2
/5
TCP Score
Skip It
The Punisher One Last Kill story: Frank Castle’s (Jon Bernthal) dispatched everyone from the Gnucci family that he holds responsible for the death of his family. His mission complete, Frank is ready to not only hang up his boots as the ruthless vigilante The Punisher, but maybe even end his own life. But when the matriarch of the Gnucci family (Judith Light) comes rolling by in her wheelchair promising to rain hell on Frank for killing her near-and-dear ones, several innocent people in the neighbourhood, including a young girl who reminds Frank of his daughter, almost get caught in the cross-fire.
The Punisher One Last Kill review: Jon Bernthal wrote a 45-minute special about his Marvel character The Punisher that was set in New York, dropped only a week after the Daredevil Born Again Season 2 finale, had absolutely no connect to the latter whatsoever, even though Frank Castle was in Season 1. The timeline of this special is not entirely clear – perhaps is it in the immediate aftermath of Wilson Fisk’s anti-vigilante task force being disbanded.
The writing’s unimaginative at best - Frank is still haunted by the tragic deaths of his wife and kids, but also suddenly aimless with no mission in sight, having killed all those who were responsible. He’s a deeply troubled man, which we’ve known for a while – there have been two seasons of The Punishers, after all. And yet Bernthal takes a good 15 minutes to establish this again. Such is Frank’s anguish that he’s ready to join his family in the afterlife.
Jon Bernthal in The Punisher One Last Kill
But hey, there’d be no special without some Punisher mayhem, right. The rest of the run-time is dedicated to Frank shooting, slicing away and unleashing every form of imaginable violence at every faceless assassin that Mama Gnucci has sent his way. There’s a bounty on his head, you see. The question here, of course, is just how Jon got the makers to bankroll this highly unoriginal idea that smacks of John Wick in all directions. Strangely enough, given that Frank was tired of all the blood shed, a very famous line from KGF is also a perfect fit for the special – “Violence, violence, violence…I don’t like violence, but violence likes me.”
The bottom line is that this is not Frank’s last kill. He’s back in his trademark vest and doling out justice the only way he knows – swift death. He will also give Peter Parker company in this year’s Spider-Man: Brand New Home.
The Punisher One Last Kill review: It’s a Punisher special, so, obviously, it’s going to be brutal and not for the faint-hearted. It takes its sweet time getting there though. The action pieces are not awe-inspiring and it doesn’t help that the biggest talking point about the special is an unfinished CGI shot of Frank that looks straight out of a video game. Is it a must-watch for fans of the comics or 2 season show? Hell no!
The Punisher One Last Kill is streaming on JioHotstar
