Cheo Hodari Coker, creator of Netflix's Luke Cage TV show, says The Punisher: One Last Kill suffers from its short runtime.
"The problem with One Last Kill is it's too short," Coker wrote on Twitter. "That's who Frank Castle is. No mercy. Very much like the comics. It needed more space to breathe. But Bernthal is the best Punisher by far and RMG did a great job directing. About to watch it again."
The Punisher: One Last Kill, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and co-written by Jon Bernthal, follows a PTSD-stricken Frank Castle who has all but completely lost touch with reality. But things get pretty real after he crosses paths with Ma Gnucci (the incredible Judith Light), who is there to take revenge after the Punisher killed her family (though it's the Gnuccis who were responsible for the death of Frank's wife and children in the first place).
The special has a runtime of around 48 minutes, and the action doesn't really begin until around 30 minutes in. The first 30 minutes set up the absolutely desolate area that Frank lives in, his hallucinations, his immense guilt over being unable to protect his family, and introduce main villain Ma Gnucci. Truthfully, it could've benefited from being broken up into a four-episode miniseries of sorts, rather than cramming Frank's return to vigilantism into 45 minutes... but I digress.
The Punisher: One Last Kill is now streaming on Disney Plus. It's not an easy or fun watch (and includes the phone numbers for some helpful support hotlines at the end), so discretion is advised! For more, read our breakdown of The Punisher: One Last Kill ending and our verdict on the special with The Punisher: One Last Kill review.
