The Punisher (1989)

Tagline: If society won’t punish the guilty, he will.

Curiosity: Dolph Lundgren. ’Nuff said.

Plot: After his family is killed by a car bomb, Frank Castle launches a one-man war against the mob, with 125 kills in five years. Everyone thinks Castle died in the same explosion, except for his ex-partner, aging cop Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett Jr.). Berkowitz is trying to find Castle and, I don’t know, get him into counseling or something. I mean, the dude went ape shit and killed 125 people [Spoiler alert: He kills another 60 in the movie]. But Castle’s personal war takes a turn when the Japanese gangsters in the Yakuza kidnap several Mafia heads’ children. Castle may be a killer, but he also loves cute lil kiddies. What he does could determine the outcome of this gang war.

Also, he spends a lot of time in the sewers, either yelling at God while nude or riding a motorcycle.

Thoughts: The original entry in the Punisher trilogy (Yeah, I said it) is surprisingly strong. Lundgren’s American accent had really come along by this point. I’m a huge Masters of the Universe fan, but Lundy lapses into Swedish territory whenever he has to yell in that film. A mere two years later, Punisher finds him delivering all of the nihilism the character requires. It’s pretty great how straight-forward he plays the character. At this point, Castle’s already been in the game for five years. He’s less angry or sad, more just numb by this point, save for those truly pivotal nude scenes when he talks to God.

Considering it came out a decade before Marvel’s golden era of cinema, The Punisher holds up pretty well. Castle isn’t a particularly complex character; he kills guys out of a vengeance that can never be quenched. He uses guns a lot. And he wears black. The movie hits those three points, though it does notably cut the Punisher skull symbol, as well as the character’s Vietnam backstory. But those seem like plausible additions; Vietnam would’ve aged the character too much. And the skull, while cool, is essentially a target. Director Mark Goldblatt, whose editing credentials include G-Force, X-Men: The Last Stand, and xXx: State of the Union, wisely dropped the symbol in favor of a more realistic all-black costume, something Christopher Nolan would later do with his Batman relaunch.

Speaking of Batman, Tim Burton’s first take on the character came out the same year as The Punisher, and while it clearly made more bank, it’s also clearly the worse film 20 years later. The horrible Prince soundtrack, the obvious fact that Michael Keaton can’t move in the batsuit, and Burton’s overall lack of understanding of the characters leaves a lot to be desired. It wasn’t until Nolan came in for Batman Begins that Bruce Wayne got a worthy film.

The Punisher, however, got it right the first time. Viewers get a guy who shoots guns at mobsters. Done and done.

Reflection: I want to have a Lundgren movie marathon. I gotta track down a copy of Showdown in Little Tokyo.