Review

The Punisher (2017-?)

The Punisher (2017-?)

Network:

Netflix

Starring:

Jon Bernthal

Amber Rose Revah

Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Ben Barnes

Jaime Ray Newman

Daniel Webber

Deborah Ann Woll

Plot:

After the murder of his family, Marine veteran Frank Castle became a vigilante known as “The Punisher” with only one goal in mind, to avenge them.

Review:

The Punisher is an antihero that chooses to kill anyone he perceives as a bad guy. He starts off by going after the people that killed his family and it goes from there. He’s a ‘hero’ that when I was young I thought was super cool. Just bypass the system and take them out, but now that I’m older I just can’t get behind that method of justice, if the laws are broken then we need to fix them not just go around killing people. I guess I’m more Superman/Batman brand of justice and for whatever reason I can’t put that aside when I watch a Punisher that’s purposefully placed in a realistic environment.

I wasn’t planning on watching this series, after Iron Fist and Defenders I’ve almost given up on Marvel. Pair that with the fact that I just did not want to watch a show that tried to make me sympathize with a man like Frank Castle, Jon Bernthal, I had planned to sit it out. Next thing I know several friends are telling me I have to watch it, that it doesn’t try to make my empathize, that it does a great job of showing a different side of things, that it’s just the best thing ever and I broke.

One of the main complaints for the Marvel shows on Netflix is that thirteen episodes is too long. I personally didn’t feel that way with the first season of Daredevil or Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, because I really liked the characters and what was going on. I felt every minute of some of these episodes of The Punisher, though, and not in a good way. There was lots of dragging, lots of inactivity, and too much effort put into making The Punisher sympathetic.

The side story that followed Lewis Walcott, Daniel Webber, as he dealt with reintegrating into society was more interesting than The Punisher side for a while. I can see what they were trying to do, show a parallel between The Punisher and Lewis and how they reacted to trauma and coming home. However, they decided to push Lewis over the edge and then kept calling him a coward and trying to say that The Punisher was better. In the process they made Karen, Deborah Ann Woll, sound like an idiot because she refused to acknowledge the similarities.

David ‘Microchip’ Lieberman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, was also another heavy handed parallel to The Punisher. He faked his own death and left his wife and two children alone to think he was dead. Naturally he spied on them with multiple cameras all over his old house. He was very willing to use The Punisher for a means to an end but acted like he was better than him. My main problem with Microchip, which has nothing to do with the story, is when he’s finally reunited with his wife, Jaime Ray Newman. After some time when she’s been understandably angry with him, they hook up in the bathroom. He finishes superfast, they laugh, he says he’s sorry, she says it’s okay, end scene. Why couldn’t they take two seconds to just show him slipping his hand down her panties? Why did he get to finish, but not her? Why couldn’t they have him saying he’d take care of her? Something? We’d already watched the whole awkward scene why did the wife get nothing?

Which brings me to my main complaint with the series, and something I already knew would be the case going in, but I was convinced it wouldn’t be this way by others. The Punisher is just male fantasy erotica, female fans of the Punisher get almost nothing from this series. Karen is made to be stupid. Dinah Madani, Amber Rose Revah, sleeps with a man she basically only originally talked to because he had connections to Castle and the criminal investigation she’s obsessed with, then of course develops some feelings for him, and is nearly killed by him. Microchip’s wife relies on her daughter for common household issues, then the Punisher as he comes along, and is just a damsel in distress. She at least protects her children as much as she can, but she allows her son to just walk all over her and kisses Castle because he’s of course the only man she’s come in close contact with since her husband has passed.

Tons of bullets flying, bad guys getting beat up, sex with hot women. I like action movies, but this was basically all my least favorite parts rolled up into one.

2/5

Side Note: I wasn’t able to pay 100% attention to this show, I just couldn’t, it would annoy me and I’d distract myself with something else while it played in the background.

Cliffhanger (1993)

Cliffhanger (1993)

Director:

Renny Harlin

Starring:

Sylvester Stallone

John Lithgow

Michael Rooker

Janine Turner

Caroline Goodall

Michelle Joyner

Plot:

A botched mid-air heist results in suitcases full of cash being searched for by various groups throughout the Rocky Mountains.

Review:

This movie was filmed at the height of Stallone’s career. His accent is almost nonexistent and acting wise it’s pretty good. It’s an older movie and not filled with the normal action I’ve come to expect from his films, but it makes sense considering his filmography, and there’s still certainly a number of butts kicked.

