‘The Punisher’ a mediocre, startlingly graphic action flick

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In theaters

THE PUNISHER, directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, written by Michael France and Hensleigh, 124 minutes, rated R.

The latest superhero movie to be plucked from the pages of Marvel Comics is “The Punisher” and my, does it live up to its title. The film is a masochist’s dream.

It stars Thomas Jane (“The Sweetest Thing,” “61*”) as Frank Castle, a buff, brooding undercover FBI agent whose entire family is massacred by the Saint, an ironically named villain played by John Travolta in the sort of big, humiliating performance he already gave in “Swordfish.”

The Saint is a wealthy, smoky tough from Tampa who enjoys sweeping into rooms in full tantrum, sputtering about who did him wrong and how they’re going to pay for it, all in an effort to rally the legion of black-suited minions toiling after him.

Though the Saint would never admit it, he’s essentially a diva. He makes paranoid accusations about his enemies, ridicules those close to him, dresses impeccably and makes outrageous demands from everyone in sight. If he weren’t in a suit, he’d be in “Connie & Carla.”

And yet who can blame him for his histrionics? The Saint is seeking revenge for his son’s death, which he directly

attributes to Castle. Now arch enemies, Castle and the Saint have at each other in a movie filled with so much gunfire and beef, it becomes hamburger onscreen.

Indeed, as directed by Jonathan Hensleigh from a script he co-wrote with Michael France, “The Punisher” earns its R rating by putting Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher, through the bloody wringer for much of the film’s two-hour running time.

Like Batman before him, he has no superpowers, though he does have rage, which apparently makes him immune to such life-threatening events as being blown up, repeatedly shot in the chest, stabbed, crushed and thrown through cement walls.

The movie is too long by a third and it will fade from memory quicker than “The Shadow,” but it’s hardly the worst of the superhero lot – it’s no “Flash Gordon,” for instance, and God knows it’s no “Daredevil” or “Howard the Duck.”

When it’s not startling the screen with its surprising run of graphic violence, it’s actually rather good. Its action scenes are creative, Jane holds your attention and Hensleigh manages to find pockets of humor, particularly with the Punisher’s interactions with his down-on-their-luck neighbors Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Mr. Bumpo (John Pinette) and Spacker Dave (Ben Foster), a social outcast who predictably comes to regret the numerous piercings crisscrossing his face.

Grade: C

On video and DVD

MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD, directed by Peter Weir, written by Weir and John Collee, 140 minutes, rated PG-13.

This time, it’s safe to believe the hype.

“Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” Peter Weir’s film chronicling elements of the Napoleonic War, is every bit as smart and as rousing as its promotional campaign and 10 Oscar nominations suggest.

Backed by a $135 million budget, this big, satisfying seafaring tale set in 1805 shrewdly doesn’t romanticize the time it depicts. That decision proves one of the film’s strongest selling points, especially given today’s increasing tendency by Hollywood to romanticize the past into a shape it never had.

In the film, Russell Crowe is British Capt. “Lucky” Jack Aubrey. Thick and muscled, his face like a catcher’s mitt and his eyes revealing all the troubles and joys of life at sea, Aubrey finds himself and his crew of the HMS Surprise ambushed in the film’s riveting opening moments.

It’s the larger, better-armed French ship, the Acheron, that sneaks through the fog to launch a surprise attack on the Surprise. Surviving the battle with most of his crew intact, Aubrey repairs the ship and decides to cut a swath of revenge across the sea.

For some of the men onboard, this staunch, impulsive act of defiance lifts Aubrey higher into the potentially dangerous realm of deity. However, to his good friend Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany of “A Beautiful Mind”), a naturalist who does double duty as the ship’s surgeon and Aubrey’s conscience, this rush to vengeance is considered reckless and sobering – a smashing connection to present political events that can’t go ignored.

In the film’s final act, Aubrey finds his opportunity to strike back at the crew of the Acheron, but before Weir allows audiences the rush of another battle – and it is a rush – he gives them life aboard the ship and also on the Galapagos Islands. There, where flightless birds with stunted wings are unable to soar, the movie nevertheless finds a sense of freedom that balances the claustrophobia cinematographer Russell Boyd mines so memorably onship.

Thoughtful and absorbing, its expert supporting cast and extras adding color but not caricature, “Master and Commander” is one for the ages.

Grade: A

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 Bangor and WCSH 6 Portland, and are archived on RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Anything Else ? B+

Bad Boys II ? C-

Beyond Borders ? D

Brother Bear ? B

Cheaper by the Dozen ? B-

Cold Creek Manor ? D

Dirty Pretty Things ? A-

Freaky Friday ? A-

Gothika ? D

The Haunted Mansion ? C

House of Sand and Fog ? B+

Intolerable Cruelty ? B-

Kill Bill, Vol. 1 ? A

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ? A-

Lost in Translation ? A

Looney Tunes: Back in Action ? B-

The Magdalene Sisters ? A-

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ? A

Matchstick Men ? A-

The Matrix Reloaded ? A-

The Matrix Revolutions ? B-

The Missing ? B+

Mona Lisa Smile ? B-

Open Range ? B+

Pieces of April ? B

Pirates of the Caribbean ? A-

Radio ? C

The Rundown ? B

Runaway Jury ? B

School of Rock ? B+

Shattered Glass-B+

Something’s Gotta Give ? A-

Swimming Pool ? B+

Sylvia ? B-

Texas Chainsaw Massacre ? D

Thirteen ? B+

21 Grams ? A

Under the Tuscan Sun ? B+

Veronica Guerin ? B

Win a Date With Tad Hamilton ? C+