ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Jon Bernthal’s tenure as Marvel Comics favorite Frank Castle/The Punisher has been met with a lot of praise since his debut in the original Netflix run of “Daredevil” and then his own solo show later on. Earlier this week, fans got the chance for more of Bernthal’s run with the Marvel Special Presentation of “The Punisher: One Last Kill.”

The hour-long Disney+ special sees our antihero trying to find some equilibrium (if you’re at all familiar with the character, you know why I can’t exactly say ‘happiness’) in his life only to be drawn back into unexpected conflict with crime lord Ma Gnucci (Judith Light).

Within the first scene, viewers will see this special absolutely doesn’t shy away from violence and gore. The crime Castle witnesses near the beginning of the special has escalated to an aggressive degree to the point where even law enforcement is left essentially powerless, and the fight scenes that happen later on (more on that soon) are beyond visceral and disgusting. This is a benefit since The Punisher’s story and lore don’t shy away from being violent and it’s great how the writers were able to rather let loose in that respect. However, I did find it somewhat unrealistic for law enforcement to be rendered all but helpless and I actually wondered out loud “There was absolutely no way for the National Guard (or some other military entity) to get involved if things got THAT bad, THAT quickly?” Given the blood and gore and violence seen, the special definitely earns its TV-MA rating, and I strongly recommend keeping children away from this special.

I have to give praise to the people in charge of the fight choreography because as stated before, it’s absolutely visceral and shocking and there were multiple moments that made me say “Okay, they had WAAY too much fun with that.” However, I ultimately came away from the special feeling it felt more like an extended fight scene instead of a proper TV special, and I wish there had been more of an actual story to follow. There are multiple themes introduced but not really explored, including this country’s shameful treatment of veterans after they return home and the similarities between Frank’s and Ma Gnucci’s solutions to dealing with their respective losses, and there were definitely some missed opportunities in terms of the storytelling. Another review I read said the main objective is to steer our antihero from one blood-soaked encounter to the next, and that’s actually a good way to put it. The editing is also rather choppy, especially during some of the more heightened moments. 

I do have to give praise to the cast, because everyone does a good job. Jon Bernthal continues doing a great job evolving (or devolving, depending on your point of view) from stewing in a mixture misery and paranoia to mowing down all of his enemies in a hurricane of violence, and his continued love of the character absolutely shines through. Judith Light is also great as Ma Gnucci and I could practically feel her hatred rolling out of my computer screen, but she is woefully underutilized, and she’s basically forgotten before the end of the special, almost leading me to wonder “Okay, so what was the point of even having her?” While the cast is somewhat small in terms of main characters, the ones featured did a good job.

Overall, “The Punisher: One Last Kill” was a bit of a mixed bag for me, and I would give it a solid “C” grade. The violence and gore are extremely visceral and well done and absolutely make the special earn its TV-MA rating, and the fight choreography is also done rather well. However, I felt like the special was more of a big extended fight sequence and there definitely could have been more effort put toward the actual story to truly add some “oomph.” The cast also does a good job, particularly Jon Bernthal in the lead role, though I definitely felt like Judith Light was painfully underutilized as big bad Ma Gnucci. If you’re a fan of other “The Punisher” media, you’ll probably enjoy “One Last Kill,” but as I said earlier, this is definitely not a special for children.