When I saw this movie, I thought it would be similar to "Hard to Kill", but much better....boy, was I wrong. While the idea of "Crime ring kills an undercover cop's family, and he proceeds to obtain vengeance" is slightly clichéd, this movie does a very good job of straying from the generally overused guideline like a movie like this follow. The general premise of this movie is that Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is an FBI agent who goes undercover to investigate a gun smuggling ring. A son of a major criminal player named Howard Saint (John Travolta) dies in a deal gone bad at the hands of Frank Castle. Saint learns who Castle is and has a hit squad wipe out his ENTIRE family during a reunion in Puerto Rico. Castle is found near death and eventually moves into an apartment complex where he vows to avenge his family's death.
This movie contained much more creativity than movies like it. Frank is constantly angry and depressed and never really changes moods throughout the movie. This was a much more realistic vision of how someone would act if their entire family were wiped out, whereas in other movies, the character returns to a relatively normal state of mind. One would also assume early on that Frank would end up having a relationship with a woman named Joan (Rebbeca Romijn-Stamos) who lives on the same floor of the apartment as he does. There is little emotional feeling of this nature between these two characters throughout the movie, which was a good switch of pace. It was also unique how Frank fooled Saint into killing his best friend and his wife instead of Frank killing them off himself.
I can't really complain much about this movie. The story was intriguing, the acting was great, and the effects were very well executed. The major flaw of this movie are the gunfights, or lack thereof. While this movie does contain a lot of shooting and firearms, don't expect anything on par with The Matrix or Blade. The battle at the end of the movie left a lot to be desired, as most of the destruction and mayhem was caused by bombs placed in the building and on cars. Castle kills a few patrolling guards with knives, blows up a room with a remote detonated bomb, walks in and finishes of about 8 stragglers with his guns. Because the survivors are injured, there is almost no gunfire exchanged between Frank and his enemies. This pretty much leaves Howard and his son at the mercy of Frank. The lack of major firefights is good in that it reminds you that this isn't a movie about utter chaos and destruction. "The Punisher" contained a lot of meaning for a movie that would appear to be mindless killing. It shows how a person can be alive physically, but dead mentally. Another great thing about this movie is that the motivations and emotions of almost every character are explained rather than just plunging the viewer into the action. Overall, the Punisher is a suspenseful action movie that shows that it can be intriguing and deep as well as have time to blow stuff up.
This movie contained much more creativity than movies like it. Frank is constantly angry and depressed and never really changes moods throughout the movie. This was a much more realistic vision of how someone would act if their entire family were wiped out, whereas in other movies, the character returns to a relatively normal state of mind. One would also assume early on that Frank would end up having a relationship with a woman named Joan (Rebbeca Romijn-Stamos) who lives on the same floor of the apartment as he does. There is little emotional feeling of this nature between these two characters throughout the movie, which was a good switch of pace. It was also unique how Frank fooled Saint into killing his best friend and his wife instead of Frank killing them off himself.
I can't really complain much about this movie. The story was intriguing, the acting was great, and the effects were very well executed. The major flaw of this movie are the gunfights, or lack thereof. While this movie does contain a lot of shooting and firearms, don't expect anything on par with The Matrix or Blade. The battle at the end of the movie left a lot to be desired, as most of the destruction and mayhem was caused by bombs placed in the building and on cars. Castle kills a few patrolling guards with knives, blows up a room with a remote detonated bomb, walks in and finishes of about 8 stragglers with his guns. Because the survivors are injured, there is almost no gunfire exchanged between Frank and his enemies. This pretty much leaves Howard and his son at the mercy of Frank. The lack of major firefights is good in that it reminds you that this isn't a movie about utter chaos and destruction. "The Punisher" contained a lot of meaning for a movie that would appear to be mindless killing. It shows how a person can be alive physically, but dead mentally. Another great thing about this movie is that the motivations and emotions of almost every character are explained rather than just plunging the viewer into the action. Overall, the Punisher is a suspenseful action movie that shows that it can be intriguing and deep as well as have time to blow stuff up.
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