The Punisher (1989) – Review

After nearly five years of appeals, Dino Moretti (Marshall), reputed lieutenant of the Franco crime family, is released from prison and acquitted of all charges for the murder of police officer Frank Castle (Lundgren), and his family. Moretti has always maintained his innocence. Sure…

He is also unsure about any of the gangland murders attributed to a shadowy figure dubbed The Punisher by media. He is not worried about him, and threatens the man on live TV as he exits the court and walks down the steps to his awaiting car. A man on a motorcycle follows Moretti as he drives away with some Franco goons.

As Moretti looks to pop champagne and celebrate freedom, shit gets explosive. The Punisher does his thang, and then goes back to his sewer base to ask the lord why things have gone the way they have in his unjust life. We get some flashbacks of his tragic origins.

As the Punisher sets his sights on more criminals, the cops do their best to figure out what to do. Lieutenant Jake Berkowitz (Gossett Jr.) is asked by Detective Sam Leary (Everhard) if she can join his Punisher task force. She believes that Frank Castle may be the Punisher, but how can that be? Will the cops get a handle on things, or will Frank blast away the city, including top mobster Gianni Franco (Krabbé) and the incoming Yakuza looking to take over?

This presentation of the Punisher character is okay, as long as you set expectations to minimal. It is definitely a product of its time, but it is not as bad as it could have been. The villains are bad, and the actions is decent, but it’s pretty basic storytelling. The atmosphere feels like it should be a classic 80s action movie even if the reality proves that it’s just not that special plot or dialogue wise.

Lundgren plays brooding murdering vigilante just fine, as he mourns his family and slays villains. Krabbé is a good mobster and gets to do more than just be evil. Everyone in-between is fine, but doesn’t get a lot to do. Since it is a short movie, it zips along and is decently entertaining at times, that is if you can handle a mediocre script and like 80s type actioners. This film does not have a good reputation, so I initially went in with very low expectations and didn’t wind up hating it. It’s not all that comic accurate, but whatever.

"Mr. P! Happy hunting!!"

There are alternate cuts as well, like the bloodier unrated cut which is virtually the same overall, and a different workprint cut which has an alternate opening, 8+ additional minutes in runtime and plenty of different scene takes.