Frank Castle is a staple in the Marvel Universe. However, he’s always been a tougher character to adapt, given that tonally, he’s much darker than most of the brand’s typical superhero fare. Centering a story on an ex-Marine vigilante with PTSD is both a difficult and heavy task for a mostly wholesome franchise to accomplish. Thankfully, in a post-Daredevil: Born Again era of the MCU, The Punisher: One Last Kill fits quite perfectly.
Marvel Studios, like its comic book counterparts, has always been comprised of a wide assortment of stories for different ages. However, up until Deadpool & Wolverine, the Disney-owned studio has primarily stuck to PG-13 tales for all ages. This made it difficult to bring back the previously cancelled MA-rated Netflix series, from Daredevil to Jessica Jones. Thankfully, Kevin Feige understood that some characters meant to be in the MCU need to be treated with an MA-lens, and brought back our beloved Defenders.
This brings us back to Frank. As a vigilante with a shoot-to-kill approach, the character was reintroduced to us in the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, where we last saw him escaping capture from Kingpin’s vigilante prison. Given, however, that was Matt Murdock’s show, there was precious little time to devote to reintroducing Frank to audiences who had potentially previously not seen the Punisher series or Daredevil season two on Netflix. That’s where The Punisher: One Last Kill becomes essential viewing. The Punisher is returning this summer in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. For the millions of audience members running to see that one, who Frank Castle is and what he does may seem like a mystery. So a quick one-shot to bring people up to speed is necessary.
The Punisher: One Last Kill finds Frank at a low point in his life. He’s given up his vigilante persona and gone quiet, roaming the mean streets of New York alone, watching criminals run amok among the ordinary citizens in his neighborhood. He visits the graves of his family, contemplating suicide every day. Over the past few weeks, he took out one of the most notorious crime families in the city. However, the matriarch of the family, Ma Gnucci (Judith Light), reveals herself to Frank and decides to put a bounty on his head in retaliation for Castle wiping out her family.
One Last Kill is a quick, quieter character study of how someone who may seem to have things under control can still spiral and lose themselves to the torture of their traumas. It approaches a very difficult subject without pulling its punches, giving us a version of Frank we didn’t have time to see in season one of Born Again. Left alone to his own devices, Frank finds himself constantly haunted by the death of his family, the hells of the battlefield, and the sins of his past. While suicide is not a new concept for the MCU to explore (at least three members of the Thunderbolts contemplated suicide in their eponymous film last year), veteran PTSD is heavier than we’re used to. As such, it’s a bold experiment for star and writer Jon Bernthal and writer/director Reinaldo Marcus Green to deconstruct.
For this reason alone, The Punisher: One Last Kill proves a lot more pensive and lyrical than one would assume. Surreal imagery and conversations Frank has with imaginary individuals offer a deeper exploration of his mind and inner state than we’ve seen in years. His lonely, melancholy visits to the grave site of his family are more emotional and gut-wrenching than one would expect to see in any MCU project. For this reason, The Punisher: One Last Kill is a fascinating and harrowing watch. However, thanks to Bernthal’s command of the screen, it’s never dull or uninteresting, even if it’s familiar territory for Frank Castle on screen.
That being said, this is first and foremost an exercise in action. And boy does it deliver! As soon as we are introduced to Light’s Gnucci, the special becomes the MCU equivalent of The Raid! Relentlessly violent and raw, proving once and for all why Frank Castle is one of the deadliest characters in the MCU! The choreography and stunt work in the special are absolutely phenomenal, with characters being lit on fire, crashing off rooftops, and dying in some of the most brutal ways imaginable. The gunplay is also fantastic, really matching the quality of your average John Wick sequence. The only quibble I have with the action, however, is the cinematography, which can be a bit too chaotic, with an abundance of “shaky cam” that feels unnecessary and unwanted.
Bernthal is back in spectacular form, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt why he is the only actor in the world who should be allowed to play The Punisher. Being able to switch between heavy drama and gritty action is his specialty, upping his performance here on a level that goes even deeper than what he’s given us in previous appearances, as Frank struggles with purpose and will to live. It showcases why he has an Emmy award, perfectly encapsulating the struggles of a veteran suffering from mental health issues.
In a way, I do feel like it’s an odd choice to make this one a one-off special. It sets up so much and doesn’t necessarily pay off the special’s central conflict. Though one can argue the central conflict is one of Frank versus himself and his demons, if the special was intended to set up Ma Gnucci as a larger villain, it seems like a waste not to pay what would be a larger storyline for a season of television or a longer movie off in any way, shape or form. That’s where the main criticism of the special lies. It’s incredibly entertaining and well-written, with some really emotionally challenging but complex and compelling moments. However, it feels too short and seems awkward in its attempt to introduce a larger narrative that doesn’t seem to have a resolution.
That being said, overall, The Punisher: One Last Kill is as gritty, violent, and mature as you’d expect from a Marvel one-shot! It is still unquestionably a great The Punisher story, exploring the tragic consequences of PTSD while giving us bloody Wick-style action, and an Emmy-worthy performance from Bernthal! If my main criticism is that we need more, you know it’s a satisfying entry to the story of Frank Castle. Frank is back! And we are glad to see it!
Rating: 7.5/10