you wish we would never need, but also one that you may want.

movie that thinks so deeply about its conflicts and decisions that there are times when the audience itself feels like it has a personal stake in the outcome. This is by far the best film in the reinvigorated sub-genre of comic-book-to-screen conversions.

shy of the two X-Men movies, but it is right there with Spider-Man and easily surpasses Batman, Superman and The Hulk. The fact that it is an R-rated movie killed any possible chance of decent box-office numbers, but it was a necessary step to take, and the quality of the movie just makes up for it. Hopefully this was Thomas Jane's breakout role.

get through it without any casualties but, alas, somebody has always got to do something stupid or there would not be a story. Anyways, a son of Howard Saint John Travolta is inevitably killed, which makes both Howard and his wife, Livia Saint Laura Harring , thirst for revenge against those responsible. Somehow, they get the name and whereabouts of Frank Castle, who has retired and is at a family reunion in Puerto Rico. They send a group of assassins who swiftly and callously execute every member of Castle's family and believe they have killed Castle, himself, but he has somehow survived.From that point on, Frank is healing and going on a drinking binge, all the while plotting his revenge on Howard Saint. He does not refer to it as revenge, however, because that is more of an emotion. He calls it "punishment", thus his new moniker.Once The Punisher goes all out, there are all kinds of nice fights and scenes that show the nature and anger of The Punisher. I thought there would be a lot more violence as I had played the ultra-violent video game before seeing the movie but I thought what they showed was pretty good. There will be plenty more if they make a sequel. Maybe, if we are lucky, we could eventually start having the crossovers like in the comics, with Spider-Man vs Punisher, etc.This is one of Marvel's better efforts, following Hulk and Daredevil. I enjoy all of them, but this one stood out for me and is up there with Spider-Man and X-Men in my book. 8.5/10

wrong" kind of cop. In this case, Castle is an undercover FBI Special Agent investigating the Saint family. The operation is blown, and Castle accidentally kills Bobby Saint. In retaliation Howard Saint John Travolta tracks Frank to a family reunion, and orders his goons to kill Frank and the entire Castle family. Left for dead, Frank somehow survives, and takes it upon himself to 'punish' Howard Saint and his cronies.I mentioned before that I've never read a Punisher comic before. Without having read any Punisher stories, I can not comment on how true the latest film stays to the source material. For all I know, it could be straying very far from the comics. The movie is dark, sometimes funny, and oddly captivating. The only thing separating this from the multitude of "man's family is killed, man gets revenge" 'Death Wish' clones out there is that 'The Punisher' has strange violent opera feel to it.As an action movie, 'The Punisher' is totally awesome. It is violent and aggressive, perfect for any action movie fan, and probably perfect for the character of Frank Castle. While the movie does slow down at times, it boasts some really cool action scenes. The best is easily Castle's one on one fight against the Russian Kevin Nash . The fact that Tom Jane is nowhere as physically imposing as Nash or good ole' Dolph Lundgren makes that scene and others all the more impressive.I've seen a few Marvel movies recently, from the terrible 'Nick Fury: Agent of Shield', through the average at best 'Elektra' to the totally awesome 'The Punisher', and I haven't even reached the 'Blade' trilogy yet, but I will, oh I will. For now, 'The Punisher' is an awesome movie, and easily my favourite of the Marvel comic adaptations - 9/10

Men, Spider Man et al as this one is specifically dark and very violent and subsequently adult based. Much like Sin City, this is away from the fluffy side of Marvel comics and more towards the grimmer bowels of them.Given it is a tale of revenge there's really no need further need for synopsis, but rather focus should be on what the movie has, or has not to offer.First of all this is a Gale Anne Hurd film. A major player in Hollywood behind the entire Terminator series, Hurd's influence on this movie cannot be underestimated. The darkness and foreboding is very much from the Terminator school, and while that was James Cameron direct influence as director, Hurd wasn't sitting ildly by.The direction here comes from Jonathan Hensleigh who moves things along extremely well and one thing he has in his repertoire is things are directed clearly - there is no confusion here about what is going on, and even quicker sequences which usually baffle in such movies are pretty intuitive.As Castle, Jane has just the right lack of charisma; this isn't a character who goes around charming people, quite the opposite. Before Castle's 'death' he plays the role with enough subtlety to avoid him coming across like a robot, but after it he *is* the punisher and is good in the part.The soundtrack is suitably punchy with a nice mix of classical and modern thrown in. The crunchy metal goes well with the fight scenes, and the more gentle overtones apply elsewhere, except one fight which unquestionably has amusing overtones and an opera soundtrack accompanying it.And this is another strength of the film; there is downright superb comedy a-plenty here. It's never overplayed, and the movie *does* take itself necessarily seriously, but there are many genuinely funny moments which provide a great antidote to the darker themes.John Travolta was another master-stroke here; comes across as a really cold villain, whose wife Equally evil has him wrapped around her little finger. He is never a parody of a movie villain, and although the ultimate outcome is pretty predictable, it is still enjoyable to see his fate.Overall this is a fine film and never cheesy. It entertains, it has adult violence, it's even amusing in places. A thoroughly enjoyable romp.

family gets wiped out by gunman and "The Punisher" Thomas Jane goes after them after almost being killed himself.A smart aspect of this film was inserting a bit of humor in it, such as the two nerds down the hallway who befriend "The Punisher." The sometimes-juvenile but interesting action scenes, the diverse characters in here and the humor all combine to make this better than anticipated. No, it's anything but a thinking man's movie, but it IS entertaining and harmless if you look at everything tongue-in-cheek.

actor in the original Immortal? i.e. his guttural delivery and dour countenance.

There are no superpowers on show here just a guy with a vendetta up against a powerful man that wants him killed who can afford to hire realistic killers with personality I might add, to do the jobThis goes down as one of my favorite films of all time mainly because of the beautiful camera work and realistic gritty style action. I'll be definitely keeping an eye out for this director's work in the future.