The Punisher – One Last Kill
The Punisher: One Last Kill, a 48-minute violent slaughter.
Frankly, after the nameless shitshow of the Netflix series that got canceled in 2019, I expected Marvel to bury this character deeper than a corpse in Washington Square Park, NYC. But no, they dug up Frank Castle, and this time, it’s Jon Bernthal himself who got his hands dirty to co-write this thing with director Reinaldo Marcus Green.
The pitch is as simple as a punch to the face: Frank Castle, this jacked guy with more psychological problems than a patient at Freud’s office, is trying to take it easy. The guy has finished his revenge, he’s killed everyone who had the misfortune of crossing his path. Now he’s stuck in his apartment wondering what to do with his dick and his bullets. But wait, the best part is that this asshole is completely traumatized. He sees ghosts, he talks to his dead wife, he has suicidal thoughts in front of his family’s grave. It’s a festival of depression, the kind of thing that would make you eat your own gun if you had to watch it for more than five minutes.
What’s crazy is that this 48-minute special succeeds where the series failed: it gets straight to the point. No long-winded scenes, no useless flashbacks, no secondary characters who piss you off for three episodes. No, this is concentrated, pure violence, an espresso of black shit that wakes you up better than a jolt to the balls. Frank Castle isn’t there to whine about his fate; he’s there to turn faces into tomato purée. And that’s what’s so damn good.
Diametrically opposed Enemies
But of course, the bad guys are never happy. This time, it’s Ma Gnucci, an old bitch played by Judith Light, who puts a price on Frank’s head. And that’s when it becomes the “let’s break everything” festival. The movie throws action scenes at us with the rhythm of a constipated guy taking a shit, but damn, it packs a heavy punch. Frank Castle gets back to work, and this time, he really lets loose with everything he’s got. Bones breaking, shots to the face, blood splattering on the walls like a death-themed Jackson Pollock. It’s violent, it’s brutal, and it’s exactly what you want to see from the Punisher.
The character of Frank Castle is still as complex as a glass of Burgundy wine. On one hand, he’s a killing machine, a wounded animal who knows nothing but violence. On the other, he’s a broken man, a father and husband who has lost everything and no longer knows what to do. Bernthal plays this to perfection; this guy is so damn good in the role you’d think he’s been living with this shit in his head for years. He has an intensity that slaps you in the face, a way of looking at people like he’s going to eat their faces the second they look away.
The real NYC, It’s no postcard
The direction is pure genius. Reinaldo Marcus Green captured the essence of New York, this city that smells like piss and broken dreams. The shots are wide, we see the grimy streets, the ugly buildings, this atmosphere of decay that fits perfectly with Frank Castle’s character. It’s not pretty-pretty, not a postcard, it’s New York as it is, with its grime and its beauty. The fight scenes are filmed like a bar brawl: it’s ugly, it hurts, but you can’t take your eyes off the scene.
When the Going gets Tough, Get Tougher
The film explores this idea of revenge, this need to punish that eats Frank Castle from the inside. He’s killed everyone responsible for his family’s death, but now he realizes it’s not enough. Revenge doesn’t bring back the people you’ve lost, it doesn’t heal your wounds. On the contrary, it makes you even more alone, even more broken. It’s the Punisher’s tragedy: the more he kills, the more he destroys himself.
The ending is perfect. No happy ending, no moral lesson. Just a tacit understanding that life is a bitch and you make do with what you’ve got. Frank Castle hasn’t found peace, he hasn’t healed from his trauma, but he’s found a new reason to fight. Not for revenge, but to protect the people who can’t protect themselves. That’s the Punisher: a guy who has lost everything but fights so that others don’t lose everything.
For Want of Savagery to fight our battles
“The Punisher: One Last Kill” is the film we needed. Giving a middle finger to the superheroes who bore us with their rich-people problems. It’s a film for real people, who love truth, even when it’s revolting. It’s not a film for people who need happy endings and moral lessons. This film is for those who love violence. A well-executed, well-choreographed flick with a character who has more depth than a bottomless well. It will make you question, if you aren’t a little like Frank Castle ? Don’t you sometimes want to tear down everything around you ?
With superhero movies becoming too politically correct, “The Punisher: One Last Kill” is a reality check. Because it touched an essential truth: the real world is violent. The Punisher fascinates us, because he is what we all are deep down: wounded animals trying to survive in a shitty world.
You can also watch a Naked Daryl Hannah in Clan of the Cave Bear
