Synopsis
When undercover FBI agent Frank Castle's wife and son are slaughtered, he becomes 'the Punisher' -- a ruthless vigilante willing to go to any length to avenge his family.
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Cast
- Thomas JaneFrank Castle / The Punisher
- John TravoltaHoward Saint
- Will PattonQuentin Glass
- Roy ScheiderFrank Castle, Sr.
- Laura HarringLivia Saint
- Ben FosterSpecker Dave
- Samantha MathisMaria Castle
- James CarpinelloBobby Saint/ John Saint
- A. Russell AndrewsJimmy Weeks
- Eddie JemisonMickey Duka
Recommendations
- 75
Rolling Stone
Among the recent spate of comic-book movies, from "Spider-Man" to the "X-Men," The Punisher is unique. - 70
Washington Post
Unlike some of its recent ilk – "Spider-Man," for example – The Punisher is, no disrespect, a thoroughly morose and bilious affair. That is precisely what I like best about it. - 50
Philadelphia Inquirer
For such a formulaic vigilante film, The Punisher has a far better cast than it deserves. - 50
Christian Science Monitor
The most entertaining scenes focus on the lovable louts and losers who share the boardinghouse where the protagonist - based on a comic-book character billed as a superhero without superpowers - prepares his grisly exploits. The rest is mayhem. - 38
ReelViews
The Punisher isn't Frank Castle; it's Jonathan Hensleigh. And the punishee is anyone sitting in the audience. - 30
The A.V. Club
Sadly, The Punisher is about little more than bullets hitting bone, and how good it might feel to be on the right end of a gun. - 20
L.A. Weekly
As bad as the movie is, when it tries to be funny -- a hired killer who sings to his victims, a fat man named Bumpo, and an interminable fight scene choreographed to “La donna è mobile” -- it somehow manages to get several degrees worse. - 20
Dallas Observer
The Punisher would be almost offensive were it not so inconsequential. There's just something terribly off-putting about a movie in which every gruesome death is a punch line, where a villain's homosexuality is used to lure him to his death and dozens of innocents are gunned down just to launch a film franchise.
