The Punisher

Stone-cold antihero vigilante Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is a top-ranking counter-terrorism agent whose entire family is gunned down in retaliation for the death of a crime boss's son, thus setting the stage for this standard-issue, pistols-a-blazin' revenge fantasy based on Marvel's morose cult-favorite comic book. The only thing that makes Castle unique in this genre is his skull-design T-shirt that gives him the vague facade of a superhero--something he badly needs since the guy has all the personality of a block of wood. The blank glower on the chiseled visage of Jane (Dreamcatcher) is just barely enough to sell his pent-up rage, but the actor's virtually monotone performance is symptomatic of the whole monotone movie. Even scenery-hungry John Travolta is on a diet as the forgettable torpid villain. The Punisher goes through the action-movie motions (car chases, explosions, machinegun fire), but it's a listless, lifeless, uninterestingly bleak effort that can't begin to measure up to more satisfying vengeance flicks such as Mel Gibson's Payback, Steven Soderbergh's The Limey, or Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by co-writer-director Jonathan Hensleigh, the featurette “Keepin' it Real” on stunts (28 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurettes “War Journal: On the Set” (30 min.) and “Army of One: Punisher Origins” (13 min.), the featurette “Drawing Blood Bradstreet Style” on artwork (6 min.), two deleted scenes with optional commentary, the music video “Step Up”  by Drowning Pool, and a brief trailer for The Punisher video game. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing action film.] (R. Blackwelder)