The Punisher

I am a big fan of comic book movies, Even the ones that are about comics I've never read. I like fantasy and science fiction, the highly unlikely and impossible, that's what movies are all about. If I wanted real life, I would watch the news all the time. Movies are meant as an escape from all that. Having said all that, let's get on the the actual movie.

The Punisher (played by Thomas Jane) is quite possibly my favorite comic book movie; the other one in the running being Hellboy. The Punisher is based on the Marvel comics character of the same name. I was always a big fan of Spider-man and the X-Men growing up. I would watch the cartoons Saturday mornings on Fox. I never really got into the Punisher. He's a less popular character, probably because he's more violent and not as kid friendly. That may be one of the reasons I like this movie so much. Since it is rated R, the Punisher can really stick it to the bad guys, and he does a great job of it. He turns them against each other and takes them all out.

John Travolta plays a great bad guy. He just has that look to him, and he has done it quite a few times now. Kevin Nash, who some of you might know from pro wrestling, plays one of the a classic comic book henchman, the Russian. He's just a big lump of muscle that beats the shit out of the Punisher from one side of the screen to the other.

Another reason I may really like this movie is that fact that I did not follow the comic book at all. With every release of a comic book based movie, you always get the fanboys screaming bloody murder about how it doesn't follow the story line of the comic book. I loved the X-men and Spider-Man cartoons, but I was not as big a fan of the movies because they stray so far from the actual story. It was also a refreshing change, as comic books often have alternate time lines with completely different stories. Having never Read the Punisher though, I really did not care or know if it stayed true to the comic book.

The Punisher is a great movie. It is everything a comic book movie should be. The bad guy gets it in the end and there is a general happiness, even though the Punisher loses his entire family. That makes him all the more powerful though, he has nothing left to lose and doesn't care whether he lives or dies.

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