The Punisher (R, 2004)

Based on the comic book, THE PUNISHER centers on heroic undercover agent Frank Castle (Thomas Jane). The target in his last big case unexpectedly brings a friend along to the takedown, and when things go wrong, the friend is killed. It turns out he was the son of big-time bad guy Howard Saint (John Travolta), whose wife orders the slaughter of Castle's whole family, conveniently all vacationing together on an island. Castle himself is attacked and badly wounded, but the explosion that is supposed to finish him off blows him to safety. But a quick montage later he is a lean, mean revenge machine with a newly low and growly voice. He moves into a crummy apartment building and devotes all his time to drinking and orchestrating the destruction of everything Saint cares about.

Translating tone and pacing from the pages of a comic book to the screen is tricky, and this second attempt to turn the story of comic hero The Punisher into a movie Punisher fails. The revenge is too elaborate to be viscerally satisfying, slowing the story down. And it is not intricate enough to be intellectually satisfying, too dependent on a highly improbable chain of events all coming together at just the right moment for everything to work.

Jane gives his character notes of desolation and hunger for justice, and he has what it takes to hold the screen. But Travolta's villain is never more than a posturing despot. John Pinette, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and Ben Foster are appealing but superfluous as neighbors who befriend Castle. The fight scenes are well-staged but so brutal that they throw the thin plot out of balance. The pacing is poor. It takes much too long to get to the massacre of Castle's family, then the slaughter itself is dragged out unnecessarily and then it is reprised even more unnecessarily.

Studio: Artisan Entertainment
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Cast: Ben Foster, John Travolta, Thomas Jane
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 90 minutes
Theatrical release: April 15, 2004
DVD release: September 6, 2004
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: pervasive brutal violence, language and brief nudity