A Lions Gate Films, Inc., Marvel Enterprises Production, 2004. Produced by Avi Arad and Gale Ann Hurd. Written by Michael France and Jonathan Hensleigh. Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. Starring Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Mark Collie as "Harry Heck."

     By Stephen Pytak 

     It's kind of predictable, not always original 
and it kinda runs a bit long.
     But Thomas Jane is excellent in the title
role.
     For starters, the story is one we've heard
a million times. It's the Mack Bolan story.
He's "The Executioner" by the way, in case
you haven't heard about his books, which
were written by Don Pendleton. This story
has also been played out in films like
"Death Wish (1974)" and "The Exterminator
(1980)."
     I'm not saying it shouldn't be retold on
screen for a new generation. It's just that
a lot of audience members out there have 
been there, done that. The screenplay 
needed a more original approach.
     What we get here is the ABCs of the
Frank Castle story in order: Mob boss' son
is killed by FBI during raid, mob boss
seeks revenge, targets FBI undercover 
agent Castle, has Castle's family killed,
his goons fail to kill Castle, and Castle
seeks revenge.
     The film failed to stand on its own in 
another way. It lifted two of its action 
sequences directly from "Mad Max (1979)."
     First there was the scene where Castle's
wife and kid are run down on the dock. Max's
wife and kid were run down by bikers like
that. But the problem is the scene in "The
Punisher" was filmed exactly the same way.
Hell, Castle even runs up to check their vitals
with a shotgun in hand.
     There's a scene in the end where The 
Punisher kills villain Howard Saint's oldest 
son with a grenade. Watch it carefully,
then watch the end of "Mad Max" and the
scene where Max kills "Johnny the Boy." 
Basically, it's the same goddamn scene!
     I wonder if the people at Marvel who
are producing these films are starting to
get over confident. They're pumping out
movies faster and faster. Hell, "Spider-Man
2" isn't even out yet and the release date 
for "Spider-Man 3" has already been
set!
     My prayers go out to "Man-Thing." 
His flick's due out either in August or
October.
     So why am I giving "The Punisher"
a full clip silver?
     Thomas Jane.
     He's the guy for the job. It's just too bad
he didn't have a better script to work with.
     And there are a few good parts. 
     I liked singer Mark Collie's brief cameo 
as mercenary "Harry Heck." That was really
something. 
     Then there was the fight with "The 
Russian," played by Kevin Nash. That 
was cool. 
     By the way, John Travolta has really
nothing to do in the role of lead villain
"Howard Saint." 
     When he decides to deal with a 
personnel matter with a switchblade
in one scene, I thought maybe he'd be 
give The Punisher a little more than 
target practice.
     And I'm not really sure why Rebecca
Romijn-Stamos is here. She does an O.K.
job as the girl waitress next door. But 
all she'll get at the end of the day here is
a paycheck. No tips.
    I was also kind of hoping we'd see the
birth of "Jigsaw." No dice.