Punisher: War Zone
posted December 4, 2008 4:33 PM
Punishing crowds across the country
Incompetent and cartoonish are the best words to describe Punisher: War Zone, the continuation of the Marvel Comics series reintroduced to moviegoers in 2004. The first Punisher established ex-Marine Frank Castle as a blood-thirsty vigilante avenging the murder of his wife and child. This new installment tosses out the origin story altogether and sets up Castle as an indestructible killing machine hunting down bad guys with all the precision and reality of a video game. Moviegoers looking to see heads ripped open by shotgun blasts and loud rock music will flock to Punisher: War Zone, but even they will be letdown by the over-the-top acting and ludicrous plot.
It seems the smartest one in all of this mess is actor Thomas Jane, who decided not to reprise his role as the titular Punisher. I don’t pretend to know why Jane didn’t return for Punisher: War Zone, but whatever the reason he must be laughing in his Barka Lounger. The original Punisher film was far from high art but it was (at least) an enjoyable origin story that setup a bitter and confused antihero. Punisher: War Zone, on the other hand, is neither enjoyable nor character defining. Replacing Jane with Ray Stevenson (from HBO’s Rome), War Zone slashes the original film’s budget and cranks up the body count for no other reason than to show graphic R-rated kills. Among those bloody messes are sliced throats, decapitations, impalements on fences and an actual dissemination via rocket launcher. Trust me, these are not good things.
Screenwriters Nick Santora, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway are the most responsible for this mess of a film. From the opening scene of the Punisher’s bloody takedown of an Italian crime family we get lazy character quips and enough racist mob stereotypes to satisfy only bottom drawer entertainment. Frank Castle has now become a nocturnal crime fighter focusing his sights on disfigured crime villain Jigsaw (Dominic West), an over the top madman who owes his carved up face to the Punisher and is looking to get even. But how can an evil villain extract revenge without a couple of evil henchmen, right? Enter blood brother “Loony Bin Jim” (Doug Hutchinson), a psychopath whose ridiculous exploits are matched (in their absurdity) by his nickname. Together the evil brothers literally go around recruiting local gangs in their fight against the Punisher, leading to a shootout that is literally written off by the cops as “some dynamite going off all night.”
Director Lexi Alexander showed promise with her gripping first feature Green Street Hooligans drawing drama and tension from strong character moments. In Punisher: War Zone, any sense of reality is thrown out the window immediately resulting in a goofy and amateurishly written mess. Having to sit through Punisher: War Zone is enough punishment for any filmgoer.
Distributor: Lionsgate
Cast: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchinson, Julie Benz and Wayne Knight
Director: Lexi Alexander
Screenwriters: Nick Santora, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway
Producer: Gale Ann Hurd and Avi Arad
Genre: Action
Rating: R for pervasive strong brutal violence, language and some drug use.
Running time: 101 min.
Release date: December 5, 2008
11 Comments
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Morenom said:
Youre an idiot.
December 5, 2008 11:57 AM
Tom said:
Why is he an idiot? The review is clear and concise and lists reasons why the film sucks. As opposed to you who just tossed out an insult without any backing whatsoever. I just think it's funny and ironic how the name-calling you used here fits your response like a glove.
I haven't seen it myself, but I did see the trailers and the over-the-top antics and cartoonish caricatures nearly made me hurl.
December 5, 2008 12:12 PM
army rangers said:
ITS BASED ON A VIOLENT COMIC, HELLO, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT. THE CHARACTER IS VIOLENT, HENCE THE MOVIE WILL BE VIOLENT.
December 7, 2008 10:13 AM
Duh said:
Wait...wasn't the 1st Punisher movie with Dolph Lundgren back in 89'? Won't they ever learn?
December 11, 2008 12:04 PM
No Nonsense Critic said:
Apparently this reviewer doesn't know what they're talking about. This movie is NOT a continuation of the last movie. This is a complete solo movie based on the comic.
The original story of the Punisher has NOTHING to do with revenge for his family. The Punisher movie of 2004 was completely off basis from the comic story. The real story is he is at a picnic and his family is killed. He then goes out and strikes back at ALL criminals. His continued spree of killing has nothing to do with avenging his family it has to do with his utter dislike of criminals.
This movie follows the story almost to a "tee". His family is killed and he goes off killing criminals in only the way he knows best. The fact that this reviewer is unable to cope with the obscene amount of violence means he obviously doesn't know the story all that well. This movie is loosely based on the MAX comics which is packed full of violence, gore, and death.
Also for the record since none of these reviewers seem to get it. The Punisher from 2004 was the second Punisher movie... not the first. It was an "original" story which had nothing to do with the Punisher story, and it was filled with utterly crap acting. This movie is the closest to the real thing we're going to get.
December 14, 2008 2:08 AM
Anonymous said:
kiss my ass
December 15, 2008 1:58 AM
E-MAN said:
THIS GUY IS SO STUPID HOW CAN U GIVE THIS MOVIE SUCH A LOW RATING.THE MOVIE JUST ISNT 4 U THEY MADE THIS MOVIE 4DUMB MEAT HEADS HOW JUST WANT 2 SEE SOME BIG GUNS
December 18, 2008 2:45 PM
sort187 said:
Meh. If it's not written, directed by, or played by big name, big game Hollywood $tar$, it's gonna get a hack review.
December 21, 2008 4:35 AM
Draper said:
People that don't know anything about the original comic book story are in no way credible when it comes to reviewing ANY depiction of it. Sorry. That's the truth of the matter. It cannot be argued so don't even waste anyones time trying to state your flawed, useless, and bigoted case.
December 25, 2008 3:29 PM
THE CRITIC said:
MR.Cerritos.... I suggest before you go bashing any movie, You know exactly why you are bashing the movie, and you know everything about the storyline of A comic or a graphic novel or any novel turned into A movie....
So why exactly are you bashing the movie sir? Ummmmmm because it didnt have A name actors? Or b because it had too much blood, gore and violence? Well it has all to do with the comic book line they took the punisher from, This punisher movie came from the Max or The War Zone series. This punisher was more violent, graphic and invisible almost like the type that could snipe spiderman unlike the weak, soft, mild punisher from the last one starting Tom Jane. Im not big on the Punisher series but even I knew that, SO this movie lived up to the comic book series and was perfect, but even this movie was far complicated even for A critic like your self to grasp the material..... Lemme guess I bet you guessed the action in the Watchmen was too graphic too huh? Ha ha good one!
March 9, 2009 5:42 PM
A.l.O said:
Well commentary on violence aside. The movie did suck. The plot and the story were down childish. The acting over the top.
May 3, 2009 9:36 AM