"Mature Content Warning!" |
“ | I leave this as a declaration of intent, so no one would be confused. 1. "Si vis pacem, para bellum." Latin; boot camp sergeant made us recite it like a prayer. Si vis pacem, para bellum: "If you want peace, prepare for war." 2. Frank Castle is dead. He died with his family. 3. In certain extreme situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue... natural justice. This is not vengeance. Revenge is not a valid motive; it's an emotional response. No, not vengeance — punishment. |
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~ The Punisher, leaving a final letter for his next-door neighbors before going after Howard Saint. |
“ | Those who do evil to others — the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists — you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me... The Punisher. | „ |
~ The Punisher after killing Howard Saint - also his most famous quote. |
Francis "Frank" Castle Jr., best known as the Punisher, is the titular anti-heroic protagonist of the 2004 movie The Punisher. He is a retired FBI agent, waging a one-man war on Howard Saint's criminal empire in hopes of avenging his family.
He was portrayed by Thomas Jane.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- For starters, Thomas Jane's performance as Frank is so amazing that it even inspired Jon Bernthal's portrayal of the character in real life.
- He's incredibly tragic as usual, becoming the sole survivor of his entire family after watching everyone he ever loved get mowed down during a reunion in Puerto Rico.
- Even worse, Jimmy Weeks sold out Frank and his family to the Saints in order to settle a gambling debt.
- Even before becoming the Punisher, he was an undercover FBI agent who conducted sting operations to catch and arrest arms traffickers, even faking his own death.
- He can speak six different languages, including English, Russian, German and Arabic.
- To get information on the Saints' criminal empire, Frank kidnaps Micky Duka and pretends to torture him with a blowtorch when it's really just a popsicle, instead using the blowtorch on a raw steak to mimic the sound/smell of burning flesh.
- After getting the information, Frank lays complete waste to the Saints' drug trafficking and money laundering operations, even making it rain fresh dollar bills on the New York City streets below. As a result, Howard's longtime business partners, the Toro brothers, cut ties with him.
- When Howard sends Harry Heck and the Russian to assassinate him, Frank manages to outmaneuver and kill both in a fight (it must also be taken into account that the Russian had a nigh-superhuman strength and was a much more physically imposing/strong man than Frank, which makes him a exceptionally formidable and hard-to-kill opponent). He even uses a ballistic knife on Harry, turning his "dumb sonuvabitch brung a knife to a gunfight" remark right back in his face.
- In the climax, he uses archery, boobytraps and stealth to take out an entire building of armed mooks all by himself, defeating Howard last in a Mexican standoff after killing his last surviving son and all his goons.
- Upon Howard's death in a fiery explosion, the flames are shaped to look like the skull on Frank's shirt. Pretty badass.
- Frank adopted the skull t-shirt his son gave to him before dying as his uniform and vigilante signature symbol as a means to honor his family's memory.
- He has a very touching (albeit short-lived) friendship with his neighbors Joan, Dave and Bumpo, standing up for them against Joan's abusive ex-boyfriend, after which they give Frank dinner to show their gratitude; Dave even endures Quentin's sadistic torture of him to protect Frank later on. And at the end of the film, before leaving the apartment building, Frank gives his three neighbors money for them to make their own lives better when he could've easily kept it for himself instead.
- In The Punisher: Dirty Laundry, he saved a boy from Goldtooth and his gang (who would have likely killed him hadn't Frank intervened as the kid refused to sell drugs for them), and by extension, avenged a prostitute who had been beaten-up and raped by Goldtooth minutes ago for owing him money as well.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
- He tricks Howard into killing Quentin and Livia (his best friend and wife respectively), falsely framing the latter for cheating on him with the former. He even reveals the truth to Howard just to twist the knife in his dying moments.
- Also, just before killing Howard, Frank sadistically kills his elder son John, forcing him into a form of "isometric exercise" by holding an armed antipersonnel mine. Howard even hears John's dying screams!
- Although Quentin and the Saints were all scumbags who deserved to die, their villainy was fairly humanized as they clearly loved each other as family. The main reason Howard ordered the Castle family killed was to avenge his youngest son Bobby, as well as to please Livia, who suggested killing the entire family instead of just Frank. In his dying moments, Howard visibly regrets killing Quentin and Livia over literally nothing, muttering "my god..." while crying.
- In the film's Extended Cut, he forces his old friend Jimmy Weeks to commit suicide for ratting out Frank and his family to the Saints (though to be fair, it was arguably a well-deserved comeuppance for him).
External Links[]
- The Punisher at the Heroes wiki
- The Punisher at the Marvel wiki