Review #531: 'The Punisher' (1989)

The right-wing fascism of the Marvel comics character was incredibly well suited to the increasingly comic-book violence of late-'80's action cinema. With an ex-actor as the American president, and his campaign of reform that benefited the rich, it was inevitable that the heroes of cinema would move away from the morally ambiguous characters of the 1970's, and move to the more clearly defined, shoot first ask later, machismo of revenge against perceived evil. In Frank Castle, Gerry Conway and John Romita Jr, created a simplistic, one-dimensional man who fights the city's criminal organisation, after the mob had been involved in the murder of his family. After this event, Frank (dubbed The Punisher by police and the media) leaves the police force, and lives a subterranean life, disposing of those he sees as morally objectionable. In the comic world, Punisher was a very '70's creation (first appearing in 1974), but would not become as relevant to a "wider" audience until the excessive nature of the 80's action genre.

With such an easily defined origin, the film begins after Frank Castle (played by Dolph Lundgren) who is suspected by many to be the Punisher, has been in hiding for five years, and the accumulation of dead criminals are increasing. With the mob families combining their efforts, creating a syndicate, the Japanese Yakuza arrive to assimilate these groups and over take the city crime activities. Castle's ex-police partner, Jake Berkowitz (Louis Gossett Jr.), is on the case of the merging families, and the new threat of the "foreign" mafia, but is fundamentally after the famous vigilante. The inclusion of the Japanese elements seems to reflect America's entrenched fear of outsiders, and particularly the oriental superiority in technological advancement, and of course, a sewer-dwelling vigilante (and a tough American) can easily dispose of technology with his bare hands.

The Punisher is a pretty standard right-wing action film of the decade, and offers little excitement, and most certainly offers nothing new to the genre. It seems that life is disposable if those bodies are foreign. Like so many of these explosion-fuelled, testosterone enhanced films, The Punisher takes itself far too seriously. Lundgren's dialogue and delivery is so cliched, that even by 1989, this gravelly, monotone dialogue was ridiculous, and forged from what must have been the universal book of bad statements. (Even when Lundgren shoots large weaponry, his mouth seems to be filled with marbles.) With the major threat that the Yakuza has kidnapped the mob bosses kids, it is a pretty lame premise, and one which could easily have been solved by the Brady Bunch (in other words, the threat was limited, with no need for bulging biceps). The whole package though released cinematically (outside of America and Sweden at least), seems much like the pilot episode for a proposed television series, than a wholly satisfactory film experience, and fails as action or drama.


Directed by: Mark Goldblatt
Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr., Jeroen Krabbé
Country: Australia/USA

Rating: *

Marc Ivamy