2004’s take on The Punisher was a huge step up from the 1989 film, though it changed the locale from New York to Florida. It also boasted an incredibly recognizable cast led by Thomas Jane. It included John Travolta, Will Patton, Roy Scheider, Samantha Mathis, Rebecca Romijn, Ben Foster, Laura Harring,

The film delivers an origin story, and like the 1989 film, wanted to make sure it did so with all the blood and violence that has become a trait of the Marvel vigilante. Thomas Jane is arguably the best actor to take on the role with Jon Bernthal a close second.

Frank Castle was just doing his job when he was working undercover as an arms dealer and over the course of the deal, and subsequent arrests, was involved in the death of high-profile criminal Howard Saint’s (Travolta) son.

Of course, Saint wants revenge, and orders Castle dead, but not just Castle, his entire family. All of them. So while on holiday in Puerto Rico at a mass family gathering everything gets insanely bloody, and everyone is dead, or left for dead in Frank’s case.

After a few months recovery, Frank returns to Florida taking up residence in a dishevelled building with only a few other tenants (that we see) and begins crafting a plan to not seek vengeance but to punish Saint for what he’s done, and he will bring down Saint’s empire by manipulating the people around Saint and eliminating every single obstacle in Castle’s way.

There’s a layer of playful humour that runs throughout the film, most noticeably in Frank’s knockdown drag-out fight with The Russian (the towering Kevin Nash). It’s also very cool to see that no matter how much Frank plans for things, some things, most things, don’t go as planned.

And while he justifies his actions as punishment and not vengeance, he is still acting well outside the law and will have to go underground to continue his work (something Jane’s Punisher never got to see). Frank isn’t unhinged, he isn’t driven mad by grief, he saw a missing delivery of justice, and did it himself, and from there he saw that he could work outside the law and deliver his form of ‘justice’ to the criminal world.

The film looks great, the cast is impressive, I didn’t really know how I didn’t notice this at the time! The action sequences are solidly created and shot well, and Jane has the physicality to make him incredibly believable in the role.

No matter how the story plays out, getting the character associated with his iconic skull symbol is the only thing that doesn’t work as well as it could. Obviously, somethings aren’t going to be able to translate from the comic panel to the screen, but for the most part, Thomas Jane’s The Punisher is a very enjoyable entry in the comic book adaptation field.

I really wish he’d gotten another film, maybe he can show up in future MCU stories since we know the multiverse now exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! We can hope!!