The Punisher

Vietnam veteran Frank Castle was enjoying a picnic lunch with his family one day in Central Park. Unbeknownst to Frank, nearby rival mob gangs where having a "disagreement."

Suddenly, gunfire explodes through the air. Frank instinctively takes cover, old reactions kicking in from his time spent in the war. His family was not so lucky. Right before his eyes, Frank Castle saw his worst nightmare come true. His entire family--his wife, his daughter, and his son, were tragically murdered as he stood by helpless.

Frank Castle vowed that day to avenge his family's death. In fact, in a sense, Frank Castle died that day. His heart blackened and his soul became numb. Drawing on his years of military training, Frank Castle became the Punisher, a one-man killing machine determined to protect the innocent and punish the guilty.

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The Punisher first appeared in Amazing Spiderman # 129 (February 1974). Initially, the Punisher was meant to be an antagonist in the Spiderman comics. But his popularity soon caught on.

The Punisher began to appear on a regular basis in the Marvel Universe, teaming up with Spiderman and other superheroes such as Captain America and Daredevil throughout the 70s and 80s.

In the beginning, the character was portrayed as a very torn individual. He saw things in terms of black and white: you either obeyed the law, or you broke it. The Punisher was seen going after a jaywalker, yet later turning on his "partner" the Jackal when it appeared as though the Jackal had killed Spiderman by dishonorable means rather than facing him in a fair fight.

While the Punisher has changed somewhat with the times, this complexity has stayed with the character throughout his existence.

Fan favorite author Garth Ennis, continuining his popular run on the character, used the freedom of the Marvel MAX imprint to write more realistic and hard-edged stories than had previously been seen in Punisher titles. Rather than place Frank in the brightly colored, spandex-clad Marvel Universe, Ennis wrote stories with a gritty, realistic tone.

Storylines in the Punisher MAX series often focused on current events, as we saw Frank Castle take on the war on terror, corporate fraud and sexual slavery. Frank's time in Vietnam was explored more in depth, where we see him undergo a psychological and possibly supernatural transformation into the Punisher to survive a massive assault on his fortification by the combined forces of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army.

Based on the Marvel comic book character, action star Dolph Lundgren portrays Frank Castle, a former policeman who lives in the sewers and exacts vengeance as judge, jury, and executioner against criminals. The Punisher wages his war against crime in retaliation for the murders of his wife and children. Frank's ex-partner Jake (played by Louis Gossett Jr.) finally catches up with the driven vigilante as Frank tries to stop the Japanese yakuza, which is trying to take over the mafia operations in the city.

This movie was doomed from the start. The character did not even don the Punisher's white skull which you find emblazoned on his chest in every comic the Punisher appears in. So alienate your core audience, add cheesy 80s storyline and acting and unfortunately you get a big disappointing mess.

Family man and FBI agent Frank Castle had it all: a beautiful wife, a loving family, the perfect house. He was a shining example of the American dream. But things take an unfortunate turn for the worse as his life is brutally ripped away from him by a ruthless criminal. In that moment, Frank Castle died...and the Punisher was born. Now serving as judge, jury, and executioner, the Punisher is on a mission too wage a one-man war against those that deserve punishment.

Although not everyone's first choice to play the role, Thomas Jane did an admirable job in Frank Castle's shoes. The character of the Punisher is certainly not meant for the mainstream yet the movie still enjoyed a moderate success. The fanbase was a bit annoyed at seeing a slightly watered down version of their beloved anti-hero. That plus an oddly uncomfortable and difficult to believe villian as played by John Travolta caused this movie not to reach the heights which it should have.

Frank Castle, an ex military expert whose family was killed by criminals, becomes a vigilante calling himself the Punisher. Frank ruthlessly pursues an entire mob family and executes them all with the exception of Billy Russoti. Eventually the Punisher tracks down Russoti and chases him into an old factory. During the scuffle, Russoti loses his balance and falls into a vat of crushed glass. Without hesitation, the Punisher immediately turns on the crusher to kill Russoti. Thinking him dead, Frank flees the scene. Somehow Russoti barely survives but sustains incredibly severe and horrific injuries, leaving his scarred and torn face resembling a puzzle. Russoti swears vengeance against the Punisher and adopts the name Jigsaw.

With the latest iteration of the Punisher, they truly captured the look, size and feel of the character. Ray Stevenson very much looks like Frank Castle. Lots of great action scene with tons of gore and brutality seemed promising at first. Unfortunately, poor actors riddled the cast and an over the top cliched villain in the form of Jigsaw simply ruined what could have been a great movie.

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