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The Punisher

Play trailer 2:19 Poster for The Punisher R 2004 2h 4m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
30% Tomatometer 169 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
This dark action film, based on the comic book series, follows FBI agent Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) as he transforms into the vengeful Punisher after criminals murder his family, including his wife and son. Castle is gravely injured in the attack and believed to be dead by Howard Saint (John Travolta), the crime lord who ordered the hit. Following his recovery, Castle becomes a heavily armed vigilante who will stop at nothing to exact revenge on Saint and dismantle his underworld empire.
The Punisher

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A good cast fails to elevate this overly violent and by-the-numbers revenge flick.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media 12/28/2010
2/5
Bad big screen adaptation of comic book. Go to Full Review
J. R. Jones Chicago Reader 04/25/2007
There's something to be said for letting a comic book adaptation operate at the level of a comic book, dispensing cheap laughs and ice-cold sadism. Go to Full Review
Time Out 02/09/2006
Ultimately, Frank's victim -to-vigilante transformation is so morally unexplored it's emotionally alienating. Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 03/07/2024
2/4
The Punisher’s anti-hero status is ignored altogether in this unchallenging movie; he’s reduced to being a homemade Good Guy without special powers, just a munitions store and a souped-up car. Go to Full Review
Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) 11/17/2020
1.5/5
For anyone ignorant of its pulpy pedigree... The Punisher presents itself as little more than a rather cheap and nasty actioner lifted wholesale from the they-killed-his-wife-and-child-and-now-they're-gonna-pay files. Go to Full Review
Mike Massie Gone With The Twins 11/09/2020
3/10
For a movie about brutal eye-for-an-eye reprisal, there really isn't much savagery (or ferocity) taking place during the majority of the film. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Kevin R @Kevin199 3d Too many missed opportunities. The Punisher has an amazing concept, but is so poorly executed. The first mistake was rewriting the Punisher’s origin by making Frank Castle an FBI agent instead of a marine captain. It takes place in Florida instead of the gritty New York. The pacing is sluggish. The opening scene should have been him as a marine in the Afghan War killing Middle Eastern terrorists in Afghanistan, not him undercover as a fed pretending to be a German arms dealer. The mob hit on him and his family should have been random instead of planned and it should have been in Central Park where he’s having picnic with his family instead of at a beach in Puerto Rico during a family reunion. The movie spends a disproportionate amount of time on the villain and Frank’s quirky apartment neighbors rather than vigilantism. Castle spends too much of the film manipulating the bad guys to turn on each other rather than engaging in direct combat. Lacks action. See more First name L @ZaynGrayy 5d Great cast great cgi. Thomas did a great job. I didn't see the original comics but great part of the movie looks inspired by them. Howard saint and his friend look like nick and francis from l4d. See more sheyla B. @seylaley May 14 se nota que les gusta a todos, a mí también, pero no es mi tipo See more Blake- N @PBSAniDom May 1 The Punisher is a superhero film that lands somewhere in the middle for me. It is not great, but it is not awful either. Marvel and Lionsgate deliver a movie that has some solid ideas and a decent dark tone, but it never fully rises above being just okay. What works best is the lead performance and the overall gritty style, which gives it a harsher edge than a lot of comic book movies. There are moments that are entertaining and the film has enough going for it to keep your attention, but it also feels uneven in places and does not always hit as hard as it should. Overall, The Punisher is a watchable but forgettable superhero film. It has enough strengths to keep it from being bad, but enough flaws to keep it from being good. I would rate it 5/10. See more Frank B @RT28767711 Apr 18 My favourite. I am not into all these hero marvel movies but this one intrigued me and kept me watching. Thomas Jane is the Punisher. After seeing this one the rest without him was not for me. I was looking forward to the next one but unfortunately didn't happen. See more Carlos T @RT67858720 Mar 12 Poucos personagens das histórias em quadrinhos carregam uma essência tão crua quanto Frank Castle, também conhecido como Punisher. Diferente de muitos heróis, ele não busca justiça idealizada — busca vingança. E é exatamente essa linha brutal que guia The Punisher, lançado em 2004, com 124 minutos de duração, dirigido por Jonathan Hensleigh. Entre as três versões cinematográficas do personagem — The Punisher, estrelado por Dolph Lundgren, The Punisher com Thomas Jane e Punisher: War Zone (2008) com Ray Stevenson — esta versão é, para muitos fãs, a que melhor equilibra história, brutalidade e construção dramática do personagem. O Justiceiro de 2004 acerta ao entender que Frank Castle não é um herói tradicional. Ele é um homem quebrado pela perda, que encontra na vingança uma forma distorcida de continuar vivendo. O filme assume um tom mais sombrio e pessoal, focando na construção psicológica da vingança, ao invés de apostar apenas em espetáculo. ⭐ Nota final: 7 / 10 See more Read all reviews
The Punisher

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Movie Info

Synopsis This dark action film, based on the comic book series, follows FBI agent Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) as he transforms into the vengeful Punisher after criminals murder his family, including his wife and son. Castle is gravely injured in the attack and believed to be dead by Howard Saint (John Travolta), the crime lord who ordered the hit. Following his recovery, Castle becomes a heavily armed vigilante who will stop at nothing to exact revenge on Saint and dismantle his underworld empire.
Director
Jonathan Hensleigh
Producer
Gale Anne Hurd
Screenwriter
Gerry Conway, Michael France
Distributor
Lionsgate Films, Summit Entertainment
Production Co
Punisher Productions, Artisan Entertainment, Marvel Enterprises, Partnership Films
Rating
R (Language|Brief Nudity|Pervasive Brutal Violence)
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 16, 2004, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 19, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$33.7M
Runtime
2h 4m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)