With 17 minutes of actual story cut back into the film, The Punisher (Extended Cut) is worth the double dip, and presents a better film than the original theatrical release. The movie still has problems, but some of the plot holes are filled with the new footage.
Originally released in 2004, The Punisher was the big screen adaptation of Marvel Comics ultimate vigilante who walks a fine line between a hero and a villain. While the film kept the character rooted in the gritty reality of the comic (with much of the plot inspired by the Garth Ennis’ storyline “Welcome Back Frank”), it still fell short of capturing the mood, tone and violence that made the character a favorite among comic readers. With that said, the film is extremely better than the character’s first screen adaptation – which saw Dolph Lundgren taking on the Punisher role in 1989.
The Punisher was directed by Jonathan Hensleigh – who also co-wrote the film along with Michael France. The film stars Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Will Patton, Rebecca Romijn, Laura Harring and Roy Scheider (though he is only in the film for a few minutes).
The movie’s plot is rather straight forward, and doesn’t require any thought to figure out what is happening. Frank Castle (Jane) is an undercover FBI agent who is involved in a gun bust before his retirement from the agency. During the bust, the son of mobster Howard Saint (Travolta) is killed. As Frank heads out for a family reunion, Saint and his goons make plans to kill him and his entire family. This leads to bloody shootout where Castle’s father (Scheider) is killed along with Castle’s wife and son. The mobsters make one mistake – they fail to kill Frank.
Love him or hate him, Jane is The Punisher
Returning from the “dead,” Castle embarks on a plan to destroy Saint’s organization, his wife, and to kill pretty much any bad guy who gets in his path. Castle also meets a few “losers” - Bumbo (John Pinette), Dave (Ben Foster), and Joan (Romijn) – who become his new family.
Like I said, the film’s plot is rather straight forward and offers little in the way of surprises or shocking turns. If you have watched any kind of action revenge flick (from Death Wish to any number of Steven Seagal films), then you know what to expect.
The movie was met by a mix reaction from comic fans – with some fans loving Jane as Castle and others hating him in the role. Personally, The Punisher is a guilty pleasure for me, and I enjoyed Jane’s performance. There is no doubt that the film has problems and at times is down right bad (mostly whenever Travolta is on screen), but it does manage to capture the spirit of the comic.
Love him or hate him, Jane does do a good job in the Castle role. He has a quiet violence throughout the film that the character needs, and his performance makes you question if this guy is doing the right or wrong thing. You want to root for Frank to come back to his humanity (which is spurred by the interaction between Castle and his new family), but you are also counting the minutes until he dons that skull shirt to start the killing.
Unfortunately, the film’s bad guys come across as cartoon cookie-cutter villains and ruin any chance for you to take Castle and what he is going through seriously. Travolta and Patton normally can deliver solid performances, but are wasted in this film. Travolta chews almost all of his dialogue and seems to be feeding some need to overact in every scene.
The Punisher finds a new family as he seeks his revenge
The new extended cut of the film features an animated “Kuwait” scene which introduces us to Frank Castle and to the Jimmy Weeks character (played by Russell Andrews). In the theatrical cut, Weeks only appears in a couple of scenes, but the character was actually a huge part of the film’s plot. Much of the 17 extra minutes, involves his character and how he betrayed his best friend – Frank Castle. The extra footage fills some of the film’s plot holes – such as how Saint finds Castle’s family. There is also a great scene between Jane and Andrews where Castle confronts his friend with the betrayal.
The animated “Kuwait” scene features art from Punisher cover artist Tim Bradstreet. The scene also features new work from Jane and Andrews. Part of the DVD special features show how the scene was created for the new version of the DVD, and why Hensleigh and company felt it was important to include it. The feature also goes into how the scene was created and the amount of work it took to bring it to the DVD.
Other special features on the DVD include a “making of” featurette which is fairly standard, and The Punisher Comic Book Gallery – which is a real treat for comic fans and features covers from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and current Punisher comics.
Without a doubt, The Punisher has some problems. It fell short of what comic fans were hoping for with the screen adaptation of Marvel’s biggest gun totting vigilante. Still, the movie does manage to deliver good action, a strong performance from Jane, and good starting place for a future franchise (a sequel has been talked about since the film was released in 2004).
Travolta and Patton ruin the film as the bad guys
I liked The Punisher, and the new extended cut helps make the movie more enjoyable. It doesn’t fix all the problems, but answers some questions. If you were a fan of the film, I would recommend the double dip. If you have never seen the film, this is the version to watch.
The Punisher (Extended Cut) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, this version of the DVD is not available in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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