SPOILER FREE Review of Marvel's the Punisher

Marvel's the Punisher

available: Netflix

released: November 18, 2017

Starring:

Joe Bernthal

Amber Rose Revah

Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Ben Barnes

Jaime Ray Newman

My Score:  7.5/10

Please keep in mind this is a SPOILER-FREE review! Want deeper insights with spoilers? Let me know in the comments!

  I'll be the first to admit, I did not follow the Punisher's comic adventures closely. Save for a stint when Garth Ennis was writing them and even he pushed it too far when a Russian gangster died, came back as a woman, and attacked Frank Castle only to be stopped by a pot of boiling spaghetti. Yes…that really happened.

However, I was a big enough Marvel fanboy that I caught several of Punis

her's guest-starring roles in comics like Spiderman and Ghost Rider. The general idea of the character, his code of ethics, and his ethos were plain to see even in those less in-your-face interactions.

So when Dolph Lundgren played the part in a 1989 shoot-fest, and Thomas Jane took up the mantle in the better-produced 2004 adaptation, I was aware enough of the character to know neither quite hit the mark.

2017 sees yet another remake in TV form, and Marvel no longer makes bad TV shows, Iron Fist be damned. This version of Punisher debuted in the second season of the stupid-successful Daredevil show, also on Netflix, and made enough of a splash to earn his own title on the network (do we call Netflix a network, is that wrong?).

The show plays to the character's strengths well. Frank Castle aka the Punisher is a loner, a former military Special Forces super-agent…but no secret sauce to buff him up like Captain America. He's undeniably human, and this works against him numerous times throughout the show. Tied, beat down, left for dead, made to bleed, it all happens during the thirteen episode          run. He's also good, and comfortable, with any gun he picks up. Well except          for one.

The bulk of the main story is a bit forced. Coerced into partnering with another super-agent, this one good with computers instead of guns, Frank is led through the sins of his own past which just so happen to coincide with Micro's (his new partner) inability to go home to his family without getting them killed. The bad guys are fun to watch, but their intentions tend to get gooier than the blood splashing onto their faces.

        Frank Castle is given plenty of characterization. His self-demanding                 isolation is well handled, showcasing a character study worthy of a damaged     hero figure. He tries to be emotionless, and mostly succeeds until he doesn't,     and it's in these moments he exhibits the importance of not being a simple,       bullet riding monster of a man.

   If there's anything to complain about Castle's characterization, it's that he        only gets a couple of chances to ride those bullets. Very few scenes involve       Frank being a total badass. Instead, the show tries to prove how overpowered he is by a system that wants him dead. In so doing, they almost lose the heroic aspect of the character in action. He needs one moment, somewhere, where he is riding that wave of gunfire and blatantly enjoying it. That is part of the character.

The acting is a mesh of average to outstanding. From Karen Page's sadly over-applied scenes that just

don't affect the story enough to justify her many appearances (and you can see how actress Deborah Ann Wohl wasn't sure how serious to take her spots), to Amber Rose Revah blasting off and making you believe in full her depiction of hard-nosed Homeland Security Agent Dinah Madani. It's a hodge podge that works, and tends toward the better end of the spectrum.

Taken in its totality, Marvel's the Punisher is worth the time sink. At times torture porn, at others almost soft core porn, the show has a few missteps and try-hard moments. It's not as good as Daredevil, but topping something you're already borrowing ideas from is unlikely. The skull is cool when it shows up, and it's still a fun, dark corner of the Marvel Universe you won't get to see in the movies.

James Neal is on social media! So are danishes…mmm…danishes, but we digress. He is also author of the fantasy stories below. Check em out and support an indie-author at the same time! Thank you for joining me on American Dirt.

Of Blood and Blade:

$3.99

Paints the Invisible Eye:

$1.75

Divine Right:

Free

The Blacksmith's Reaper:

Fre

Daredevil on Netflix: the Network Without Fear

Daredevil Cast

Matt Murdoch/ Daredevil: Charlie Cox

Wilson Fisk: Vincent D’Onofrio

Foggy Nelson: Elden Henson

Karen Page: Deborah Ann Woll

Claire Temple: Rosario Dawson

Ben Urich: Vondie Curtis-Hall

Vanessa (Fisk): Ayelet Zurer

It seems ridiculous now, but before Netflix debuted Marvel’s Daredevil, nobody could overlook the bad taste Ben Affleck’s turn as the crimson-colored crusader had left in our collective mouth. Many fans of the comic, myself included, wondered if Marvel had it in them to up the ante and bring the darkness of the comics to the small screen. Even when the previews started pouring in, that silly black mask wasn’t convincing that the show would overcome Marvel’s ability to create a bad TV show.

Friday, April 10^th came, and I settled into my chair to binge-watch the thirteen episode season of a show I wasn’t sold on. Ten minutes after hitting play, it became clear that Daredevil was no longer going to be a whispered joke among hardcore comic fans. From dark (read: black) fight scenes to decidedly un-angelic characters, this wasn’t a Disney princess parade. This was Hell’s Kitchen, where nobody comes out clean and life is never shining.

Let me back up just a little bit here. I read Daredevil in the 90’s (yes, that magical place that old people come from), when Joe Quesada introduced a comic that had more shadow in it than color. I wondered then exactly how much ink he used to fill those pages in each issue. On top of that, the covers were beautiful, more art than comic, and really sold the devil-vs-angel aspect of our titular character. What I wanted out of this show was what I loved in those comics: dark, gritty stories backed up by dark, gritty visuals.

Marvel gave me exactly what I was looking for. Entranced far after my fiancé had decided the screen was too dark for her to enjoy; I spent thirteen hours glued to my chair, soaking in the refreshing grittiness, watching the glass hearts of hero and villain shatter and glue back together again.

And why was it just so good? Because the show takes it’s time, running the plot threads in circles before closing up each wound. Every stitch is visible, but you have to be willing to watch the needle push through the skin and into the meat before you can breathe a sigh of relief. Despite the TV-MA rating, Daredevil doesn’t push blood and gore into every scene, which is why each time some shows up, it punches you in the gut. It matters. There is always a solid, story-driven reason they push into violent territory.

As with any good show, what ties it all together is the talent of the

cast. From Charlie Cox’s cocky, but shattering, Man-Without-Fear and Vincent D’Onofrio’s terrifying, sometimes child-like Wilson Fisk, these two opponents are definitely meant to face each other multiple times. Deborah Ann Woll surprised me as she went from being victim to determined scooper, without forgetting she was a victim. Foggy Nelson starts off outlandish and unnecessary, but ends the series as important and meaningful as Murdoch himself. And, my all-time favorite supporting character, Ben Urich, is done full justice by the amazing Vondie Curtis-Hall.

Everyone has already talked about the amazing fight scenes, and all I have to add really is that I think it’s amazing that, for the first half of the series, Matt Murdoch’s fighting style mimics boxing more than martial arts, and after a “meeting” with his mentor, Sticks, he seems to change into a more fluid fighter. That he takes bone-crunching beatings just like his dad did in the ring…well…the saying like-father-like-son has possibly never been clearer.

In short, if you're on the fence about this new version of Daredevil, swing off and join the rest of us, right here in the shadows of Hell’s Kitchen. Or at least, on Netflix.

James Neal works on his own webcomic, Mandy and Murder-Bear. Also, his fantasy novel, Of Blood and Blade is available now on Amazon.