Punisher: War Zone
DIR: Lexi Alexander • WRI: Nick Santora, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway • PRO: Gale Anne Hurd, Jack L. Murray, Gary Ventimiglia • DOP: Steve Gainer • ED: William Yeh • DES: Andrew Neskoromny • CAST: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchison, Colin Salmon

This is the third attempt by Marvel to bring Frank Castle (aka the Punisher) to the big screen. The first starred Dolph Lundgren in a rather tame ’80s affair. Marvel tried again in 2004 with Thomas Jane, keeping more of the comic book elements than the Lundgren offering but ruining it all with a ridiculous dose of redeeming sentimentality.

So third time lucky then? No.

Punisher: War Zone follows the brutal exploits of the psychotic Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson, best known as Titus Pullo from the television series Rome). Through flashbacks it is revealed that his family was murdered in a typically Hollywood (brutal and violent) manner and thus becomes the Punisher. Already infamous, the movie finds him intent on taking down the mob and its newly crowned and disfigured leader, Jigsaw (Dominic West, mischievous McNulty from The Wire) which he does so with ultra-violent glee.

The Punisher is one of Marvel Comics’ more violent characters and the movie hammers this point home with buckets of blood, close-up shots of blown-apart heads and plenty of broken bones. While this is closer to the psychopathic comic book characterisation it is more often gratuitous and unnecessary. The movie lurches from ultra-violence on the part of the Punisher, to camp theatrics from Jigsaw and his over-enunciating brother Loony Bin Jim. It also vainly attempts to humanise the Punisher by having him mourning and moping about the unfortunate death of an undercover agent at his hands. Bafflingly, some scenes seem to be lifted straight from the first (Tim Burton) Batman movie, especially the Jigsaw creation scenes.

The movie cannot decide if it is a violent, dark and gritty revenge movie, a camp Batman and Robin-esque caper or a brooding exploration of loss and revenge. It tries to be all three but fails, the main flaw being that it mistakes gratuitous violence as dark realism and a mawkish relationship with a mother and child as demonstrating an underlying humanity to the Punisher’s methods. While the movie is bad, Ray Stevenson is the best Punisher yet and does the best he can with what he has. Dominic West has great fun overacting and hamming it up and like Stevenson acts within the confines of the script and direction. All in all, though, watching Punisher: War Zone is akin to someone repeatedly punching a brick wall right beside your face whilst shouting obscenities at your crotch, ultimately leaving you bewildered and wondering what the point of it all was.

3 blown-apart-heads out of 10.

Brian Vaughn
(Read biog here)

Rated 18 (see IFCO website for details)
Punisher: War Zone is released on 6th February 2009
Punisher: War Zone – Official website