The Punisher

Reviewed by Hondo – 1 June 24

Following the murder of police officer Frank Castle’s family by members of a powerful organized crime family, Castle transforms himself into the formidable vigilante known as the Punisher and begins a one man war against the criminal underworld.

The mission to bring Marvel’s fan favorite vigilante The Punisher to the realm of theater and television began with the nineteen eighty nine theatrical release starring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle.  Meant to be a major motion picture for Marvel, the film suffered from creative decisions that undoubtedly changed its course resulting in a limited release to the big screen, while only becoming available to rent on video in some countries.

These creative decisions included director Mark Goldblatt opting to not use the Punishers trademark skull logo, editing out key scenes leading to Castle’s transformation into the Punisher, and a script by Boaz Lakin that deviates from established source material.  The end result is a generic revenge story starring an at the time up and coming actor who due to these creative changes doesn’t even resemble the films main character.

Shot in Australia the film runs on what appears to be a very limited budget that’s reflected in the use of cheap and dated props, and sets that appear hastily put together with the intention of creating a cold, harsh, and often dark atmosphere that more often than not doesn’t meet expectations. As for the cinematography, it often appears insufficiently lit during night shots, uses quick cuts that disrupts the flow of scenes, and includes various first person shots that feel awkward or unnatural.  

Regarding the writing, the script provides plenty of campy or cliche dialogue that feeds into the impression that this is just another generic film that finds its home within the eighties action cinematic era.  While deviating from the source material that gave rise to the Punisher, writer Boaz Lakin seems to find a little influence from the pages of the Punisher comic books, even though there’s no direct attempt to link the script to named characters or criminal organizations from the illustrated pages.  This is a topic fans can make their own assumptions on.  

The acting from the cast relies heavily on lines delivered in tones and expressions that relay attitudes of doom, gloom, anger, dismay, and fear which would seem appropriate considering the context of this film.  However, with the poor writing and at times over acted deliveries the acting leaves no indelible impressions.  Keep in mind as with those remarks there’s no mistaking what kind of film this was intended to be.

Taking into consideration this film was released twenty five years ago and will most likely never be known to the newest generation of fans to the MCU, as a die hard fan of the Punisher, I’d like to think that this version of Frank Castle takes place in a long forgotten timeline of the MCU where Frank continues to wage his war on crime.

Rating: 2 stars