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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kai Lord" data-source="post: 1488414" data-attributes="member: 3570">Oh man, I saw this just a few hours after watching Kill Bill Vol. 2 yesterday.  The Punisher is just 17 kinds of awful.A friend of mine who's really into the character gave me the "Welcome Back Frank" trade paperback with certain characters and situations that influenced scenes in the movie and I found it highly entertaining.  We laughed at the first Punisher teaser last year (Thomas Jane??) but after seeing more and more previews for it started to get halfway psyched after seeing the Russian, Spacker Dave, Mr. Bumpo, and Joan the Mouse (the jury was still out on Jane.)Then I saw the reviews....and started to get concerned.  I didn't really care that the critics panned it, but it was how they panned it.  Saying it was worse than the Dolph Lundgren version??  The Russian's a mute?  Frank goes around using fake fire hydrants to give Travolta's wife parking tickets?  WTF!!??But we went anyway.  Now what makes the Punisher an interesting character isn't that he's a grieving father and widower getting revenge for the death of his family.  No, he's over that.  He's just a one man army (literally) out to kill every last evil doer in the state of New York.  He's content with that, unwavering, and damn good at it.  He strikes horror into the fear of every criminal, causing the lesser ones to fumble their weapons and call for their mommies.If you're a bad guy and you hear he's coming, you're screwed.  You surround yourself with a hundred armed goons and it doesn't matter; he mows them all down and then takes you out.  Amazing that Kill Bill pulled this off with Uma Thurman much better than The Punisher.  But the Punisher movie didn't even try!Castle's a pansy.  He's introduced as a blond and effeminate European arms dealer who we later learn is really an FBI in disguise on a major sting that causes the death of Travolta's son.  He doesn't even kill Travolta's son!  Other agents do.Instead of busting out a pair of badass .45's that are right in front of him in Puerto Rico and mowing down the mafia hitmen slaughtering his family John Woo style, Frank instead opts for a cumbersome double barrelled shotgun which he has to reload after every shot and takes out about three guys before being taken out himself.  Wow.  What a badass.The film sets up Travolta as a guy most people could relate to and empathize with.  To his knowledge his son was senselessly murdered and he wants to make those responsible pay for it.  Isn't this exactly what we're supposed to empathize with in the Punisher himself?  At least as far as this movie is concerned?And this is a major problem.  The execution of almost every scene in the movie is just dreadful (notable exceptions include the Russian fight and the surprise dinner with Joan), but the premise is an even bigger problem.  Travolta just did what Frank does, which makes both characters morally grey people who believe revenge is the answer to their problems, but we're supposed to like Frank because he beats up a domestic abuser and is a non-violent fly in the ointment for Travolta until the very last scene.That's right, I said "non-violent."  Instead of tracking down Travolta and his men and gunning them down (geez how hard a concept is that to produce on screen) Frank sets up elaborate schemes that trick Travolta into thinking his wife is cheating on him and cause millions of laundered dollars to be lost.  Because that's what the Punisher is all about.  Destroying your money.  WTF??  Making you mad at your wife.  WTF??Oh he does some killing.  When bad guys periodically show up at his apartment after his first action upon arriving back in Tampa is to announce that he's still alive to the world at a police press conference.  Yep.  You read that right.But nothing in the movie is as bad as what he does to Travolta's character in the very end of the movie.  I literally burst out laughing it was so bad.  To actually contemplate what the Punisher had to do to orchestrate the last scene with Travolta, and then then Travolta's hilarious "whimpering" while it happened and possibly the most dreadful compositing effects and pyrotechnics I've ever seen in a major film release.  Oh man, you have to see it to believe it.  Let's just say the Punisher would have needed satellite photos and about 10,000 gallons of gasoline to actually pull off what he does in the last scene, and that's all I'm going to say.This film was so bad it was thoroughly entertaining (think Mystery Science Theater 3000), but for many people that isn't a good thing.  Pay money to see this at your own risk....</blockquote>

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