Release: The Punisher: Purgatory

 

The Punisher: Purgatory

Genre: Action/Superhero/Crime

Director: S. Craig Zahler

Writer: Dwight Gallo

Based on Marvel Comics characters

Cast: Mel Gibson, Jonathan Tucker, Carla Gugino, Shea Whigham, Jennifer Carpenter, Dwight Yoakam, Tory Kittles, James Urbaniak, Slaine, Fred Melamed, Mira Sorvino, Francois Chau, Jake Busey

Budget: $75,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $130,119,000

Foreign Box Office: $100,885,586

Total Profit: $38,089,444

Reaction: Box office numbers were slightly down across the board for this third film in the series, and profits were the lowest in the series to date - although that does make sense to the accountants as budgets have increased 50% from the first film. That said, it's still a successful hard-R Marvel entry.

"There’s a lot to admire in The Punisher: Purgatory - Zahler’s hard-edged procedural pacing, Gibson’s granite-center performance, and a killer soundtrack that again does heavy lifting by underlining the film’s bitter melancholy rather than offering empty swagger. But this third entry wobbles where the first two were locked in: giving Frank Castle a love interest (Carla Gugino is terrific though) softens the character in a way that feels thematically inconsistent, and the villains’ scheme feels too chaotic without enough underlying logic. Even so, this third Punisher entry is still very good, just not quite the near-masterpiece levels of the first two films." - Roger Taggart, Chicago Tribune

"​S. Craig Zahler's The Punisher: Purgatory is an unflinching descent into noir-fueled carnage, anchored by a career-defining performance from a grizzled Mel Gibson as the broken, ghost-like Frank Castle. His stoic brutality finds its chaotic match in Jonathan Tucker's terrifyingly magnetic Jigsaw, creating a conflict that paints the city in blood and grime. Zahler trades superhero spectacle for visceral, bone-shattering realism, creating a grim ballet of violence ironically set to a melancholic soul soundtrack. It is a punishing, masterful, and ultimately definitive take on the character, but its relentless brutality means this is a mission strictly for those with the strongest of stomachs." - Ted Milo, Montasefilm.com

"The Punisher: Purgatory is Zahler in full command: ugly, methodical, and brutal - all in the best possible ways. Mel Gibson's Frank Castle moves like a weary force of nature. The set pieces escalate with sick ingenuity (the bridge ambush, the Rikers riot, the subway-yard slaughter), and Jonathan Tucker’s Jigsaw is a gleefully hateful engine of chaos whose very presence makes the movie feel dangerous. Just as importantly, the series’ soundtrack streak continues. It’s vicious, funny in the worst way, and oddly mournful - Zahler and Gallo's pulp craftsmanship elevated into something that lingers." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

Rated R for graphic violence, disturbing imagery, and language.