Although Punisher: War Zone manages to capture the look and brutality of the hit Marvel comic and Ray Stevenson handles the Frank Castle role with a needed deadly menace, goofy performances from its villains ruin any chance the movie has of being good and continue the character’s struggle to adapt to the big screen.
Rather than making a sequel to Thomas Jane’s turn as The Punisher in 2004, Marvel Comics and the other filmmakers let the character run wild in the streets of New York with no mention of the first film. The film is re-launch of the series with the Frank Castle/Punisher origin told through a couple of quick flashback scenes.
Punisher: War Zone was directed by Lexi Alexander (2005's Hooligans) with writing chores handled by Nick Santora, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway. Stevenson is joined by Dominic West, Doug Hutchison, Colin Salmon, Wayne Knight, Dash Mihok, and Julie Benz.
The film is full-throttle from the start with Punisher (who has been fighting his private war for six years) taking out pretty much an entire mob family in the opening minutes of the movie. It is clear from the start that Alexander and company got the violence of the character right, and have no intention of shying away from the blood spraying on the screen. Punisher cuts his way through the mob family by shooting, beheading, disemboweling, and even using a chair to kill a guy.
From the opening slaughter, the movie never really slows down. It is pretty straightforward and predictable with Punisher accidentally killing an undercover cop; feeling bad for the death; questioning his quest to kill every single bad guy walking the planet; and having to save the dead cop’s family from West’s Jigsaw – who becomes the disfigured leader of the mob following Punishers opening killing spree.
Ready to hang up his guns for good and try to get back to a life as Frank Castle, Punisher is forced to continue his fight after he learns Jigsaw has freed his even crazier brother Loony Bin Jim (Hutchison) from the nuthouse and is hunting the dead cop’s wife and daughter.
It seems Jigsaw (a name he comes up with after Punisher drops him in a glass grinder) believes that the cop’s wife (Benz) has his money and he would like it back. He also figures Punisher will come looking to save her – which will give him and his brother a chance to get a little payback.
The movie builds at a predictable pace leading up to a showdown with the Punisher and about every single criminal walking the streets of New York City. They make it easier for the Punisher by holding up in an abandoned hotel so he can go from room to room shooting them in the head.
Like I said, the plot is straightforward and requires zero brain thought to follow. The filmmakers nailed what makes Punisher such a great comic. As a fan of the character and the various Marvel Comics with him, I was wondering if the violence of the film would be as big a letdown as the 2004 big screen adaptation. Within seconds of War Zone starting, it was clear they got it right.
From the start to ending, Alexander and company match the bloody feel and grit of the Punisher comics (specifically the Garth Ennis/MAX run on the character). In addition to matching the extreme violence of the Ennis spin, Alexander also uses various color tones to match the look of the comic. The film is filled with grays, blues and browns used in various shots to remind comic fans of the look of the Punisher books. At times, it seems whole scenes are lifted from the covers and pages of the comics.
Stevenson also seems to nail the character. Throughout the film, he has a quiet menace and violence under every move the character makes. He softens for some scenes with the dead cop’s daughter, but quickly puts it away to kill the bad guy in the most brutal way possible. I enjoyed Thomas Jane’s take on the character (even if I was disappointed in the overall movie), and I had my doubts about Stevenson. The actor quickly put my doubts to rest as he slice and diced his way through the bad guys.
Sadly, the filmmakers failed to capture the evilness of the Punisher’s main villain, Jigsaw, and West’s performance is almost a joke. Rather than coming off as brutal and psycho, the actor (who I have enjoyed in shows like HBO’s The Wire) destroys nearly every scene with the character. Along with Hutchison, he constantly overacts and comes off as simply goofy. As the movie played, I found myself hoping the scenes with the two actors would be over as quickly as possible, and they almost completely ruin the movie.
The movie looks great on Blu-ray, and the format’s 1080p picture really helps sell the different color tones and gritty feel of the film. Although it is over-the-top, several of the action sequences feel extremely real with Alexander and cinematographer Steve Gainer putting the gunfights right in your face.
Unfortunately like some other recent films (such as The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor), the special effects have trouble holding up to Blu-ray’s crystal clear picture and some of the killing scenes seem extremely fake (such as the Punisher pushing his fist through a guy’s face).
The Blu-ray also comes loaded with special features that take you into the movie and show the huge amount of work that went into making it match what is being done in the comics. They also have several looks at the amount of dedication Stevenson brought to getting the character right and the training he went through so that he looks natural with the guns and combat sequences.
Watching those features helped me appreciate his performance a bit more, and enjoy his take on the character the second time I watched the film.
Even with its faults (which fall mostly on the shoulders of Dominic West and Doug Hutchison), Punisher: War Zone is a killer action flick that hold no punches and brings the Marvel character to the big screen in all his bloody glory. I enjoyed it more on the second viewing, and would recommend it to any Punisher comic fan. It still isn’t perfect, but it is a step in the right direction for getting a film version of the character right.
Punisher: War Zone [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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