I liked the fact that he got his ass handed to him a time or two, even though he did come back and win, just because it made sense for his character. He was a mountain climber, not someone who fights for a living.

The opening scene is pretty intense and my fear of falling from great heights really had this scene freaking me out. I literally knew exactly what was going to happen but was still almost driven to tears while watching it.

After what happened Stallone’s character was understandably shaken and second guessed himself for a little bit, but he didn’t let it drag him down too long once shit started happening.

There were three female characters in the movie. One died immediately. Two were pilots, one was killed by the bad guy, her lover, to prove that he’d do anything. The third was Stallone’s love interest and other than flying the helicopter was fairly useless. She was sort of just there as his romantic partner. In fact all of the women were romantic partners. Interesting.

The movie was entertaining and Stallone was great.

3.5/5

Longmire (2012-2017)

Longmire (2012-2017)

Season 6

Network:

Netflix

Starring:

Robert Taylor

Katee Sackhoff

Lou Diamond Phillips

Cassidy Freeman

Plot:

Walt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit.

Review:

This is the last season of Longmire and it had a few things to wrap up.

I was disappointed with the previous season of Longmire because Walt, Robert Taylor, seemed to go off the deep end. He could not get past suspecting that casino dude of doing everything. This season finds him a bit more in control of his faculties, though just slightly.

The main story line was wrapped up by the end of the season and we got lots of character resolution. There were tons of beautiful shots of Wyoming and despite all the murders I would totally visit.

I enjoyed this season, there was enough small stories that it didn’t feel like just one giant buildup to an ending that couldn’t possibly deliver. The ending of the overarching story line was good, we saw all the characters develop, it was mostly an enjoyable season.

The part I didn’t like was

****SPOILERS***

the relationship development between Walt and Vic, Katee Sackoff. I wanted her to finally move past her thing for him. She mourned the loss of her child for most of the season and then gets together with a man that is past child raising years. I’ve never liked her character, she always seems to make bad personal decisions, but I really did not want her with Walt.

After getting with Vic, Walt then goes to see his daughter, Cassidy Freeman, and tells her that he thinks she’d make a great sheriff and he could retire if she took over. She’s spent the last few episodes telling her new man that she wants to go to NYC, that she wants to leave this small town, and now all of a sudden she’s running for sheriff. It greatly annoyed me.

If it wasn’t for the ending I would really have liked this season. As is, I’d still recommend watching the show because it’s honestly really good, especially if you like westerns.

3/5

Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Director:

Kyle Balda

Pierre Coffin

Eric Guilon

Starring:

Steve Carell

Kristen Wiig

Trey Parker

Plot:

Gru meets his long-lost charming, cheerful, and more successful twin brother Dru who wants to team up with him for one last criminal heist.

Review:

Gru, Steve Carell, and Lucy, Kristen Wiig, are working on getting into the groove of a married couple and in the case of Lucy a mom. Things of course are never easy and they get fired from the job they love. Then Gru finds out he’s got a twin brother and things go from there.

I freaking loved Balthazar Bratt, Trey Parker, as the villain. The 80s music and clothes, the mullet and balding spot at the top of his head, it was all perfect. So funny!

I didn’t like the Minions movie, but I thought this was a return to what made Despicable Me 2 so good. I really liked it and my daughter enjoyed it too.

4/5

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Director:

David Leitch

Starring:

Charlize Theron

James McAvoy

John Goodman

Plot:

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Review:

Charlize Theron is gorgeous and this movie showed that off even as it beat the crap out of her. The movie was a spy thriller with more than your usual action moments for that genre, which I appreciated. Theron took on the KGB, MI6, random Germans, pretty much anyone you can think of she beat the crap out of them. I really liked that even with all that going on it showed her getting tired and slowing down. She wasn’t just a machine that kept going.

I also really liked that while she used her sexuality she didn’t rely on it and it wasn’t the main weapon in her arsenal. She was smart and methodical and she trusted no one.

I was surprised by the ending and enjoyed it. A few people have said they thought it cheapened the deeper lesson that the movie was trying to teach, but if there was a deeper lesson it was lost on me so I didn’t feel that way.

I liked the movie a lot and I hope that we get to continue to see Charlize Theron in action type roles.

4/5