The Punisher

In the early 90s, I was a regular reader of Punisher comics. At the same time, I was not allowed to watch 1989's The Punisher. Even though my parents turned a blind eye to the violent comics I was reading, they held firm when it came to keeping me from seeing R rated movies. Maybe they were just happy I was reading. Who can say for sure? So, until very recently, The Punisher remained a mystery to me. Watching it now as an adult, I was struck by how cheap it looked. This shouldn't have come as a surprise to me given that it was made by New World Pictures, a company started by Roger Corman. Dolph Lundgren's look as the Punisher never quite worked for me either. He looks like a cross between the Terminator, Ghost Rider and Jerry Only from The Misfits. Some of the early sequences in the movie had serious slasher vibes, which I quite enjoyed. But you can tell that they tried to soften the impact of the film's violent nihilism by having the Punisher spend a good chunk of the movie trying to save some kidnapped children. Of the three Punisher films released so far, I would put 1989's The Punisher in the middle. Not the best, not the worst.

Rating: 63%

(Image from Wikipedia)