Marvel has been hitting it out of the park very recently with there shows with Daredevil: Born Again season 2 being one of the best things to come out of the MCU in recent years. However as much as we like the good it seems that we also have to get some bad as a week after the finale of Born Again season 2 we get a new special featuring The Punisher and then join me as I give you my SPOILER FILLED review of the special that does straight up John Wick a dog with the special in question bein called simply just "The Punisher: One Last Kill" enjoy.
The plot of this special is a the last surviving member of a famous mob family puts a hit out on Frank and Frank has to try and survive every thug that tries to kill him. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty OK at best. To be frank here this specials plot is really lacking as at times it does feel like that there was no plot to speak off out of the one that was just described and even then that is something that could be considered more of a synopsis rather then a full blown plot. This special was presented under the "Marvel Studios Special Presentation" banner and yet the specials plot doesn't feel all that special as it feels like something that could have been the plot for an episode of the Netflix Punisher TV series with the specials plot being really thin at best and look granted this special is mainly there to set up Frank appearing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and that's really it and that's great but you still need to give this special a half way decent plot, it's not all doom and gloom for this specials plot tho as the special does do some interesting things with Frank but sat the same time the special doesn't devote enough time to those things heck it doesn't give its own plot a conclusion as the special just sort of ends and while that would have been fine if this was a TV series as then you could argue that the show is getting another season to finish its story yet this isn't a TV show its a special and therefore the plot really did to be finished by the end of this special. With the plot of this special not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this special is this specials co-writer and producer Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / The Punisher and Judith Light as Ma Gnucci. Also starring in this special is Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page , Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle , Andre Royo as Dre , John Douglas Thompson as Johnny , Colton Hill as Colton Hill , Nick Koumalatsos as Himself , Addie Bernthal as Lisa Castle , Mila Jaymes as Charli , Eduardo Campirano as Frank Castle, Jr. , Mugga as Debbie , Dónall Ó Héalal as Mickey , Jamal Lloyd Johnson as Barry , Rafael R. Green as Isaiah , Evelyn O. Vaccaro as Isaiah's Mother , Roe Rancell as Dennis , Annika Pergament as Herself , Jesse Ray Sheps as Adnan , Dominick Mancino as Benny Gnucci , Joseph Devito as Bobby Gnucci , Henry Corvino as Eddie Gnucci, Jr. , David Manuele as Carlo Gnucci , David Goodman as Charles and Brenda McCullough as Aly.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. This specials acting is quite frankly alot more better then what you think it would have been with the actors that you expect a good performance giving us exactly that, however tho this is a case where the special does have alot more bad acting then it does good with it being clear as day that this specials co-writer , producer and director Reinaldo Marcus Green really has no clue on how to direct his actors as outside of the returning actors the newer actors come across as no having any clue on what to do or if there giving a good performance and this is something that he should communicated to them. With the best actor in this special being Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / The Punisher which is really something that does make sense as no only is her reprising a role but he also co-wrote and co-produced the special therefore he will have a really good handle on the material and will know how best to make it work not only for him but for his character as well. With the acting that's in this very special not really being helped by the fact that this specials script is just so bad as it gives none of this specials actors anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really foes harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very special.
Doing the CGI for this special is the legends and the really greats that really are currently over at Curated. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. This special has been getting alot of negative press in recent days due to the quality of the CGI and while yes there is one really bad looking effect which will be getting discussed the rest of the specials CGI was about as passable as you would expect it to be as the rest of the specials CGI is just set extensions with the only other really bad looking effect being some really obvious either green or blue screen effects around the halfway point of the special but that's really it. As for the specials shall we say infamous bad looking effect whilst it is just about as bad as people on social media have been making it out to be as it does look like a computer game effect there could be some logical reasoning behind why it looks so bad in the first place as the effect just screams "we'll fix it post" as they clearly use the real life head of Jon Bernthal but they then replace his entire body the other thing could be that the effects team just either ran out of money or time to get the effect looking just right either way there is something more to this effect other then it being a bad effect as it's really only that effect of Frank falling that looks bad with the rest of the specials effects looking really good for the most part and given that this shot is on screen for only a few seconds it is something that might have just slipped past the makers of the special but either way a bad effect is a bad effect but it is hard to work out just who is to blame for this bad looking effect as there's no information out there about why this effect looks as bad as it does in the first place.
SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This whole special does of Dredd 2012 vibes as alot of the specials third act is beat for beat a copy of the entirety of that film. Much like like in Dredd where Judges Dredd and Anderson are trapped inside of a building with people trying to kill them Frank finds himself basically trapped in his apartment building with people trying to kill him with both that film and this special having the main character having to find new and inventive ways to get out of the building this is something that is slightly forgivable due to the fact that Dredd wasn't that big of a hit at the box office and it is still a cult film it is still something that the makers of this special had to be aware of as it's not all that subtle with the only difference being Frank doesn't spend that long in the building as he gets out of it pretty quickly. It does make sense for them to want to copy what worked in Dredd as the character of Judge Dredd is pretty much the same as Frank Castle as Judge Dredd wants to uphold the law no matter what even if it means turning in his co-workers for doing something that breaks the law and Frank has been a victim of a vicious crime and because of that does want to see the law upheld even if it's his own twisted version of it and therefor copying the main plot of the most recent Dredd film in this regard is something that does make sense but at the same time all this ends up doing is reminding people that they could be watching a much more better film as this special has nothing that's worth watching whereas in Dredd the idea of being trapped alone in a building full of criminals that want you dead and with no way to call for help is a good idea and while that idea does also work in this special it's not really one that's done to its fullest extent.
