The Punisher

The Punisher starring Thomas Jane (who happens to look like Christopher Lambert) as Frank Castle is another film based on a comic book. With the success of Spider Man, it appears Hollywood wants to capitalize on all comics. Sure, The Punisher is a slightly better flick than Daredevil but that is not saying much.

The plot of the story can be best summarized by first quoting Frank Castle, the main character, who said at the end of the movie, "In certain...'extreme' situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue... natural justice. This is not vengeance. Revenge is not a valid motive, it's an emotional response. No. Not vengeance. This, is punishment." After Frank's whole family was murdered by Howard Saint played by John Travolta, Castle decides to kill Saint and his whole evil circle of families as an act of "punishment"... not revenge.

The action sequences in the movie were entertaining but not spectacular. "The Russian" whom Frank fought at one point of the movie resembles one of those big muscle actors with bleached blond hair who appears in Jackie Chen movies. Thomas Jane, however, is certainly no Jackie Chen nor is the character Frank Castle.

In closing, The Punisher is a mediocre movie with a weak storyline. Hollywood needs to stop making comic book based films. The only movies I have actually enjoyed based on comic books are Batman, Superman, and Spiderman. With that said, I guess the lesson here for Hollywood when translating comic books onto the big screen is picking a comic book with a character that has a name ending with "man".

Rating: 5 out of 10.