Review: ‘Punisher: War Zone’

Jeremy:

How can you not dig on ‘Punisher: War Zone’, a gore-filled, action extravaganza that has no ulterior motives. Â  This is the kind of film that doesn’t waste time on morals or make any half-serious attempts at trying to have an underlying meaning. Â  This film has one goal, and one goal alone. Â  It wants to kick your ass, and it does just that.

This is the third attempt at trying to bring the Punisher comic book to the silver screen. Â  In 1989, Dolph “I Must Break You” Lundgren took a stab at it, and it came off as low-budget and lame. Â  It was the days before comic book movies were money-making machines, and no studio took the idea of a ‘Punisher’ movie seriously. Â  In 2004, Thomas Jane stepped into the part, and while that ‘Punisher’ film is good, it tries too hard to be something it’s not. Â  It has some really good action, but the film gets bogged down much too often. Â  ‘Punisher: War Zone’? Â  More shooty! Â  Less talky!

Frank Castle, this time played by Ray Stevenson (it took them three tries to actually cast someone with black hair), is still shooting bad guys taking the law into his own hands. Â  This is not a sequel to either of the other two films, but it does feel like a sequel to some, long-forgotten ‘Punisher’ movie where Castle’s transformation into the Punisher was explained. Â  Here, we come into the story halfway through. Â  He’s already got an underground lair full of machine guns and Berrettas, and he’s already partnered himself with Microchip, the brainiac from the comics who provides the Punisher with all his great weapons.

The opening scene has Castle party-crashing a dinner at a mob boss’ mansion. Â  It tell you right from the get-go how this ‘Punisher’ movie is going to approach violence. Â  Castle stands on the dinner table with a flare in one hand, and a machete in the other. Â  He runs up to the mob boss (did I mention the boss is in a wheelchair?) and slices the guy’s head off. Â  He then proceeds to destroy everyone else at the table. Â  “Destroy” is the appropriate word here. Â  He doesn’t just kill bad guys in this film by shooting them. Â  He “destroys” them, and not just them. Â  Any wives sitting at the table had better duck their heads, as well, or their liable to get their necks broken.

The real meat of the story comes when horribly disfigures the new mob boss, Billy “The Beaut” Russoti, played by the awesome Dominic West. Â  Russoti ends up with his face basically ripped off, and some half-assed doctor tries to piece a new face onto him. Â  Russoti is left with a patch-work face that makes Frankenstein’s Monster look like Leo DiCaprio. Â  Jigsaw is born.

There’s some subplot about cops and the FBI trying to bring Castle down, and there’s another subplot involving Castle accidentally killing an undercover FBI agent. Â  Who really cares about all that, right? Â  We want blood in our ‘Punisher’ movie, and you gore-thirsty moviegoers better be prepared to get exactly what you want for Christmas this year. Â  Let’s just say you can set your watch in this movie by how often someone gets their face demolished by either a shotgun blast or a flying fist.

Director Lexi Alexander, yeah, a chick, knows exactly what fans of the Punisher comic books want in their movie. Â  They don’t want Castle sitting over a bottle of Wild Turkey contemplating suicide. Â  They don’t want obligatory flashbacks to happier times in Castle’s life. Â  They want mayhem, and they want to see the Punisher take down interesting villains.

The interesting villains part is kind of subdued here. Â  We get Jigsaw, and West plays the part like his life depends on it. Â  Doug Hutchison plays Loony Bin Jim, Jigsaw’s brother and all-around psychopath. Â  Other than those two, we pretty much get your standard henchmen dressed in black who probably wouldn’t be able to hit water if they fell out of a boat.

Stevenson’s Castle is nothing to brag about either. Â  He stares at the bad guys. Â  He says his lines. Â  He tries to cover up his Irish accent. Â  That last part he does pretty well, but there really aren’t any acting chops required for this part. Â  Having said that, he looks perfect for the part. Â  If and when another ‘Punisher’ movie gets made, I hope he returns. Â  He looks just like Frank Castle is supposed to look, and we could stand for a little bit of continuity in our ‘Punisher’ movies.

If you’re going to see ‘Punisher: War Zone’, you know what you’re in store for. Â  This film isn’t worried about whether its storyline is intelligent and thought-provoking. Â  These actors aren’t worried about critical acclaim. Â  There’s nothing about ‘Punisher: War Zone’ that would indicate it has any other purpose than to entertain the blood-thirsty fanatics who made the Punisher comic books such a success. Â  To that purpose, ‘Punisher: War Zone’ succeeds in every aspect.

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]