I've been a comic book fan for most of my life, and when I recently got Netflix I knew what the first series I needed to watch was. The Punisher. And my review?? 

I. Love. This. Series.

So, until next time,

...

Oh, was that review not long enough for you? well here's a more in depth review for you all.

Now, although I've not watched past season 1 of Daredevil (I know. I'm working on it), Punisher is first introduced to the Marvel TV lineup in season 2, but I didn't think it was vastly important to see this first as I know enough about his character from my interest in comics. And honestly, aside from a few key points, which are explained in the first couple of episodes, you don't need to have watched daredevil to understand the series.

For those of you who don't know who The Punisher is, and if that's you I'd like to know what you thought you'd be getting into reading this, he's Frank Castle, a former soldier who has sworn a quest of revenge and punishing criminals after the murder of his family. Hence the name, The Punisher.

Unless you're under 18 there should be no reason for you not to be watching this series...

Now as the title says, this review isn't going to spoil the series by telling you about the plot, but I don't think I'd be doing the review justice if I didn't mention any of it. I'm going to spoil the plot of the series here, but what I will say is that the writing of the character is absolutely brilliant, and complemented by the amazing acting from the entire cast of the show (but more on that later).

I've not seen any of the previous on-screen adaptations of The Punisher, and from what I've heard I'm not missing out on much, but my view has been that to do The Punisher justice, the series needs to be very dark, gritty, and violent. This does not disappoint.

The series follows the events of Daredevil season 2, with Frank Castle working and trying to live a normal(ish) life after escaping from prison, but it seems that nothing can keep him from his war on crime in New York. And although I'm not going to talk in detail about the plot, episode 1 gives the audience a perfect display of what the Punisher is about, and sets the scene for what they can expect from the series. Blood, violence, and lots of people pleading for mercy.

The cast of this show did an absolutely amazing job. I'd love to go through and name them all but I don't have time to write a piece for everyone, so sufficed to say that there is not a single actor who I think did a bad job. I'm going to focus on the main characters here, but I'd like to give a shout out to Daniel Webber and Ben Barnes for their brilliantly realistic and grounded portrayals of their characters. [I've written it like this because telling you more about their characters I might give away too much and spoil some of the story for you all].

It was explained in interviews that the writers wanted to create a version of the character accurate to the comic books, and Jon Berthal did an absolutely amazing job of this. He brought the die-hard Frank Castle to life, and does it perfectly with all the raw energy, strategic leadership, and cold blooded stares you'd expect from the New York vigilante. Jon has brought Frank Castle into the real world, and really lets you feel the impact of everything he goes through during the entirety of his brutal crime fighting spree.

Amber Rose Revah plays the role of the Homeland Security agent investigating Castle and his work, Agent Madani, and really keeps you focused on the precautions of the actions of everyone in the series. Her performance is absolutely stellar, keeping you interested in not only the tense action but also the emotions as she lets you in on her own emotional struggles with this mission as well.

I've never seen any of the other work of Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who plays David Lieberman, but will certainly have to take a look at it now. His character has probably the most emotionally taxing journey throughout the series, and he pulls this off with such a gripping realism that at times I felt myself questioning if I could have brought myself to make the same decisions as him. Although he spends much more time working behind the scenes of the other two members, he brings himself fully into focus, and makes sure that you can't forget he's there at any point.

As for the overall aesthetics and visuals the series are very realistic. There is a lot of make up effects, blood squibs, and gunfire/explosions, and no real CGI to speak of, which is a really good and refreshing feel from a superhero adventure. The fight choreography, for those times when guns aren't involved, is also really gritty and adds to the realism of the piece.
The overall impact of combining all these things together is just great. I feel like I can't say that enough. The realistic feel keeps you locked into the show, and I love that!

I've rambled enough, time to bring this to an end.
Overall, unless you're under 18 there should be no reason for you not to be watching this series. Season 2 (when it arrives) really has a lot to live up to!

Until next time,

Tim

Plot: ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇       Performance: ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇       Overall: ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ 

image credits: image 1, image 2, video link