Netflix The Punisher

Contrabardus

Well-Known Member
#1
Just finished it, and it was good.

It's definitely the goriest Marvel thing to date. Lots of cringe scenes and gallons of blood.

However, it is also not balls to the wall action all the way through. Much of the show has a slow burn, and while the action sequences are brutal, they are also spaced out among a lot of scenes of talking and political wrangling.

It also spends a fair amount of time dealing with vets and PTSD. These are well done segments and do tie into the plot, but could have been cut down some and the show would have probably been a couple of episodes shorter and better off for it.

Micro and Frank's rapport and relationship lead to some of the best scenes in the show.

The show's pace is thoughtful and moves at a slow boil up until the finale, which makes up the last three episodes or so. This is something to be aware of going in.

It also kind of overdoes the flashbacks to his family a bit. I could have done with a lot less of that. It is well used in some scenes, but gets a bit gratuitous with how often we see it. I get why it was done, but it would have had more impact if they'd been a bit less liberal with using it.

He's also only 'the Punisher' for a small portion of the show. There is a lot of action, but not a lot of him running around murdering criminals. The show and Castle are mostly focused on the intrigue and cloak and dagger elements for most of it.

It's not the best of the Marvel Netflix shows, but is still much better than the worst of them.

Having read the comics, I was immediately able to pick out the real villain of the show despite the show itself trying to keep that close to its vest.

It also ends with the setup for season 2, though there is a fairly good closure. The payoff is satisfying in the end, and it's clear what S2 is going to be about.

It's good, worth a watch for sure. Just don't go in expecting it to reach the heights of the best of what we've seen from the Marvel Netflix shows. I liked it more than Luke Cage personally, but didn't think it was good as either season of Daredevil or Jessica Jones.
 
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