As was mentioned at the start of this review they do John Wick a dog in this film by which they do kill of a dog and yes you do see how it happened even if you don't see the truck hitting the dog. Whilst this is something that will upset alot of dog lovers and animal lovers out there this is also something that is inservice to what little plot that the special does have as it does highlight just how for lack of better word lawless that the town of Little Sicily is as we do see crimes being committed left right and centre in this small town with the police not even going near it as when they do there police cars get set on fire with possibly the policemen in side them as well. This is due to the fact that due to Frank killing of the the Gnucci crime family leaving only Ma Gnucci alive and because of this there is now a huge power vacuum in the town with alot of small time criminals trying to take the biggest slice of the pie yet the special doesn't really take the time to go into this all that much as its something that is very much glossed over and forgotten about by the end of the special as when the special ends things are just as bad in Little Sicily with the only difference being that Frank has suited up once again as The Punisher and while there will be no doubt we'll be seeing more of this small town in the new Spider-Man film it is something that should have been resolved in this special as it then makes the story feel complete and while there is more better ways to get across the fact that there is no law in this town then killing of a dog as you could have showed the dogs owner getting the life beat out of him and robbed as that still would have gotten the point across just as well giving the fact that this special is more mature having the dog killed of is something that works just as well even if it is something that really wasn't needed in the first place.
Ma Gnucci herself is someone that would have made for a more better villain if she was someone that had appeared in The Punisher Netflix show. While over members of her family did so Ma herself was nowhere to be seen and while it does make sense for her to be the main villain of this special as Frank is now struggling with what to do next now that all of them are killed off she doesn't really do all that much outside of appearing in a few scenes and straight up tell Frank that she's told people to come to his home at this time and kill him and that's it which just feels like a waste of a character as on paper this character could have been handled really well as the special could have delved into what it was that made her tick Heck they even could have taken the time to show us just how cold and calculated that she is much like with what they did with Wilson Fisk in Daredevil: Born Again where we got to see him thinking three steps ahead of everyone else thus forcing Matt Murdock and friends to try and outwit him and becoming better heroes because of it yet here due to the fact that we don't get to spend alot of with Ma as a character we don't get to know all that much about her and therefore we don't get to see if she is this cold and calculating. the character does come off as being all the less interesting because of it as she just comes off as being another typical Marvel mobster boss villain with the only difference being that she apparently loved her family to death and while that is great on paper on screen you need to give us more then that to make us truly hate this character as we the audience have no reason to hate her as a character and the only way that you would have a reason to hate her was if you read the comics as the special doesn't give us anything that makes us want to hate her, heck we don't get that much of a backstory for her character something which would have helped us the audience to fully hate her as a character.
Now then this special has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly forty eight minuets and three seconds. Which for a Disney+ special is kind of the bogstandard running time for these specials to have but at the same time the average episode of any TV drama does typically last a lot more longer then this special when it really should be the other way around as you could very easily get this special to come it at around one hour just by expanding upon the specials main plot and themes with the special having more then enough plot there to fully cover that amount of running time in the first place yet for one reason or another the makers of this special instead chose to have it come it at just under the fifty minuet mark. With the special not really using its running time all that wisely as the special doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot as there isn't much of a plot there to begin with with this being something that very easily could be been fixed with the makers of the special choosing to devote more time to the aspects of the specials plot that actually work like Frank having PTSD and actually finishing off the story that it was tryin to tell in the first place instead of focusing on other less important things as all that does is eat away at the specials screen time. This is something that does also the effect the specials character development as while it could be argued that Frank does get some character development in this special as he does agree to go back to being The Punisher again none of the specials other characters get any kind of screen time which is something that dos make sense as Frank is the specials title character but at the same time characters like Ma are left feeling underdeveloped as the makers of the special seem to be afraid of giving us well thought out characters but I really will admit that this special really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action special that really does mean that I gave to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special wa in all honesty really good. With the specials actin being the best part of the special itself this is something that does make sense as The Punisher is meant to be this unstoppable one man army who is willing to do whatever it is that he thinks is and that is something that does open to having some really fun and creative action scenes and that is something that we do get alot of in this special with the action being the main star of the special. With the best action scene in this special being the escape scene as we get to see Frank both shoot and stab his way through countless criminals all of which are trying to kill him and all of which are harming other people that they believe might be hiding him, heck we even get to see alot of really cool death scenes and moves in this one action scene all of which are thing that do make this specials action feel all the more well thought out then the rest of the special and whilst it would have been very easy to have things cool off when Frank does escape his apartment it keeps on going with this being something that does add an element of danger as now Frank for all we could no might not have anywhere else to go and yet he still keeps on fighting as now he's not fighting to avenge the death of his family he's fighting for his very life with him finding the will to be The Punisher once more during this truly epic action scene with the rest of the specials action being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall if you have the choice between this and Devil May Cry season 2 watch Devil May Cry season 2 as there's really very little of value to be found in this special outside of the set up for Spider-Man: Brand New Day with the whole special feeling like a rush job to get the special out there while people are still really wanting to see more from the Netflix Marvel characters in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very special in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as or where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.