The Punisher (1989)

 

Long before Marvel was the cinematic juggernaut it is today, there were some tentative forays into the world of cinema. Unfortunately, most people back then didn't really care and doubly unfortunate that most adaptations for the big screen weren't - shall we say - excellent quality. This also goes for this early depiction of most people's favourite vigilante. It's not a horrendous film, but neither is it really a good one. However, the hardcore nature here is pretty surprising, to say the least.

In this version, Frank Castle is a police officer who has been presumed dead after a carbomb killed his family. Nevertheless, mobsters have been turning up dead for the past five years at an alarming rate. This prompts the return home of Gianni Franco, one of the last big crime bosses, as he wants to unite the Italian families so they can weather anything. But a deal with about 600 kilos of cocaine goes awry when unknown assailants jump in and kill some more mobsters.

Turns out these people are something akin to ninjas, as Yakuza boss Lady Tanaka wants to take over. In fact, she has already set her plan in motion and does away with most of the competition in record time. Frank Castle at first doesn't really care as this makes his job easier, but when Tanaka kidnaps the young children of the mobsters, something resembling a conscience enters Castle's mind and he decides to kick some Japanese backside as well, even teaming up with his greatest foe Franco. 

So you can tell the plot is pretty standard by all accounts. This is also not the most faithful depiction of the hardcore vigilante as in the comics (other iterations have stuck closer to the character), but that isn't to say that this film gets nothing right, because it gets a lot right.

Oh, how it does.

See, this is a Marvel film of sorts that would never get made today. F-bombs are dropped right and left and the carnage is on full display. Never mind the wanton destruction of property: people are getting shot to pieces, blown up, stabbed, cut, impaled, crushed... You name it, this film has it. It veers towards the almost exploitation-type action the 80s were so very well known for and in this respect this film absolutely works. 

Dolph Lundgren also does a fairly decent job as Castle, acting as though he's a man who absolutely has nothing left to live for but vengeance and who doesn't sleep at all. This run down, hardcore portrayal works. Sure, it could have been any revenge tale in that respect, but still. The supporting cast is also decent. Jeroen Krabbé is always a delight and he is chillingly compelling as mobster Gianni Franco. And then there's Louis Gossett Jr as Castle's former partner who is desperate to find out whether or not Frank is still alive and who brings some gravitas ànd levity to the part. 

That being said, the film does have pacing issues and sometimes feels rather slow, in spite of all the carnage and Lundgren's character doesn't have a lot of substance. It does take itself a little too seriously at times as well but all in all it's a lot better than it used to get credit for. Considering the modest budget they made this on, it's close to being poetry, yet not quite there. 

It's more low key and gritty than people have grown accustomed to, but if violent revengefilms are your thing and you can appreciate 80s action, Dolph Ludgren and the tiniest link to a beloved comic book character, then you surely have to try this one on for size.