Jon Bernthal stars in Netflix’s latest superhero binge.
How couldThe Punisherbe such a snooze?
Offensive, ultraviolent, morally bankrupt: That comes with the territory.
Credit: Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
Frank Castle is a man with a skull shirt who fires big guns at bad guys.
Anyhow, Im not the one to moralize.
I was maybe 7 years old when I was reading my older brothers copies of all three monthlyPunishercomics.
ReadingThe Punisherdidnt make me violent, but watchingThe Punishersure made me bored.
His family was killed, do you remember?
If not, youll be reminded about his dead family every 15 minutes.
(I tried counting the dead-wife flashbacks, and lost track at 417.)
The series begins with Frank on the move chasing after the Castle family killers.
Its a riotous high note that the series wont ever hit again.
Immediately, Frank throws his Punisher shirt in a fire.
No, Virginia, The Punisher Doesnt Want To Punish Anymore.
Months later, Franks grown a beard, and hes working at a construction yard under an assumed name.
What is it going to take to make you happy?
Curtis asks his murderous pal.
Finally, someone cares about the Punishers feelings!
you could see the strategy here.
Creator Steve Lightfoot co-wrote much ofHannibal, an incredible reconsideration of a character long descended into parody.
They didnt want to get each other; they wanted to get toknoweach other.
So asking What Makes The Punisher Happy?
is another way of asking What Makes Him Tick?
And the Netflix series wants to dig deep into the characters psychology.
The plots heavy on wartime trauma, the PTSD of our soldier generation.
And there is a supporting cast, full of sane people who dont just go around punishing people!
Theres a problem here.
The Punisher didnt descend into parody.
Hestartedas a parody, a hyperbolized version of everyDeath Wish-era vigilante.
Decades of comic book history never deepened the character, because theres no depth there.
Simplicity isnt a bad thing, and there have been brilliant stories about this maniac.
So this show wants to be different, wants to be a thoughtful version of the Punisher story?
But you have toactuallytake him seriously.
But you start to notice a pattern.
The shows playing this sensitive gamejust long enoughto absolve the inevitable punishing.
But the problem here isnt unoriginality; its the halfhearted execution.
You wonder if it really serves this character to spend aBournetrilogy of screentime gradually uncovering a government conspiracy.
), the kind of goofy scene you’re able to get away with in truly acid pulp.
The NetflixPunisheris too safe for stuff like that.
There is a parade of bad-guy suits, one of whom refers to Frank Castle as The Frickin Punisher.
Bernthals a good performer, no doubt.
His eyes dart around like a soldier who never learned to stop checking his six.
Hes not the kind of actor who defaults to a frowning tough face in action scenes.
But his presence radiates curiosity, intelligence, dark humor.
You want to see him play Philip Marlowe, and instead we gave him a submachine gun.
And there is honor in that!
Trying togroundthis character is one thing; burying him six feet under turgid moral justifications is something else.
The Marvel Netflix universe has had a strange year.
But it aint frickin good.C+
