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| PUNISHER, THE (2004) - R
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ReviewScore: 35 out of 100
SBD Star Rating:
by Lew Irwin
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 Special effects, the usual focal point of movies based on Marvel comic book heroes, are replaced in The Punisher by the abs of its star, Thomas Jane. As Desson Thomas observes in the Washington Post, "It's a rare moment when Jane wears a shirt that isn't conveniently torn. Sometimes he just doesn't wear it at all." But that would appear about all the movie has going for it, judging from most of the reviews. Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe dismisses it as "thrill-less garbage that aspires to franchisehood. (Good luck.)" Stephen Cole in the Toronto Globe and Mail calls it "an overemphatic revenge fantasy devoid of even a trace of excitement or wit." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution observes that the ads for the movie proclaim: "The Punishment Begins April 16." She then adds: "And boy, does it. About 1 hour, 59 minutes worth of punishment." And Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times wonders "if the filmmakers understand quite how downbeat and dark their movie is?" Most of the critics do let John Travolta, playing a crazed villain again, off the hook. "Travolta is terrific as a bad guy," writes Jonathan Foreman in the New York Post, making his character "almost sympathetic." And Gene Seymour in Newsday comments that "Travolta looks riper and sharper in this relatively small role than he has in his recent lead performances." |
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