This may seem like your run-of-the-mill Batman flick with the caped crusader fighting the Joker, but at the time it was a smash hit. One of the reasons being that before this, Batman wasn't taken seriously enough. Adam West's colorful (not dark) Batman was still the favorite. It's said that when Michael Keaton was announced to play the role, there were some people who didn't like that idea. He was mostly known for roles in comedies like Mr. Mom or BeetleJuice. Jack Nicolson's Joker is my personal favorite out of all the portrayals. It's debatable if Heath Ledger's portrayal was better or not, they both have their own special qualities. Tim Burton knew how to properly design the city of Gotham, and served as future inspirations for Batman films such as Batman Begins (2005) and plenty of other Batman animated movies. 

This horror-action, comic book film is what I consider to be the first of the Marvel "Legacy" movies. If only the people at Disney+ would acknowledge this, this one along with Blade 2 would be appear on that streaming service. Maybe it has something to do with that whole "studio copyright" issue. Going back to the film, this is a lesser example what many people call late 90s/early 2000s shlock. No one would deny that the worst example of this is that Ben Affleck Daredevil movie. Yet for some reason he's going to make an appearance as Daredevil again in Deadpool 3. The special effects and acting in Blade aren't the best, but it's everything else that makes it worthwhile. What it's well-known for is all the mixed martial arts and vampire slaying. 

I was looking forward to the MCU reboot coming out in 2024, but it unfortunately got pushed back to 2025 due to the current writer's strike. It wasn't that long ago when Covid-19 was the only reason for production and release delays. Mahershala Ali will be in his 50s by the time it gets into theaters. It wouldn't be the first time a comic book hero was played by an older guy. Ron Pearlman was in his 50s when he started playing as Hellboy. 

These guys took a huge risk having the film take place in Florida instead of New York City. What fans had to understand is that the crew were making this movie on a very low budget. The only reason they filmed this in Tampa Bay was because it was cheaper to film there. It was also because of this low budget that an alternate opening was cut out. The director said in the commentary that the film was supposed to open in a firefight which develops a certain bond between Frank Castle and his long time friend Weeks. This Weeks is the same guy who sells Frank out to the guys who kill his family. It's explained in an extended scene that Weeks was broke and needed the money that the antagonist was offering.

Of course I always want to point out the comic storylines that inspired this film. The most obvious one was Welcome Back, Frank (published in 2000) by Garth Ennis, the best punisher writer of all time. The "Declaration of Intent" monologue, final fight, and attempted suicide scenes were taken from the short graphic novel Punisher: Year One (published in 1994). That one scene where the lackey Mickey gets tortured by Frank was taken from the Punisher: War Zone comics. It's because of all this that I believe this underrated film always deserves another chance. Sure, it's chock full of "spaghetti western" themes and may seem like any other revenge action flick, but at least it's characters are believable. 

SPOILER ALERT

Anyone who's seen this movie in theaters could have walked out and said to the person next to them "that was a much better improvement from the last one." James Gunn and Zack Snyder are two of the best superhero filmmakers to date. Since both of them worked together to make this movie, it was destined to turn out good. There were only a few aspects that I didn't enjoy all that much. For one thing this film doesn't take inspiration from any comic storyline. Another is the choice of the Suicide Squad members. Ratcatcher and Polka-Dot Man? Why didn't they just get killed off with the members of team 1? Don't get me wrong, they still pull off a pretty good performance, especially Ratcatcher. 

Speaking of the cast, every actor knew how to fit their roles well into the story. Bloodsport felt way too similar to Deadshot, seeing as how he's an assassin with a strained relationship with his daughter. I forgot all about that once I saw his sweet nano tech guns. Unfortunately, nano tech is something that's become overused in today's Marvel movies. The most likely favorite character is King Shark, voice and/or played by Sylvester Stallone. He comes off as both lovable and menacing. 

I've never read Sin City, but I can tell you now that It could never live up to the impact he made with his works on Daredevil and Batman. Back when he started working on Daredevil, he was simply the artist (or penciler). He didn't become the writer until near the end of Vol. 1. For reading recommendations on his Daredevil works, I would start with The Man Without Fear, then read Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Vol.1-3, and finally his greatest work on the character: Born Again. That particular storyline is going to have it's own series with Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio returning to they're respective roles. It will also have Jon Bernthal returning as the Punisher. In other words, can't wait til next year. 

When Frank Miller wrote The Dark Knight Returns, he changed the way comic books would be written forever. There was a time when superheroes were colorful and brought cheer to young readers. Then Miller went on to Batman and gave heroes the ability to be brutal. In The Dark Knight Returns, he created an alternate DC universe where many heroes, including Batman, have aged and retired from their former crime-fighting careers. When Bats comes about of retirement, he shows no mercy (with the exception of his non-killing rule). A year later in '87, he follows up with another dark and gritty story, Batman: Year One. He continued his "Dark Knight" series soon after this, but 'Strikes Again and Master Race has too much Justice League and not enough of Batman villains. In the first book, Frank was smart enough to include Joker and Harvey Dent and not just Superman. 

Note: One last reading recommendation is that Wolverine story he wrote with Chris Claremont that has Logan fight the Hand and Silver Samurai in Japan.