The Punisher: One Last Kill (Disney+) – Review

Let’s get one thing out of the way – when it comes to Jon Bernthal‘s anti-hero, The Punisher, it will never be just one kill. While the presence of the ultra-violent vigilante was sorely missed in the second season of the Disney+ series, Daredevil: Born Again, despite making an appearance in the first, the hardened veteran is back with a vengeance in his dedicated television special, The Punisher: One Last Kill. 

Bridging the gap between the events of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 and the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day film, One Last Kill reunites Bernthal with director Marcus Green (We Own This City), posing the question that most revenge plots don’t often cover – what happens when the mission is done? 

As one of the original members of Marvel’s Netflix experiment that the studio is slowly bringing back to the limelight, this 51-minute special reminds us that sometimes, Marvel shows are at their best when they’re violent and un-family-friendly. It also ensures that anyone who missed both seasons of The Punisher on Netflix won’t need to revisit that show ahead of the character’s big-screen appearance in Brand New Day. 

After systematically slaughtering the members of the notorious Gnucci crime family, Frank Castle is left without a purpose, and in the absence of his proverbial guiding light – mindless violence against those responsible for the death of his family –  nothing prevents his inner demons from creeping back in, and Frank is haunted once again by the ghosts of his former U.S. Navy SARC brothers.

Frank isn’t the only one who has seen better days, as the fictional city of Little Sicily is in complete and utter chaos, as always, but after what feels like a lifetime dealing righteous and violent justice to ne’er-do-wells, Frank has been driven to the point where he’s simply numb to it all, instead being taken over by the grief he still feels from the loss of his family.

Of course, having an entire TV short dedicated to Frank wallowing in self-despair won’t be much of an interesting watch, and that’s why there’s always a catalyst, and in One Last Kill, it’s Ma Gnucci (Judith Light, One Life to Live), matriarch and sole survivor of the recently departed Gnucci family, and boy does she have a bone to pick with Frank.

Wanting to see the great Punisher, well.. punished, but with no ability to do so herself, as she is frail and wheelchair bound, Ma Gnucci instead puts a bounty on his head, and soon enough, criminals across the entire city descend on Frank’s home in what they must have thought to be an easy job.

As cool as this “one man versus an entire army” concept is, it’s pretty nonsensical if you think about it, as the Punisher is a man who has wiped out some of the most notorious and violent people on the planet, so one would think that your average thug would know that they stand zero chance against him. But hey, one can’t complain too much, as this does lead to the signature violent action sequences seen in the original 2017 Netflix series, now with a more “close quarters” twist similar to that seen in films like Gareth Evans 2011 action flick The Raid.

Once the sh*t hits the fan, One Last Kill’s latter half essentially becomes an extended action sequence, which sees Frank mowing down foes like it’s his day job. This time, however, he needs to use everything at his disposal, as he had previously left the key to his arsenal at his family’s grave, which, although a pretty convenient plot point, does allow viewers to witness his adaptability in the heat of combat. The third in Marvel’s Special Presentation also gives off a slight video game vibe, as Frank constantly “loots” the bodies of fallen criminals to gather new weapons or ammo. It’s a simple but satisfying concept which reminds us that we need another dedicated Punisher game, as gamers haven’t had a good one since Deep Silver Volition’s excellent 2005 shooter.

Despite all this violence, One Last Kill still leaves room for snippets of character growth, as a short sequence within the chaos still helps viewers understand that The Punisher isn’t only about big guns and gratuitous violence, and Frank will always find the time to protect innocent civilians, especially those who had been wronged as he did. Granted, these moments do feel a little shoe-horned in, but it’s always nice to see multi-layered characters, no matter how well-known for violence they are.

As the central character, the action-focused and narrative beats of One Last Kill are undoubtedly carried by Bernthal’s performance, once again stealing the show with his impressive ability to effortlessly switch between portraying a near-broken, PTSD-riddled veteran, a killer who ends lives without so much as batting an eyelid, and a mix of the two in between. 

While the whole Netflix’s television outing might not have been the success that was the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) films, there’s no denying that Netflix’s casting was extremly on point, save for one Danny Rand, and here, it’s clear that no one can or should play Frank Castle better than Bernthal, and this short but packed special only serves to prove just how needed the character is in the Marvel space. Hopefully, Kevin Feige will do right by Frank, build some hype around his future and hopefully, plan for a much bigger presence in the wider MCU.

Even with the title One Last Kill, the special doesn’t actually provide a conclusion to Frank’s story, but serves more as an interlude for things to come. As uncharacteristically as it is for a Marvel title, one won’t be faulted for interpreting the moral of the story as “sometimes, violence is the only answer”, and with The Punisher let loose to continue his violent rampage once more, it will be interesting to see how the anti-hero will fit into the wider, often PG13 MCU moving forward. Maybe a full-length R-rated feature similar to the Deadpool films? Fingers crossed.

Kevin Low

Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.