Guns, guns, and more guns.
BQB here with a review of Netflix’s “The Punisher.”
When I was a kid, it was common for nerds to gravitate towards more realistic super heroes. Batman was popular because he was a human without any supernatural powers.
Nerds in the know knew that as cool as the Caped Crusader was, Frank Castle aka “The Punisher” was the more (perhaps the most) realistic superhero. Arguably, advanced wealth, and the ability to train all day, travel the world to learn new techniques, fund new technologies and figure out how to subdue criminals with non-lethal bat kicks only to hang them forty stories up in the air by a bat rope hooked to one end of a gargoyle with the other end to their underpants is pretty damn spectacular.
In short, it’s unlikely you’ll ever obtain Bruce Wayne’s wealth and if you did, it’s unlikely you’d be able to develop the science defying goodies he wields.
The Punisher, on the other hand, has one super power (of sorts.) He’s extremely pissed off over the death of his family, leading to an eternal “I don’t give a f%%k” attitude.
Batman might knock out a crook with a batarang. The Punisher will just buy an epic shit ton of guns off the black market and blow the crooks away.
I remember as a kid wondering why super heroes always go to elaborate lengths to save villains and bring them in safe and sound only for the criminal to escape and wreak havoc again. Whoever invented “The Punisher” realized that clearly, the only way to stop a criminal from being evil again is to dispense with some hot lead justice.
I mean, for all the blowback Batman got for being a vigilante acting outside the law, the Dark Knight at least left the crooks tied up for the cops to arrest and the justice system to put on trial. If you were an alleged criminal, you at least had a chance to go before the judge and argue that Batman got the wrong guy. The Punisher has no checks and balances system. If it turns out he ganked the wrong dude, the wrong dude remains dead.
Anyway, enough of that nerdery. After three film versions, Netflix seems to have captured the essence of this fan favorite. Jon Bernthal (fans of “The Walking Dead” know him as Shane) plays the ultimate sullen, sad-sack tough guy. We are spared a detailed origin story, though newbs are spoon fed just enough of what they need to know about what drove Frank to become a gun toting one-man crime stopper.
In this version, it’s been six months since Frank took out the crew who killed his wife and daughter. Somehow he thought that would be enough for him to move on be he can’t. There’s a hole inside him and it can only be filled with dead bad guys.
Batman sends his baddies to Arkham. Superman gives his baddies a stern talking to. Spider-Man gums up evildoers in a web but Frank…Frank just shoots them. That’s it.
After “Agents of Shield” I lost hope for a good Marvel TV show, but this series has renewed it. Good show, Netflix. Good show.
STATUS: Shelf-worthy. Does Frank even count as a superhero? Discuss in the comments.
Bookshelf Battle 