Ricky Church reviews Marvel Studios’ The Punisher: One Last Kill…
Welcome back, Frank. Marvel Studios’ latest special presentation brings us back to the gritty and traumatic world of Frank Castle aka The Punisher in the action-packed and character driven The Punisher: One Last Kill. With Jon Bernthal reprising his fan-favourite role, the special is a great spotlight on the anti-hero as he continues to trudge through his intense PTSD and depression while struggling to find new meaning for his life.
In a rampage across a short period of time, Frank has finally killed the last remaining members of a crime family who were involved in the deaths of his wife and children that put him on the path to becoming The Punisher. As he tries to adjust to a life without violence, plagued by memories and hallucinations of his loved ones, he slips further and further into a depression as he wanders aimlessly through life. It is not until the last surviving member of the crime family reveals she has placed a bounty on Frank’s head with all of the hunters descending on his apartment complex, putting everyone at risk of harm or death. In order to protect both himself and his fellow residents, he must once again don the skull and become The Punisher.
The story is a relatively simple one as we’ve seen Frank teeter his desire to be The Punisher and give it all up several times through the original Netflix Punisher series and Daredevil: Born Again. The exact placement of this particular story also muddies the timeline a bit whether it is before the first season of Born Again since Frank is sporting his big beard, or after when Frank is both clean-shaven and recommitted to his mission (I prefer to think it is before unless Bernthal and director Reinaldo Marcus Green say otherwise). We’ve also seen hits and bounties placed on Frank before, but this one feels far more personal and threatening due to the sheer scale of innocent bystanders intentionally put in the crossfire.
The timeline issue and thin story do not fully take away from the special as Bernthal delivers a great performance showcasing Frank’s debilitating mental state. Between the hallucinations of his family and former comrades, with Jason R. Moore and Kelli Barrett reprising their Punisher roles as Curtis Hoyle and Maria Castle, Bernthal does a fantastic job displaying how Frank’s intense PTSD is taking over now that he has seemingly avenged his family’s murders for good. He reminds us how tragic a character Frank is and how much he has suffered through before getting back into the bloodiness of the fight.
And what a fight it is as the second half of the episode draws on elements like Assault on Precinct 13, The Raid and Dredd as Ma Gnucci, the matriarch and last surviving member of the Gnucci crime family, turns Frank’s apartment complex into a warzone as young gangsters, who are already turning the streets into chaos, descend on it to kill him. Judith Light makes Ma quite a memorable character in the short amount of time she has onscreen, offering an interesting parallel to Frank as two vengeful survivors looking to avenge their loved ones through any means necessary – though of course Ma’s viewpoint is distinct as she sugarcoats her sons as an honest cop and someone who believes in sexual consent, notwithstanding the danger she puts all the complex’s families in.
The action is, no pun intended, well executed as the camera work, choreography and stunts are excellent, giving the audience a clear sense of movement between all the fighters as there are as few cuts as possible as Frank moves across rooms, balconies and rooftops. The action highlights Frank’s brutal nature as well as his tactical mind through subtle details like how he always checks the clip of a weapon he takes off a dead mook or dispatches multiples enemies with what little he has available to him. It is also noteworthy that at several points during the big fight he goes out of his way to save residents who are getting pummelled or threatened by the gangsters, again showcasing despite Frank’s bloodthirst and rage it is not completely about killing bad guys to him. It is a trait that leaves open an interesting prospect for future stories as Frank lets Ma get away in order to save the family of a local coffee and bakery shop.
The Punisher: One Last Kill, which was written by both Bernthal and Green, is a great spotlight on one of the MCU’s most interesting and tragic characters and shows how well they, especially Bernthal, understand the character beyond his murderous appeal. The story might be thin and the trope of Frank hanging it up a little tired, but Bernthal and Green’s writing more than makes up for it while Green’s direction of the spectacle is exciting, tense, well shot and will make Punisher fans very happy, especially if this special and Bernthal’s upcoming appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day means we get more Punisher of this caliber in the future.
Rating: 7/10
Ricky Church
