Review – The Punisher

The problem with most revenge-centered action movies is that the revenge almost never seems adequate. The bad guys torment the hero throughout the picture, destroying or spoiling all he loves, thrashing him over and over, and generally making his life a living hell. Sure, he triumphs in the end. But the wrongdoers don’t get anywhere near what they dished out. They’re beaten, sometimes even killed. Still, more often than not it comes up short. Not so in this case. Marvel’s vigilante anti-hero translates well to the big screen, especially after being mercifully stripped of his stretchy superhero suit and white boots. Thomas Jane does better than I thought he would as Frank Castle. He isn’t quite the guy from the comic books, but then he isn’t supposed to be. I suppose it’s likely that I got more of a kick out of this than I should have because I’m a longtime fan of the comic-book hero and his dime-novel counterpart, The Executioner. However, anyone who likes to see a monomaniacal protagonist triumph against the odds in the most vicious manner possible should get a real bang out of this. Worth seeing