Thomas Jane
Frank Castle / The Punisher
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Action
Crime
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When undercover FBI agent Frank Castle's wife and son are slaughtered, he becomes 'the Punisher' -- a ruthless vigilante willing to go to any length to avenge his family.
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| Homepage | http://marvel.com/movies/movie/5/the_punisher |
|---|---|
| Release Date | 2004-04-15 |
| Runtime | 2h 4m |
| Directors | Jonathan Hensleigh, Conrad W. Hall, Jonathan Short, David Sardi, Richard Oswald, Steve Battaglia, Gary Hymes |
| Producers | Andreas Grosch, Avi Arad, Gale Anne Hurd, Anson Downes, Christopher Eberts, Linda Favila, Kevin Feige, Stan Lee, Christopher Roberts, Andreas Schmid, John H. Starke, Ari Arad, Leslie Huntley |
| Writers | Michael France, Jonathan Hensleigh, Gerry Conway |
Thomas Jane and John Travolta are good in this, but man is The Punisher one stupid movie.
I'm willing to suspend my disbelief quite a bit but how is it a gangster assassin doesn't double tap and headshot their target when they have them at point blank? This mafia family soon proves to be one of the dumbest in all of gangster cinema, leaving their loved ones completely open to be followed by Frank Castle, falling for a really terrible manipulation scheme, and how did they find out where Frank Castle's apartment was?
This is the kind of try-hard movie that Hollywood makes every so often when they have a revenge story script, an alpha-male protagonist, and all the rights to heavy metal tracks. It tries so hard to be cool and fails so spectacularly it's actually painful to watch.
— tmdb44006625
The Punisher avoids the comic book cheese of the era and grounds its story in a realistic revenge tale that fits the character perfectly.
Jon Bernthal might have been the perfect actor to play the Punisher, but Thomas Jane was a close second. Rather than getting all wrapped up in the comic universe, The Punisher (2004) keeps its story contained in a more realistic world and focuses on the transformation of Frank Castle into the Punisher. The cast of this movie is filled with exceptional talent, and the plot is a carefully crafted revenge that unfolds as the film progresses, with an excellent payoff at the end. Some parts are cheesy and larger than life, but overall, the movie stays true to The Punisher's dark and grounded roots. Out of all the interpretations of The Punisher in films and shows over the years, this one is my favorite and the standard by which I compare every new Punisher.
— The Movie Mob