2. The Punisher: Thomas Jane Version
Why It Was Terrible: It wasn't.
Why You Should Revisit: This movie was hammered by critics for living up to adjectives such as "dark, violent, and humorless." Oh, we're sorry, if you were meaning to review Howard the Duck the theater was down the hall behind the swinging door with the man on it. What part of the title, The Punisher, did you not understand? When they set out to make this film I'm pretty sure they didn't sit around eating chocolate candies and discussing ways to give it Sesame Street feelings. This version of the Punisher failed in the end for the same reason as did Dredd 3D (although with reviews not being as favorable). As an R rated comic book movie the material is just not as accessible as say Tobey Maguire's Spiderman. Which sucks. Thomas Jane handled the role of the dark and brooding Castle well without leaving him to simply be a one-dimensional vigilante. It's a pretty cool revenge flick too and had the bollocks to be what it needed to be. The only thing this movie did wrong was perhaps not being enough of what it was. Its one major drawback is that it somehow lacks the explosive impact needed to be an origin story.