Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Punisher (2004)
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Movie review
From Time Out London
Just a laugh, a thrill, and plenty of sustained weapons fire.’ Thus did Marvel Comics-writer Garth Ennis introduce his muscled psycho of one-track vengeance. Yet even these intellectual ground zero expectations are disappointed in the unsteady comedy of this latest live-action adaptation, whose hootsome script seems to have blown its own brains out amid the non-stop cartoon carnage. Special Agent Frank Castle (Tom Jane) is all set for a nice beach-house retirement, before he inadvertently snuffs out the son of Tampa ‘businessman’ Howard Saint (John Travolta) – sparking a bloodthirsty, distinctly unthrilling, eye-for-eye retribution even those Ancient Greek chappies might consider a tad unrestrained. Ultimately, Frank’s victim -to-vigilante transformation is so morally unexplored it’s emotionally alienating.Author: LZ
Time Out London Issue 1779: September 22-29, 2004
Cast & crew
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Producer: Avi Arad
Cast: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Will Patton, Laura Harring, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure, Thrillers
Rated: 18
Duration: 123 mins
UK Release: Sep 24 2004
Top Stories
Ridley Scott interview
Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback
Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report
Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke
What do you think?
Post your review now