One Paragraph Review: The Punisher

Dr Martin Luther King Jr once said, "violence begets violence" - a simple, yet effective insight. The writers of The Punisher took a somewhat more nuanced approach, feeling that things should go a little more like this: violence begets a tedious, insipid story of nonsense that subjects you to the boohoo story of Frank Castle, an epically cliche-filled monument to blah portrayed by an actor who's lack of emotional depth makes Christopher Lambert's "Beowulf" look like Mickey Rourke's "Randy the Ram," embarking on a convoluted quest of unnecessary complexity rivaling even the most absurd James Bond villain scenario, derailing a few times to include "don't care, don't care - God, don't care" sideplots like redemption in the arms of the token 'unfortunate pretty blonde girl' or the ABC Family Channel feel-good happy ending for a couple down-on-their-luck losers, before finally, only in the last 20 minutes and only after an unintentionally hilarious Last of the Mohicans scene with a bow-and-arrow, pulling out a few guns and fucking shooting people. Was all of that really necessary? I think Dr. King had it right - in some cases, violence just begets violence. The Punisher should have been one of those cases.