Super Movies! The one with the bad guy from The Fugitive

 

Title: The Punisher

What Year?: 1989 (European release)/ 1990 (US direct-to-video release)

Classification: Runnerup

Rating: That’s Good! (4/4)

 

For this week, I decided it was time again to do something new, and I had already been brewing an idea. In the course of my other reviews for Space 1979, I have already covered a few comic book/ superhero movies, including at least one notorious enough that some people seem to have forgotten there was a comic book. But I had also thought of or actually viewed quite a few more that just didn’t fit with what I was trying to do. That particularly included several that are going to account for the opening entries, a group of 1980s-early ‘90s productions that never had a US theatrical release and in some cases were treated even more unkindly. Compared to these, it turns out that Howard the Duck and Dr. Mordrid were the remotely sane ‘80s comic book properties, and the studios knew it. One of my first decisions was to keep the revised Revenant Review rating, because while I really don’t expect to be hitting the bottom of the barrel by Space 1979 standards, I will certainly be in territory where an “unrated” category is warranted. The first exhibit will be the first inkling why.

Our story begins with a mobster released from prison, while news non-personalities discuss a wave of homicides by a vigilante named the Punisher. Naturally, the newly freed gangster is the next victim, as a platoon of reporters watch. We then meet a gangster trying to consolidate an alliance among his underworld peers, and a cop who insists the Punisher is his former partner, Frank Castle. When the Punisher gets word of a major drug shipment through a washed up actor with no obvious credibility, he arrives to discover that the local gangsters have already had their goods stolen by a crew of ninjas, sent by a yakuza boss ready to make her own play. The vigilante is ready to stay on the sidelines, until the yakuza lady starts kidnapping the children of mob leaders. The Punisher goes on the warpath, but gets arrested before he can free the last of the children, none other than the son of the arch villain who killed is family. The gangster offers him a chance at freedom, in exchange for aid in a daring raid on the yakuza headquarters. It’s a race against time, and if they win, they will still have to face each other!

The Punisher was produced by New World Pictures, the production company of Roger Corman, which also acquired the rights to The Fantastic Four. (Needless to say, I’ll be getting to that one…) It was one of two movies directed by Mark Goldblatt, a prolific editor and production assistant best known for work with Corman alumnus James Cameron on the Terminator franchise. The movie starred Dolph Lundgren, known for Rocky IV and the live-action He Man movie, with a supporting cast that included Lou Gossett, Jr. (see Jaws 3) as Castle’s ex-partner and Jeroen Krabbe of The Fugitive as the mob leader Franco. Barry Otto, son of Miranda Otto of Lord of the Rings, appeared as the Punisher’s informant Shakes, and Stan Lee made a cameo. A US release was planned in 1989, the same year as Tim Burton’s Bat Man. In fact, it was theatrically released in West Germany and elsewhere in Europe in late 1989, but only made available in the US as a “direct to video” release, except for a single showing at an LA comic convention. This has been blamed on unrelated financial problems for New World, which went into bankruptcy before a 1990s revival. Some sources date the video release as late as 1991, but a tape in my possession has a copyright date of 1990 as well as an ad for the Punisher NES game released that year by LJN.

For my personal experiences, I first encountered the Punisher character as a frequent guest star in the Spider Man comics. I was definitely never taken with the character, though I did appreciate how different he was in a Marvel lineup still dominated by heroes with as much moral ambiguity as a recruiting poster. It’s a further and telling irony that, while the “modern” MCU has rebooted the character at least once, nobody has tried to put him in a movie with any other character, making him perhaps the last “standalone” Marvel property. I have further recollections of playing the game, but can’t recall hearing anything about the movie until well into college. I finally got to it about the time Spider Man 3 would have been hitting the theaters, also after seeing the 2004 version. It struck me first and foremost as the first movie I had seen that truly feels like a Marvel comic book, especially of ‘80s/ ‘90’s. Of course, that is not purely a compliment, though it certainly is a major reason I rate it as highly as I do.

Having said all of this, I still haven’t really gotten to the movie itself. This is indeed one time I feel at a loss to say much about individual scenes, and that is perhaps its best quality. Just as a comic book isn’t meant to keep the reader dwelling on one panel, this movie moves smoothly from one scene to another under its own strange yet functional internal logic, along. In the process, there is a sense of evolution, beginning with the Punisher’s first altercations with the local mob and flashbacks to the demise of his family. One also gets a sense of what Lundgren brings to the role, which is to sound vaguely introspective and almost but not quite drunk. Things get in high gear as soon as the actual ninjas show up, which in itself is sure to sound absurd to anyone reading this without having seen the movie, but it absolutely works. These are comic book ninjas, and all the more effective for it, uniformly and competently lethal while remaining thoroughly subordinate to the ice queen who commands them. It is the yakuza boss, played by American-born Kim Miyori, who truly makes the movie in her few key scenes, with all the melodramatic gloating of a comic baddie plus a genuinely terrifying sadistic streak.

Even in this smorgasboard of absurdities, the finale stands tall. It begins with a few lucky twists and near misses as the Punisher and the mob boss infiltrate a high-rise building, in the process establishing a setting that seems to combine the feudal with sleek modernity. The minions likewise prove to have a combination of traditional and modern weapons, initially leading to a disastrous rout when a room full of katana-wielding fighters fare as badly as should be expected. However, enough survive to make a series of counterattacks, including the incongruously blonde adopted daughter of the boss. It all comes down to a three-way showdown between the ice queen, the mafia boss and the Punisher for the fate of a kid we’ve seen enough of to like, with enough pathos to match the generous action-movie cheese.

After all that, I still haven’t gotten to the “one scene”. In fact, the one that truly satisfies me is an early moment I have already mentioned, when the Punisher kills a newly freed gangster and a few henchmen in his own house. The assassination itself is routine fare with some nice touches, notably a closeup of the Punisher’s boot as he climbs in the window and a goon who gets surprised in what looks like a miniature hall of mirrors. What makes the scene are the reactions when a group of reporters gathered outside realize something is amiss. They rush in even before an explosion guts the house for no obvious reason, then pause when they see the slain gangster on the porch and the Punisher standing in the doorway behind him. The commentary throughout sounds like soldiers under attack, except instead of directing return fire and calling for air support, they’re calling for closeups and complaining when a second blast gets soot on their lenses. It’s a comical yet chilling picture of the media, unfortunately almost entirely isolated within the movie.

In closing, I can only return to my initial reaction: This is truly the benchmark for most “comic book” of all comic book movies. In those terms, the most significant competition I can think of would be Into The Spiderverse and Tank Girl. (Yes, there was a comic, and yes, I have it under consideration.) Whether this makes it a “good” movie is obviously another question. It’s certainly one of the very best Marvel-based movies to come around pre-Spiderman, though as we will see, that’s not saying much for quality or quantity. It’s also well above average for a vintage action movie, with more genuine emotional depth than plenty of self-styled “serious” movies. (Lethal Weapon, I will find a way to take you down.) That still might not be very good, but it at least makes for a film worth remembering… as if you could see it and still have a choice.