2004 tried to find it, but it got lost somewhere in the shuffle. What it got instead was a little too jumbled to be really good.For starters it suffered from origin syndrome. People walking into a movie like The Punisher already know the origin story. They know it as well as they know Captain America, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four, so for the comic book audience, which is probably the majority of viewers, a big part of the plot is revealing something that we already know is going to happen. We are forced to watch it all ply out before we can get to the plot.Conversely, those walking in completely fresh can easily be told the origin in a less painful way for Punisher fans.Besides the movie already got a solid "R" rating, there is no way you can show how Frank actually became the Punisher and keep it under NC-17 for violent content.In the case of the Punisher, the origin is something we'd all rather be told than shown. No one wants to watch that, even when you cut away to keep it rated R, we still don't want to see it.So the first chunk of a movie is a set up to watch children get murdered, and then we finally get into the story.Where the movie wins is the blood and violence. They keep it adult action movie enough to stay true to the Punisher comics. it wins out there and does it with a stylistic tone that helps redeem the film.The only problem is you have to sit through the set-up, watch material you already know by heart, only to see the disgusting act of violence that pushes Frank over the edge before you get to the redeeming parts of the film...and by then it's a little too late to completely salvage it.
Kirpianuscus
a great action film. for the high respect for the original source. for humor and for the use of cultural references. and, sure, for Thomas Jane who does a real good job. a film about values, justice and revenge. few memorable story - the huge Russian and the ignorant friends, the family moments and , sure, John Travolta in a role who reminds many others from his filmography but remains interesting. a film who respects its basic idea and this is the motif to give more than kicks and enormous confrontations, blood and explosions. but a coherent story, not always credible but for fans of cartoons and for the admirers of true fights could be enough. and, best detail, not only for this categories of public because the story real works . short, a good film. or just pure entertainment.
npfares
Thomas Jane, I think, was a great choice to play 'the punisher'. However, due to various acting choices and writing choices for the movie it lacks real intent of the movie. The editing team also takes blame for how poorly this movie was received. It tried, very hard, to be a good comic book movie. But, in the end, it just patronized the fan base. Mostly, due to the company who financed this film not realizing the 'ideal' or 'good' of a Punisher film compared to the comic books. Secondly, casting people like John Tavolta was a horrible choice. He wasn't even close to being believable as the 'bad guy'. In the end, the movie failed to become a good movie because the company you made this movie did not realize that the fan base wasn't looking for a generic revenge movie but a real life character who can kick ass as an emotional and in depth character.
AD
