DVD review of The Punisher

How would you respond if a member or members of your family were murdered? In The Punisher, the adage of "an eye for an eye" comes to mind.

When the son of Tampa businessman Howard Saint is killed during a DEA sting operation, he orchestrates a revenge killing of head agent Frank Castle. In fact, his men massacre Castle’s entire family during a reunion in the Caribbean.

By some unexplained twist of fate, Frank Castle survives the fatal visit. Six months later, he returns to the site and declares that he will avenge his loss.

Left for dead, it is nothing less than shock when Castle returns to the States and is enraged to find out that no one has been convicted for the crime committed against him or his family. Castle wants to know why justice has not been served.

When he doesn’t get the answers he’s looking for, Castle disappears into the woodwork. What Saint and the DEA fail to realize is that Castle abandon, or in his mind, the need for humanity. His only goal is to destroy Saint the way he was destroyed.

This film is based on a comic that I have never read, but the performances of John Travolta as Howard Saint and Thomas Jane as Frank Castle have certainly enticed me to pick up the graphic novel.

This may also be the reason that Lions Gate Films is offering a limited edition comic with the initial release of the DVD. I have not read mine yet, but I am looking forward to it.

Other extras on the DVD include four featurettes: a making-of, a look at Frank Castle’s place in the Marvel Universe, a showcase of animator Tim Bradstreet’s The Punisher artwork, and a look at the stunt work in this film. There are also deleted scenes, audio commentary, and more.

GRADE: B+ (movie) A (DVD)