I would be lying if I said that Jonathan Heinsleight´s The Punisher is an underrated masterpiece. The film is a very standart revenge movie and nothing more, causing it to be buried below better movies of that type. With that said, you would expect the movie to be very bland and forgettable... but that would be innacurate!. Now Im a Punisher fan, big fan of the Garth Ennis stuff and I find the character very complex but for a comic-book movie I dont compare it to the comics since, lets face it, a mainstream movie like this HAS to adapt the stories in order to fit the film structure . With that said here are some GOOD things this movie has to offer:
1.- Thomas Jane: The guy portrays Frank Castle as a very angry veteran in search for revenge with little dialoge and a very dark attitude. He pulls off 2 sides of Castle, the newly retired and happily maried man with reason to live and the crushed Castle who lost everything. Jane really gets the character and he delivers a solid performance that drives the movie.
2.- The Mood: One of the major criticisms I´ve read about this movie is that it feel very joyless and depresing. That just made me scratch my head because I do not understand how that´s a bad thing. The major theme of the movie is that of revenge and that mood is perfectly recreated. Revenge is an angry and mean feeling that isn´t a very happy thing to do. So the mood feel consistant with the feelings of the main character, and if you are one of those who need comedy don´t worry because we have 2 comedy reliefs ( Not so positive on those).
3.- The Action: The action in this movie is simple, brutal and raw. Almost no CGI with real explosions and stunts. It fits the style of the movie and serves as a trowback to 80´s action movies in comparision with the other movies in the CBM genre. Scenes like the shootout where Castle´s ENTIRE family is murdered are extremely effective and thrilling.
4.- The FANTASTIC score: Carlo Sillioto provides the music that this film deserves. Perfectly moody and tense to put you on a revenge mindset. Really listen to sequences like the final confrontation with Saint and feel how much it adds to the scene. Superb.
5.- The Revenge: While the whole revenge plan is nothing really new or THAT shocking it´s still pretty awesome. Having the Punisher manipulate the main villian into destroying his own personal life and by the end shove it into his face is pretty badass. It creates a nice contrast of 2 men who have their souls completely demolished by each other. It is a shame that Frank kills him by the end instead of maybe mauling him and make him live with his horrible concience. But maybe that´s just me being a little too extreme.
6.- The birth: Frank Castle in this movie is a hurt, lost soul who carries this vendetta to maybe find peace with himself and cope with the tragedy of his life. After finally punishing the ones guilty he sits in his apartment, drinking while getting ready to kill himself. As he puts the gun in his jaw. he realizes he is not at peace yet and can not let anyone else experience the horrible things that he has gone through. Then, looking at the sunset, the man once known as Frank Castle becomes the biggest fear or criminals... The Punisher.
Overall, I like this movie more than I should beacuse of those reasons and I´ve seen plenty of people who are not comicbook fans that enjoy this movie (No kidding, this is my grandma´s favorite movie). So the intense hatred for this movie should be re-directed towards 2008´s Punisher: War Zone. Now THAT´S a terrible movie.
Let me know your opinion in the comments below!