Punisher: The Movie - Take 3

The new Punisher movie is coming out (trailer below). This is take three from Hollywood on this particular character. So far, the one review I read was quite positive and I fully expect this to be the most accurate and faithful depiction of the character on the silver screen. That is to say, it will be violent... really, really violent.

Since I've been writing so much about superhero movies, and since this one is kind of flying under the radar compared to the blockbusters, I thought I would give a brief history of the films that aren't quite a franchise, but rather a continual attempt to do it right the first time.

The first Punisher movie was in 1989 starring '80s Soviet action star Dolph Lungren in the title role. Lungren is best known to '80s action fans as Captain Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. Although I can barely remember this movie, as memory serves, it isn't that bad... at least as far as '80s action movies go. Dolph delivers a surprisingly accurate portrayal of this fairly one dimensional character. There are guns, explosions, and lots of bad guys die. At any rate, it's better than the more recent movie.

In 2004, Jonathan Hensleigh, husband of frequent Marvel film producer Gale Anne Hurd (formerly married to James Cameron and Brian de Palma), made a new version of Punisher with romance star Thomas Jane and John Travolta as the villain. Aside from the hammy villainy of John Travolta, I can't say much about the acting. It was good. However, the script and directing was so very tedious.

It clearly had two main influences. The first was Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's brilliant twelve-issue mini-series later titled "Welcome Back, Frank." Ennis and Dillon made a reputation on their creator owned comic Preacher for extreme violence, profanity, and generally disgusting content. Regardless, it's honestly one of the five best comic series I've ever read. The writing is actually very thoughtful, deliberate, and most important, consistent. There aren't really any periods where the story seems to wander or a new artist comes in who isn't as good as the old one. It's top notch from start to finish. These are the same qualities he brings to Punisher.

Now, it should be said, that Ennis is from Ireland and a big fan of American Westerns from John Wayne to Clint Eastwood. Preacher is, essentially, a modern Western/biblical adventure. Likewise, his run on Punisher had certain western elements including the dopey kid who inexplicably likes the unlikable hero, a mousy school marm-type who has a crush on him, and a fat, jolly, and ineffective community leader. All of this is well and good in moderation, but Hensleigh takes these elements way, way, way too far.

The other obvious influence was Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West, perhaps more obvious to me because I just saw it. The result is that we get awkward and inappropriate Western cliche's and music. There is at least one "stand off" where, instead of a tumbleweed blowing past, it's a newspaper. Also, the mousy school marm was cast as Rebecca Romijn and reworked into a very awkward romantic interest.

But my favorite Punisher movie of all time was Brian Helgeland's Payback starring Mel Gibson (Ah, the days before we all hated Mel Gibson). Technically, it's not the Punisher, but it is everything you want from a Punisher movie, which is the vicarious thrill of doing to the worst people in the world what they do to everyone else.

Now, where do I want to see Punisher next? Well, aside from the proposed Daredevil TV show, I want to see him in a Spider-Man movie. Punisher first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974) and was immediately a success. Here you had a humorless, soldier with no powers whatsoever going against the wise-cracking, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He quickly started appearing in other comics for two reasons. First, the fact that he kills distinguishes him from all the other costumed crimefighters and puts their methods (as well as his own) into question. Second, he has NO POWERS! This is a guy whose tough enough to take on big league superheroes with a high powered rifle, a van with enough weaponry to annex a small country, several tons of explosive, and pure grit.

Hollywood needs to realize what comic writers found out years ago. Punisher works best as a supporting character.