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—— Alyce Kills May 24

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—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
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The Punisher (2004)

tomatometer

29

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Reviews Counted: 167
Fresh: 48 | Rotten: 119

A good cast fails to elevate this overly violent and by-the-numbers revenge flick.

28

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 29

A good cast fails to elevate this overly violent and by-the-numbers revenge flick.

audience

68

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 242,094

My Rating

Movie Info

An ordinary lawman goes outside the law to carry out his own brand of justice in this dark-themed thriller. Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is an FBI agent who deeply loves his wife and son, but is also strongly devoted to his work. Castle's investigation of a powerful crime cartel leads to a gunfight which claims the life of a young boy, whose father is underworld kingpin Howard Saint (John Travolta). Furious and eager for revenge, Saint arranges for Castle and his family to be murdered in

R,

Drama, Action & Adventure

Jonathan Hensleigh

Sep 7, 2004

$33.7M

Lions Gate Films - Official Site External Icon

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Cast

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All Critics (169) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (122) | DVD (27)

There's something to be said for letting a comic book adaptation operate at the level of a comic book, dispensing cheap laughs and ice-cold sadism.

April 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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Ultimately, Frank's victim -to-vigilante transformation is so morally unexplored it's emotionally alienating.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
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There isn't a moment in The Punisher that isn't borrowed or stolen from another movie.

April 22, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Observer
New York Observer
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Mismanages its greatest asset: an unusual embarrassment of camp riches.

April 21, 2004 Full Review Source: Village Voice
Village Voice
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... a lot of fun.

April 19, 2004 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comments (3)
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Gets us lost early in the first half-hour and never succeeds in completely luring us in.

April 17, 2004 Full Review Source: Salon.com
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Bad big screen adaptation of comic book.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

Standard, styleless revenge fantasy.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comment (1)
Big Picture Big Sound

Despite some admittedly strong moments it's certainly nothing special and barely above ordinary.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Dark Horizons
Dark Horizons

If you thought "Daredevil" was lousy, then you'll be thoroughly irritated by the asleep-at-the-wheel pacing of the story of the Punisher's origin.

May 7, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com
ColeSmithey.com

Action-packed, great story, great script, and great performances by an excellent cast make this yet another trophy in Marvel's movie gallery...

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment (1)
Cinema Crazed

A true study in the pathology of sadism that's also one of the best action films in years.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comments (3)
Urban Cinefile

A comic-book-movie-that-pretends-it's-not that falls between stools.

October 14, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

For a guy called The Punisher, he sure does a lot of moping, drinking and avoiding the act of punishment.

December 6, 2006 Full Review Source: DVD Clinic
DVD Clinic

We are treated to John Travolta in yet another gloriously unconvincing evil guy role as...a cross between Hugh Hefner and his own Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever.

September 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Lawrence.com

Listless, lifeless, uninterestingly bleak and quite often ridiculous.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

The biggest guilty pleasure of 2004. An entertaining throwback to the kind of hardcore vigilante films Charles Bronson used to star in.

December 20, 2005 Full Review Source: FulvueDrive-in.com | Comment (1)
FulvueDrive-in.com

It could make you cry, laugh or just shout out for more bloody violence, but regardless of your reaction, you're going to love it.

July 5, 2005 Full Review Source: Bullz-Eye.com
Bullz-Eye.com

The Punisher is Commando with an identity crisis.

June 26, 2005 Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony

Run of the mill revenge proped up with a couple of good fights and a singing assassin.

January 26, 2005 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope
Laramie Movie Scope

Audience Reviews for The Punisher

My goodness this was a pretty bad movie. I'm not entirely sure what they were going for, but it seems that the filmmakers weren't particularly concerned with making this thing interesting. The acting is incredibly bad. It even wastes the talent of the late Roy Scheider, which is an unforgivable error.
And while I love a good dark revenge fantasy, it didn't really embrace its darkness. Nor did it embrace the light either. It was caught in a purgatory that awkwardly blended drama, violence, and comical gags. It can best be likened to a Jackson Pollock painting. There is a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. But when you step back and look at the entire canvas, you spend your whole time struggling to figure out what the hell you are looking at.
March 8, 2011
axadntpron
Reid Volk

Super Reviewer

The Punisher is an average action film with a decent plot, but is never anything great due to some of the performances. John Travolta is a good choice to play the villain, and he redeems himself with his crap performance in the ultimate crap fest, Battlefield Earth. Jane is good in the role, but he doesn't seem at ease in the part. The biggest problem this version is that it goes from being a serious action film to a silly action film. Instead of keeping it consistent and delivering a dark tale of revenge, we get a few light hearted bits that cheapen the story. I felt that it didn't fit well, and it made this film slightly less enjoyable. There are some redeeming qualities about this film, which made me like the film. The performance of Will Patton as Quentin Glass was simply demented and he made the film better. This film leaves a lot for improvement; luckily they would remedy that with the second reboot, Punisher: Warzone. For what it is, this film is a good action flick with mindless thrills, but you see that it could have been much better than what it turned out to be. I think that there could have been a better effort in the script, and some ideas just seemed out of place, especially the light hearted bits, which for me ruined it slightly. I liked the film, but I much preferred Punisher: Warzone as I felt that Ray Stevenson was the guy to really portray the character the way it was meant to be played. If you're looking for a mindless action flick, then watch this, but if you want the darkest, meanest Punisher flick, watch Warzone instead. This version is good, but is never great by any means and it has a few too many flaws that die hard Punisher fans will surely hate.
April 7, 2011
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

    1. Frank Castle/The Punisher: Thanks for dinner.
    – Submitted by Christopher H (4 months ago)
    1. Frank Castle/The Punisher: Upset? Is that the word? I used to get upset. When I got a flat tire, when a plane was delayed. I used to get *upset* when the Yankees won the series. So if that's what upset means, what am I feeling now? If you know the word, tell me because I don't.
    – Submitted by Nick S (10 months ago)
    1. Frank Castle/The Punisher: In certain extreme situations the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy it is necessary to act outside the law to pursue natural justice.
    2. Joan "The Mouse": Good memories can save your life.
    – Submitted by Dann M (18 months ago)
    1. Frank Castle/The Punisher: God is going to sit this one out.
    – Submitted by Cheyne L (2 years ago)

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Latest News on The Punisher

July 16, 2012:
Thomas Jane Returns As the Punisher
It's only in a short film, but still.

June 16, 2011:
Marvel Movie Madness! Part 17: The Punisher (2004)
Tim: Look, I know the Punisher is a vigilante driven to vengeance after the brutal slaying of his...

June 12, 2008:
Exclusive Trailer : Marvel's Punisher: War Zone
Feast your eyes on the exclusive trailer for Punisher: War Zone, this December's all-new reboot...

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