'THE PUNISHER' DISHES IT OUT.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

REMEMBER HOW, in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, people were asking if our country's appetite for violent movies would change and whether people had the stomach to watch families being gunned down by ruthless criminals?

No? You don't recall Arnold Schwarzenegger's ``Collateral Damage'' being bumped back six months because Warner Bros. figured nobody wanted to see a man's wife and son being blown to bits by a terrorist bomb?

We have short attention spans, don't we? I ask only because there's a new movie coming out today called ``The Punisher,'' in which a man watches helplessly as more than 30 of his family members are gunned down by assassins wielding automatic weapons. And that number doesn't include his wife and son, who are relentlessly chased and then savagely run over by a jeep.

The sole survivor is Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) who Marvel Comics fans will know better as the film's title character, the Punisher. The Punisher doesn't just seek vengeance. He wants to dish out some serious punishment, and that he does in this effective revenge yarn from first-time director Jonathan Hensleigh, who some will know better as the man who wrote all those awful Jerry Bruckheimer movies (``Gone in 60 Seconds,'' ``Con Air,`` ``Armageddon'').

Provided you have the stomach for this sort of thing, ``The Punisher'' is an OK example of the genre. Once former FBI agent Castle sees every blood relative gunned down at a family reunion in Puerto Rico, he goes underground and resurfaces in Tampa, living in a funky tenement building complex shared by a couple of shut-in geeks (memorably played by Ben Foster and John Pinette) and a recovering-addict hottie (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), who tells him, ``Don't let your memories kill you.'' (The movie lays stuff like that on thick.)

Castle is after the Tampa ``businessman,'' Howard Saint (John Travolta), who ordered the hit on his family. Castle announces his presence by planting his tombstone (he was presumed dead along with his family) on the 18th green of the golf course Saint frequents. This sets up the usual cat-and-mouse dynamic, which is enlivened by some imaginatively staged confrontations between Castle and his foes. (The best involves a hand grenade, a toilet and Verdi's ``La Donna e Mobile.'')

The implausibility of the whole thing can be a little unsettling, such as when Castle (again - everyone thinks he's dead) shows up and tells the cops, the feds and the news media that he's back and he's going to kill Saint and then - poof - the law disappears for the rest of the movie. Why would a loner like Castle make a public statement? Too much Wild Turkey? Wouldn't the cops keep an eye out for him? And where exactly is the super of his building? You'd think somebody (the fire department, perhaps) might show up after a wall of the building was destroyed by an explosion.

Of course, you're not supposed to ask such questions. ``The Punisher'' is all about the punishment (well, that and Jane's washboard abs, which receive equal screen time) and there's plenty to go around. The guiltiest pleasure comes from watching Travolta get his in an extended sequence that made me flash back to time spent watching ``The General's Daughter,'' ``Swordfish,'' ``Lucky Numbers,'' ``Battlefield Earth'' and, really, too many other movies to mention. Punishment? You bet. Frank Castle, I share in your revenge.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

THE PUNISHER - Two and one half stars

(R: pervasive brutal violence, language, brief nudity)

Starring: Thomas Jane, John Travolta.

Director: Jonathan Hensleigh.

Running time: 2 hr. 4 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Plenty of punishment; OK if you have the stomach for such things.

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Photo:

Frank Castle (Thomas Jane, right), the sole survivor of bloody hit that killed every member of his family, is determined to avenge those murders in ``The Punisher.''