7 out of 10. This is certainly the best Punisher thus far. I read the reviews and they were unfair. If Based on the reviews one would go in expecting it to be terrible...when this was a pretty good film. It definetly lacks in some areas, but definetly the best effort thus far. And over all a good flick.
Whats good:
They fixed the errors from the 2004 Punisher (no action, corny romantic stuff, and utterly failing to capture the essence of Frank Castle, etc.), and managed to fix the errors from the 89 one (no budged, HORRIBLE actors, lame story, and unloyalty to the source material).
The movie definetly captures the spirit of Ennis' Punisher take--its very loyal to the source material. The ultra-violence of Punisher is there, and the action is there, yet there is a story. There's also the element of Ennis' dark humor and over-the-top'ness'. They do a good job of showing who Frank is.
It takes place in New York and the exterior shots of New York skyline help (even if some of the interior shots feel a bit ...psudo--neon--but its forgiveable).
Its action packed yet the story doesn't go into mindless/meathead crap(although at times it feels like it might go there). In other words: The story/plot is there, even if it lacks at times.
Ray Stevenson NAILED Frank Castle. He's a man of few words and thats as it should be. He's Frank freakin Castle, not Patton or JFK!!
Dominic West was entertaining as Jigsaw. He's more than a bit over the top sometimes, but thats Ennis for you. He's certainly creepy and a good villain. Totally nutts. Is recruitment speech is priceless!!
Speaking of which. LBJ is a great secondary villian!!
some have complained that Ray's english/irish dialect comes through...Its nothing overt..I noticed no problem. No more than Hugh Jackman's Australian coming through in his Wolverine or Cillian Murphy's Irish coming through in his Scarecrow.
some complained that Dominics english dialect came through. It doesnt come through at all...he has a New York sound all the way through, even if its over the top at times.
Whats bad:
Quite a bit of the dialogue is reduced to one liners (granted...as I said, Frank should be a man of few words, BUT he's not the only one delivering a bunch of one-liners). Moreover, quite a bit of the dialogue is VERY cliche. They used a great deal of mobster shtick and sterotypical speech.
Theres a couple scenes that are so over the top that youre not sure whether to take them seriously or not, but i took them as 'dark humor relief moments' (which you find in Ennis' stuff), or moments to show just how absurd and insane these guys are.
As stated before, the story lacks in a couple spots, (but its NOT just a complete mindless gorefest).
MY BIGGEST BEEF came at the very end...with the completely insulting, and totally--100% unneeded sacreligious scene. It did nothing but alienate a chunk of the movie-going audience. And as i said, it was 100% unneeded. I totally get the tension there with the whole religious element, but this just went over the top and was tasteless (and yes, i realize that its kind of ironic that i'm saying something is tasteless about a Punisher movie...seeing as to the fact that the over-the-top violence alone is, lets face it, a bit tasteless. lol).
I certainly think that the critics were unfair with this one, but thats to be expected. This is definelty the best Punisher effort yet, and of course one can't go in expecting something on par with TDK or Spider-Man (its unfair to compare them). Its a great movie for a select audience and thats fine. Thats NOT to say 'this is a movie for meatheads'. Like i said, the story is a little more than descent. And they nailed the spirit of the Punisher and the characters. They were very true to Ennis' material. I'm just saying, if you're not a fan of the comics or a fan of actioneers, you probobly just won't get it (case in point..some of the news critics).
I hope it gets a sequel with Ray. AND, i hope it gets a better writer (or at least the dialogue improves---lose the cliche lines). Lastly, and most importantly: lose the unneeded sacreligious tones.
overall 7 out of 10. a film deserving of a sequel with further story/character development.