This sets up a sequence from which the movie hardly recovers. Castle has a romantic walk on the beach with his wife Maria (Samantha Mathis), a hug with his child, and sentimental moments as his father (Roy Scheider) speaks at a family reunion. Then Castle's gunmen mow down the entire family in a series of gruesome vignettes, not neglecting to linger on the death of wife and child after their pitiful attempt to flee.

Castle kills a few of the attackers, but is cornered on a pier, shot repeatedly, dowsed with gasoline, blown up and lands in the water. This establishes a pattern for the movie: No one is killed only once. (Later in the film, a target is shot, chained to the back of a car and dragged into a car lot where all of the cars explode.) Miraculously, Castle survives, and is nursed back to health by one of those useful cliches, the black loner who lives by himself on an island and possesses the wisdom of the ages.

The rest of the movie involves his recovery, his preparations, and his methodical revenge against Mr. Saint and all of his people. Several colorful supporting characters are introduced, especially the three oddballs who live in the shabby rooming house Castle occupies. They are Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), a sexy but frightened woman with an abusive boyfriend; Mr. Bumpo (John Pinette), a tubby sissy, and Spacker Dave (Ben Foster), who is pierced in ways you don't even want to think about. We have all been indoctrinated in the notion that "we are family!" and these three attempt to include Castle in their circle, despite his need to isolate, drink, kill and brood. There is something a little odd when he's invited over for ice cream and cake.

The movie is relentless in its violence. There is a scene where Spacker Dave is tortured by having his piercings removed with pliers; the scene breaks the fabric of the film and moves into a different and macabre arena. "The Punisher" opens on the same weekend as another movie about a gruesome massacre and an elaborate revenge, "Kill Bill, Volume 2," but they are as different as night and day; "Kill Bill, Volume 1" vibrates with humor, irony, over-the-top exaggeration, and the joy of filmmaking. "The Punisher" is so grim and cheerless, you wonder if even its hero gets any satisfaction from his accomplishments.

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