by MARK SLUTSKY

The latest Marvel Comics property to make it to movie form is The Punisher, that skull-shirted, gun-blazing, vigilante widower. This particular action hero has made it to screens before, and it's my sad duty to inform the Dolph Lundgren fans in the Mirror readership that the blond '80s action man is not filling the role this time out, as he did in the '89 version. Instead, the honour goes to dimple-chinned Thomas Jane, in his first real starring role (you might recognize him from Boogie Nights, where he played Mark Wahlberg's mustachioed cokehead pal).

I must begin by stating that this movie really isn't very good, though there are some pretty entertaining things about it. One thing it gets right is the comic book feel; The Punisher really goes for the straight-faced over-the-top dramatics, and while the approach doesn't always work, when it does the movie is very amusing. For instance: I was under the impression from the film's trailer that the Punisher went all badass because gangsters killed his wife and son. In fact, the baddies strike at the guy's family reunion, and kill his entire extended family - cousins, grandparents, nephews, nieces and all - this twist being so preposterous it's actually kind of funny. Another highlight occurs when a notorious Memphis hit man arrives in town to assassinate Jane. Before doing so he whips out a guitar and sings a ditty he wrote about our grizzled hero, then announces "I'm-a gonna sing this at your funeral!"

In the end, The Punisher is pretty much straight-up revenge drama, with Jane going after (a very dispirited-seeming) John Travolta, playing a money-laundering gangster and the architect of his family's demise. The structure of the film is such that ultimately all that Jane's really doing is killing henchmen, getting stabbed, killing more henchmen, and generally going around looking like a seriously glum chum. There's no real dramatic conflict, and by half-time the movie disposes of its sense of humour. It gets more and more grim and relentless, and its hero more and more unpleasant. A sorry demise for our hero and the movie itself.

The Punisher opens Friday, April 16

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