I'm just not convinced that a serious-minded Punisher film would've fared much better, if given the same pitiful marketing campaign and weak release date. Studios avoid the weekend after Thanksgiving like the plague, because they realize theater turnout is always dismal.
Even though the film has a terrible critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, its user rating has actually risen over the past few days. It's a rare case of a modern superhero film being campy, yet still generating some positive word of mouth. The film may not treat the source material as literature, but it does have a set of R-rated balls attached to it. There's definitely a dvd audience out there that responds to that quality in an action movie.
