Now let us celebrate the angry white male mass shooter: THE PUNISHER on Netflix

so i guess this is up on netflix today

not sure if i can bring myself to watch it tbh, for reasons outlined on the daredevil thread, but let's have a thread for it anyway i guess

I had no idea this was due today. I might dip my toe in a couple but it feels like it can only bomb.

this and justice league on the same day, truly we are blessed

Have never read a comic feat this guy that isn't everyone else going "My God Frank you need help" so SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD SERIES BASIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wrm5PVMiMw

I've watched the first 6 and not only does it not suck, it might even be the best of the Marvel Netflix shows.

fuck

Not sure I saw all of season 1 of "Daredevil," saw maybe the first half of Daredevil S2, saw one episode of "Luke Cage," no "Jessica Jones," no Iron First or Defenders, but I've seen the first two Punishers and I liked them enough to stick with it. Admittedly, I liked the Punisher comic when I was a kid, but I do like the focus on PTSD here, and also the contemporary politics at least hinted at so far, from the repercussions of Afghanistan to the feelings of hopelessness of erstwhile Trump voters. Frank Castle as a character is just such a crazy Frankenstein monster run amok, like a blue collar Bruce Wayne. He's neither super nor a hero, just a violent, obsessive nut, which puts him in almost "Watchmen" territory, a la Rorschach.

I guess I should really back up what I said and give it some context. All comments after 6 eps only so some of them will probably not hold true by the end.

Is it a spoiler to say that Frank stops being the Punisher at the end of the pre-credits of Episode 1, so this is a Frank Castle series and not a Punisher series? Probably, but it's also key to understanding why this works. For something that may well have been 'angry white male mass shooter' there's maybe the least violence of any of the Marvel Netflix shows - when it happens it's probably worse than any of the others (excepting the head/car scene from Daredevil S1, that's still up there) but there have only been 4 really and one of them was just two people. More importantly each one has had a purpose and marks a significant plot point or advance of the plot and doesn't feel gratuitous at all.

I guess the most impressive thing is that it doesn't feel flabby or padded in the way its peers did, although this may be all to come. At the halfway point the various plot threads have only just come together and have done so in a satisfying way - there's one element which doesn't tie in properly yet but the advancement of it has been solid enough and the hooks are there for it to be done sympathetically.

JJ>DDs1>LC>DDS2>Defenders>>>>>>>>>>IF

Punisher definitely up there.

I also started watching this and agree that it’s unexpectedly good.

Kelly Kanayama: https://nerdist.com/netflix-the-punisher-failed-to-say-something-new-violence-review/

not reading this thread but i saw up to episode 6 this weekend

it's so good

the car chase in ep4 and the crazy death squad scene in 5 i believe are crazy good

theres also that scene when punisher's unit is in combat and he takes all those afghani guys down by himself and just starts beating the shit out of one til his face (body? not in the shot) just feels like it disintegrates into water and blood is literally splashing everywhere

midanis acting is a little dodgy at times but generally all of the actors are p good

i have noticed karen page is there to give the show some warmth and sentimentality, which at first i didn't like but i guess makes sense bc the show is filled with psychopaths and cold blooded murderers or crimes of passion

infinity recommends this one lads

Fresh is such a great movie, been thinking I need to rewatch that lately

xp

also that nerdist reviewer is like "this movie wasn't about A, but lemme tell you why it should have been about A"

she wants a totally different show and a totally different character

also this is a blatant lie:

it seems eager to vindicate Frank Castle’s murder journey by suggesting that his actions, while not great, come from a place we can all identify with

i think she means the show humanizes killers, which is not the same. but this narrative is dealt with in punisher's relationship with karen page as far as i've seen (ep6) though very briefly

i mean it's a comic book about a vigilante

I did a completely unfair thing and skipped to the last ep to see if this ends as badly as all the other marvel shows do. no real spoilers but the Bad Guy says some variant of "we're the same, you and I" to The Punisher

Always thought the Punisher should trade in his skull t-shirt for one that says 'THE NARCISSISM OF SMALL DIFFERENCES' in big block caps.

no need for fancy words

special snowflakes are everywhere (hi millennials)

Is it a spoiler to say that Frank stops being the Punisher at the end of the pre-credits of Episode 1, so this is a Frank Castle series and not a Punisher series?

I think this is a key theme. It's not as simple as taking off the uniform or even completing the murder mission he set out for himself after the murder of his family. Even out of uniform people call him the Punisher. Unlike most vigilante comic characters, it's no alter ego.

also that nerdist reviewer is like

uh is there any critic in 2017 whose opinion on a new Punisher series you'd be looking for ahead of Kanayama

i dont play favourites

I've watched up to 11 now. Episode 10 is a pinnacle for Marvel Netflix, I think. You could probably watch it standalone to see what the fuss is about, although it's where all the plots finally converge and there's a big reveal so it might not be 100% straightforward.

Frank & Micro's drunken bro-down ep was a lot of fun too.

I've made it through 4 episodes now and still like it. One lol though. I'm sure there is some product placement involved, but how ridiculous that from the first episode on, whenever someone wants to pull a job, or do surveillance, or just drive around being sneaky, they're always doing it in some conspicuously colored muscle car?

Btw, I had no idea the Punisher was introduced back in 1974! Was he a commentary on Vietnam or just a Dirty Harry ripoff?

Gerry Conway's whole idea was to create a good guy he could hide as a villain at the outset. He filled in the backstory pretty quickly (in the first year, I think) to include Vietnam.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/nov/20/the-punisher-netflix-marvel-glorifying-gun-violence

Guardian journo writes article after skimming a couple of Wikipedia articles. I'm not going to pretend this isn't violent, but it's less gratuitous than Daredevil S1.

Btw, my favorite thing about this show is that every time I see the name "Jon Bernthal" I think of Jay Baruchel, who would make a hilarious Punisher.

dammit this is pretty good :(

Yeah, this was much more tightly constructed than previous MCU-Netflix shows. Grim as hell, though. I totally didn't recognize Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio until I saw her name in the credits.

This thing sucks shit. woke sad Punisher gtfo