In the Dirty Harry and Death Wish pictures of that era -- also the time of the Punisher's comic-book birth -- gracelessness functioned as a sign of macho integrity. The movie comes closest to honoring this tradition in its less operatic sequences (and in one that involves a wall-smashing fight scored to La donna mobile), which is also when it approaches the moodiness and eccentricity of the best Marvel comics.
The Punisher, holed up in a warehouse in a gritty part of Tampa, is befriended by his neighbors, three bohemian misfits played by Ben Foster, Jon Pinette and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Their quirky harmlessness and easy recognition of Castle as a fellow outsider give a touch of sweetness and humanity to a movie that is otherwise remorselessly ugly and punishingly inhumane.
RSS