Saturday, 18 September 2021 19:08

Punisher, The







THE PUNISHER

US/Australia, 1989, 92 minutes, Colour.
Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr, Jeroen Krabbe, Barry Otto.
Directed by Mark Goldblatt.

The Punisher is a violent vigilante film based on characters from Marvel Comics of the '40s and '50s. The film has a blend of realism and the violent comic strip.

Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV, Red Scorpion) is a good choice for the Punisher, a muscle man with a mysterious presence (but not particularly good at vocalising or acting). He is an ex policeman whose family was killed in a car bomb fire. For five years he wreaks vengeance on the Mob - the guilty in the city. The body count prior to the film is 125 and is added to considerably during the film.

Louis Gossett Jnr gives a solid performance as the police investigator. Jeroen Krabbe is an oily villain.

The film was shot in Sydney and many of the technical credits are Australian. Some of the cast are also Australian, including Bryan Marshall who is killed very early in the piece, and there is a very entertaining performance by Barry Otto as Shake, the alcoholic informant for the Punisher. The film takes a dim view of Japanese business interests, especially the Yakuza, and a very nasty lady villain.

There are plenty of special effects for the fights and for the deaths - it is exciting but grim and raises the questions of how much entertainment there should be in such violence vigilante movies, even though the Punisher is only punishing the guilty. Direction is by Mark Goldblatt, director of Dead Heat, who worked in Hollywood mainly as an editor.

A video game followed and with the popularity of Marvel comic heroes following Batman, a more expensive version was made in 2004 (with a video game to follow) with Thomas Jane as Frank Castle and John Travolta as the villain, with Will Patton his counsellor.

1.Interesting and entertaining violent crime thriller? The comic book style? The vigilante and vengeance film?

2.Sydney locations, Australian technical credits? American movie made in Australia? The city, the interiors and the sewers, the office blocks and restaurants? The musical score and songs?

3.The title, the characters from Marvel Comics? The transferring of comic strip characters to the screen - one-dimensional or multi-dimensional?

4.Audience response to the visual violence, stunt work, special effects and editing? Explicit gore and deaths? The fights? The motivation, crime groups and their control, the helplessness of the police? The dialogue of the film highlighting that the Punisher was working outside the law? The fact that the Punisher survives to live again?

5.The explanation of Frank Castle, the flashbacks to his wife and children's death? His living in the sewers, his self-control and meditation? His arsenal? The media and their explanations of the Punisher? The initial interview with the released Mob chief? His attack in the house, the henchmen, the Mob chief's death? His continued action, the information from Shake and giving him the drink? His going to the wharf and the massacre at the wharf? His seeming to be killed? Shake and the news about the kidnap of the children? His attack on the office block, rescuing the children? His being taken by the police, the interrogations? Jake's partner and her explanation of Jake's disappointment, Jake and the interviews, trying to understand Castle? The Mob chief organising the escape, commissioning him to rescue his son, the bargain - and the threat of death? The confrontation with the Yakuza, with the lady boss? The rescue of the boy, the chief and his turning against the Punisher and going to kill him - the boy's attempted vengeance? The Punisher urging him to grow up well? His surviving and escaping?

6.The portrait of the crime bosses and their empires? The man released from prison, interviews, instant death? The rivals, the families, the meetings? The confrontation by the Japanese? Mutual displays of violence? The shoot-out at the wharf? The kidnapping of the children? The massacre in the restaurant? The final confrontation - and the lady boss's death, her woman assistant and her violence and martial arts prowess? The father and his wanting to have the crime empire for himself, attempt to kill the Punisher - mercilessly after the lady boss had asked him to commit suicide for his son? The presentation of the crime chiefs as evil, the great range of henchmen and women and their violence? The massacres?
7.The children, kidnapped, together, the escape? The little girl, the boss's son? His seeing his father killed, his wanting to kill the Punisher - but not able?

8.Jake, the tough policeman, friendship with Frank Castle, the investigation? The woman and her credentials to be his partner, her computer investigations? Seeing them in action? Jake's disappointment with Frank, retiring from the force, his being kidnapped? The threat of death?

9.The '80s and the popularity of this genre, the tradition of crime not being able to be punished by the law, the helplessness of the police, the strong vigilante who takes justice on his own? The value of this kind of entertainment - how seriously to be taken because of the comic strip style?

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