Punisher: War Zone

If you have ever read the famed comic books containing the hero Punisher, then you are in for a special movie treat. This dramatic story is called " Punisher: War Zone. " Writer Nick Santora allows his imagination to run rampant and in doing so, creates a solid story-line which will have audiences gasping by what they've seen. Ray Stevenson plays Frank Castle, a professional Ex-soldier who's wife and daughter were murdered by street thugs, drug dealers and gang members. In this story, Castle/Punisher goes after the Italian, Russian and Asian mobs in an effort to clean the streets. However, one of the most vicious gang leader suffers a horrific disfigurement and takes the name of his deformity, called 'Jigsaw.' (Dominic West) With his phychotic and deranged brother 'Loony Bin Jim' they set out to destroy Castle, his friends and anyone close to him. The entire movie is one exciting, slam, bang and explosive tour through the bowels of hell. It was surprising to see Wayne Knight as a courageous Micro in among all that black gang and destructive mayhem. If you are looking for an exciting, gut wrenching and certainly bullet ridden film with bodies flying everywhere, this is your movie. Black as pitch, written for the dog-eat-dog audience, this movie creates a spiral stairway into the very bowels of darkness. ****

Okay, first off, let me put it straight... It's better than the first two films. There. I've said it. Why? Because this movie is the comic fan's wet dream come true. There's bullets, buckets of blood and guts, bodies flying, and explosions to boot, and did I mention blood and guts? Anyway, the movie is NOT meant for critics. Who in their right mind would walk into a Punisher movie and expect something like Citizen Kane? Of course, you put into account that The Dark Knight and Iron Man were released the same year, so people were expecting some intelligence from this film. No. This is a movie about a one-man strike force, and this will appeal to guys who like Rambo. The hint's in the title, critics: WAR ZONE.

Ray Stevenson replaces Thomas Jane as the titular character. Here instead of Jane's sort of old-school action hero persona, we get a loyal interpretation of Frank Castle. It's wrong to compare the two Punishers, as they are completely different movies. The 2004 movie was more of a traditional revenge film, and this new one is a faithful, and bloodied, adaptation of the comics. (I am ignoring Dolph Lundgren's version as I haven't seen it yet) Technically speaking, the direction is fast-paced and energetic. The action sequences are nicely done without the usual chop-socky quick editing. The New York cinematography gives the film its distinct dark look that the comics had, and, of course, there is much blood to savor here. The violence, is, spectacularly brutal and sadistic, and that's all we want to see.

However the film has its weaknesses. Most of these come from wooden acting, to over-acting, weak dialogue, and hammy moments involving a child. Dominic West, who plays the horribly disfigured main villain Billy "The Beaut"/"Jigsaw" Russoti out for revenge, and Doug Hutchison who plays his brother James "Looney Bin Jim" Russoti (love that name), hams it up every time they are on screen. Dash Mihok plays a dim-witted detective that looks out of place in a film this dark. Julie Benz is wooden as the wife of the undercover FBI agent which Castle accidentally kills during his outing.

Watch the film with the intent of seeing a full-blown, graphically violent, no-holds-barred action movie, with a beloved character not just kicking ass, but shooting the living crap out of them. This is destined to be a cult classic, and sadistic entertainment at its finest.

Entertainment value: 10/10

Overall: 6.5/10

I suspect this film was victim to the old (pre-Deadpool) rule of PG13 superhero movies being the only ones to bring a profit, even if it diluted the source material so much that the character's spirit was lost.

Punisher was, and is, a violent character - I remember my dad being extremely disapproving of my teenage self reading it due to its violence, and he isn't generally a prude.

The previous Punisher movies are both watered down for a more mainstream audience, but if Punisher fans want a movie that captures the grittiness, personal torment and sheer unadulterated vengeance meated out by Frank Castle then this is it!

The movie probably also suffered from poor marketing - I for one had never heard of it, I bought it as part of a double DVD box set with it's more well known predecessor and I was sceptical of what I perceived to be a straight-to-video b-movie barrel of pants. How wrong I was. It's less "Hollywood", more realistic, more violent, darker, grittier and morally murky - everything the character deserves.

The villains do suffer from the pre-MCU superhero movie tendency towards camp over-acted hamminess and the acting credentials of those portraying them suggests to me that this was a director driven decision rather than the actors personal choice and, given the overall grittiness of the film it does seem a little incongruous but when you consider this was the norm for this genre before Iron Man came along then it can be forgiven, as can the unnecessarily inept cop that seems to have been inserted as an attempt at a comedic character to lighten the mood and it is to Dash Mihok's credit that the character still remains likeable despite the Lt. Frank Drebin/Clouseau-esque material he was given to work with.

Fans of The Punisher comics should definitely see this movie, fans of the other Punisher movies should watch it to get a truer sense of the source material and Marvel should bring Frank Castle into a Deadpool movie to bring the character into the MCU movie arena rather than relegated to the Netflix series - the potential for a successful portrayal of the darkness and violence of Punisher in a post-Deadpool superhero universe is just waiting to be tapped. In the meantime - watch this.

I love this gory wild action extravaganza! Ray Stephenson, Dominic West, and Doug Hutchinson are all great! I like how theirs a bunch that don't like Punisher: War Zone and others that love it. The action sequences are a bit whacky and I admit their is some poor characters otherwise I absolutely love the bulk of the film plus any part with Doug Hutchinson is fantastic. I need to own everything Punisher related at some point I'm a fan of it all.

I really enjoyed The Punisher (2004) though I don't think Thomas Jane made a good Punisher he is a competent enough actor to have pulled it off.

When I heard about this one 4yrs later I had no interest, I was frustrated that it had essentially been rebooted and that Jane was no longer playing Frank Castle.

Here we are 9yrs later I've finally given it a chance and I'm saddened I didn't earlier. Punisher: War Zone is not the brainless action flick cash grab that I expected, in fact it rivals the 2004 version.

For a start Ray Stevenson is perfectly cast as The Punisher, he looks perfect and blows Jane & even Lungren out of the water. He thoroughly takes the role and makes it his amidst a host of great actors and characters.

Extremely violent and quite loyal to the original material this is something I could have gotten behind if it had become a franchise.

I'm not an action junkie, in fact I'd say it is by far one of my least favourite genres but when its done right like it is here it makes for some great entertainment.

Ignore the critics and put the 2004 version aside for a moment, War Zone is a damn decent film.

The Good:

Remarkably violent (As it should be)

Awesome soundtrack

Very competent cast

Ray Stevenson makes a great Punisher

The Bad:

Accents are hit and miss

Recasting/Reebooting so soon after the last movie was a stupid move

Hero is a Christian, villain is an atheist. Overwhelming irony

Jigsaw monologue scene was dumb

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I would love to see this Punisher added to the Marvel Universe

R-Rated superhero movies were a thing before Deadpool

Julie Benz is ageless