The Punisher (2004)

[Kozydude 3]

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Even when it came out back in 2004, this movie was the exact opposite of who The Punisher was and acted in the comics. John Travolta freaking out about his son's death (5 years before is real son passed away), Thomas Jane playing this weird passive comedic version of The Punisher which never really existed (Which to be fair, he redeemed that mistake with the Dirty Laundry short film), The removal of Microchip (Punishers right hand guy for all things ammunition and protective gear) from the script completely, not to mention the only torture scene in the film involves a slab of steak and an ice pop.

 

I would normally recommend buying a movie to support, but this film does not deserve the money, considering this was before Marvel knew how to make a decent comic book movie.

[GiveMeYourBaby 102]

I legitimately love this movie but it is HDTGM worthy. Especially because it rips off Road Warrior hard. The chase of his family in the beginning and the delayed murder of a trapped secondary villain at the end were straight copies from that movie.

[Kozydude 3]

I legitimately love this movie but it is HDTGM worthy. Especially because it rips off Road Warrior hard. The chase of his family in the beginning and the delayed murder of a trapped secondary villain at the end were straight copies from that movie.

 

Holy shit, you're right! Haha! Never put two and two together. I also did enjoy it somewhat at the time, since The Punisher movie in the 80's was an absolute train wreck, at the time, it was sadly the closet we got to the real Punisher. Thank the gods for Jon Bernthal!

[RyanSz 3140]

The unrated version did a little to help make this movie more like what the comic was, especially in dealing with the traitorous friend who sold out Castle. Some of the stuff like the wacky neighbors or the fight with the Russian were almost directly from the book, but Castle's who mind game with Travolta about his wife and partner was just ridiculous. The last act and a half did make up a little for the first bit, but it just didn't have the total feel of a Punisher film. Even "Dirty Laundry" had major issues as it had the Punisher ignoring crimes that were happening right in front of him.

[Kozydude 3]

Even "Dirty Laundry" had major issues as it had the Punisher ignoring crimes that were happening right in front of him.

 

Well that was done that way to show that this is a Frank Castle that has given up on trying to "clean" his city and that Ron Perlman's Disabled Veteran character was meant to show what happens when you give up after failing. He fought a war to protect his country, only to return and see that they are killing each other. He attempts to stop it, but winds up getting a bullet in the spine and wheelchair bound. So he says fuck it and winds up a drunk working at a liqueur store. The Punisher sees that he accepts that the city is a shit hole and just sits by and not get in the way, so The Punisher only has two choices: Give up like this man and accept things as they are or continue to fight with whatever strength is left to rid the city of criminals.

 

That's just how i saw the video as, maybe i'm watching a different film haha. I guarantee there is a Garth Ennis Punisher MAX story where Frank is just no giving a shit about whats going on around him, it would be odd for him to not question his motives after years of being a vigilante.

[RyanSz 3140]

That's just how i saw the video as, maybe i'm watching a different film haha. I guarantee there is a Garth Ennis Punisher MAX story where Frank is just no giving a shit about whats going on around him, it would be odd for him to not question his motives after years of being a vigilante.

Nothing like that in the MAX series, there are times when the Punisher lets a hostage or target go, but in those situations the person is not likely to survive the situation that they are in, like in the case of letting a guy go in an alligator infested swamp after he helped the Punisher against cannibals. There was a Judge Dredd story years ago where Dredd is walking around Mega City ignoring flagrant crimes and pleas for help, confusing criminals. It's only at the strike of noon or something does he reveal that his suspension is over and now he can go back to work and start busting heads.

[Kream15 11]

Would totally love to see this movie get the treatment

[GiveMeYourBaby 102]

Travolta's acting is practically Cage-ian.

[RyanSz 3140]

One performance that should be applauded in this was Will Patton's who actually gives a solid job as Travolta's right hand man, who is a closeted gay man who has hidden feelings for Travolta. I didn't realize the hidden feelings aspect until reading a retrospective review that points to the scene where Travolta kills Patton after that stupid chieftain knife fighting monologue and how Patton doesn't fight back until the knife is literally driven into his body, because he up to that point thought Travolta had finally figured out Patton was gay and returning the feeling, even sharing Patton's preference to rough sex when he grabbed him by the throat. You can actually see Patton caressing Travolta's hand around his throat before he realizes that Travolta has other intentions.

As far as Jane's performance as the Punisher goes, I had the chance last year to talk to Tim Bradstreet who worked on the covers for the bulk of the Punisher covers in the early 2000s and he could not stand how Jane played the character, given that the movie came out as Punisher Max was running strong in stores and was a very stark contrast to what was shown in the movie. He said that the movie was a major punchline in the Marvel offices after it fizzled in theaters, used alongside Daredevil and Catwoman as examples of why comics won't be taken seriously in movies.