FBI agent Frank Castle (Jane) has just retired. Unfortunately, his last job resulted in the death of one of the sons of Howard Saint (Travolta), a big-time crime lord. He settles his grudge by killing Castle’s entire family, conveniently gathered in a family reunion.

Castle does retaliate, but not with a simple eye-for-an-eye approach. Rather than just come back and kill Saint’s family and friends point blank, Castle sets up a series of events that will lead to their demise in a much more satisfying manner. You’ll have to check this out to see what I’m talking about, but it’s worth the while.

The action is fantastic and the comic relief provided by Castle’s neighbors, played by Ben Foster (“Six Feet Under”) and John Pinette (probably best known for his stand-up comedy), is delightful. These two elements are perfectly blended in a scene where The Russian (played by 6-foot, 10-inch, Kevin Nash, better known as Diesel of WWE fame and who, incidentally, hails from Detroit) is sent to eliminate Castle, who takes quite the beating while his neighbors obliviously dance around to classical music while preparing a dessert.

The DVD includes some cool extras, including a look at how some of the stunts in the movie were done and a back-story on the origin of The Punisher comic book. And if I can stop watching all the scenes with Thomas Jane shirtless, I may actually see some of them.

Grade: A

Starring: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Ben Foster, Rebecca Rojmin-Stamos, John Pinette
Written by: Jonathan Hensleigh
Directed by: Jonathan Hensleigh

Taryn can be contacted at tas75@comcast.net