Disney+'s The Punisher: "One Last Kill," a Spider-man: Brand New Day precursor, is directed by Renaldo Marcus Green, who cowrote with its titular star, Jon Bernthal. Though I was wary of this one, due to Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2's sad, socio-political slant, and for that matter, Punisher: Season 1's peculiar, vet analysis, I nevertheless came away appreciating--no, make that, respecting--Frank Castle's bridging bout.
The story works. It's introspective, mean, brutal and bloody, succeeding by never trying to shove an asinine message down one's throat (like bad is good and good is bad). Hallelujah!
In "One Last Kill'"s concise (under-an-hour) case, the grief-bound Frank Castle gets back into the dicey fray, a la Michael Corleone in Godfather III, not by mere desire, which would be cause enough, but for an essential comeuppance, triggered by a threat from the wounded Ma Gnucci (Judith Light). Good over bad is the key (with an ample "eye for an eye" attached), and it's delivered big time, spewing out of war-torn Little Sicily, where crime is encouraged to spread.
The Punisher is meant to be mournful and mad (enraged that his family was taken from him, enough to put a gun to his head). He's not meant to be cross-examined or condemned for wanting to get even (a message to the sadist politicians who'd blame him and only him for his rage and never the culprits, never the scumbags). He's programmed to go down in a blaze of glory, but not before bringing down those who deserve to rot in Hell. That sort of thing doesn't generally happen in real life. However, the Punisher makes it a cathartic reality, and "One Last Kill" exemplifies the hero's brooding, determined spirit just as it should be...at long last and all for that one last kill. How Marvel-ous!
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