10 Movie Franchises That Got Better With Each Film

3. The Punisher

In fairness, this is an informal movie trilogy, given that these three movies are all attempts to adapt the classic Marvel comic The Punisher, all starring different actors and taking different approaches to the material. Still, the first attempt, 1989's Dolph Lundgren-starring effort, is a cornball, low-budget dud, with Lundgren giving one of his most infamously poor performances. Director Mark Goldblatt never made another movie, instead opting to work prolifically as an editor on the likes of Bad Boys II, X-Men: The Last Stand and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Pretty much everyone agrees that 2004's Thomas Jane-starring The Punisher was a significant improvement, steering closer to the source material and benefiting from stronger acting, a bigger budget and making the most of its precious R-rating. Critics still took it apart for being a generic revenge flick, but it was infinitely better than the 1989 film. Then came 2008's Punisher: War Zone, with Ray Stevenson playing Frank Castle, and delivering an even more hardcore depiction of the character. With buckets of gore, numerous memorable kills and a host of hilariously eccentric characters (namely Doug Hutchison's Loony Bin Jim and Dominic West's Jigsaw), War Zone was a fast-paced thrill-ride, even if critics again didn't take to it, and it bombed at the box office. Thomas Jane is trying to get a fourth movie made, and if it combines the incredible violence of War Zone with his steely interpretation of the character, perhaps it could be the best one yet.