Today, punishment gets a makeover.
In this film, Ray Stevenson plays a lone vigilante known only as The Punisher, but is really Frank Castle, an ex-military guy who's family was brutally murdered by the mob. Now, he prowls the streets of the big city with an arsenal that could make an NRA member piss himself. After accidentally killing an undercover agent, Frank decides to hang up his skull shirt. However, Frank soon finds he has to protect the dead agent's wife and daughter from a gangster whom he horribly disfigured, Jigsaw (Dominic West).
Punisher: War Zone is dumb as shit, but that's okay. As I mentioned before, I grew up with movies like this, so I'm rather lenient. Also, this is as close as we've gotten to a true film adaptation of Marvel's ever-popular anti-hero. Originally intended as a sequel to the 2004 film, The Punisher, Lionsgate eventually scrapped the idea, replacing Jonathan Hensleigh with Lexi Alexander as director, and deciding to reboot the franchise. Again. Ray Stevenson makes a pretty good Frank Castle, inside and outside. War Zone also goes back to the macho-driven action flicks of the 1980s, with its extreme violence, mobster caricatures, and flying fucks everywhere. In fact, it kind of closely resembles the 1989 version starring Dolph Lundgren. It starts out with Frank unloading on mobsters, features a couple of cops tracking him down, and even has our title character helping kids. The difference is- besides this Punisher actually having a skull on his shirt- Lexi Alexander brings together a grim, sweaty visual style that's also a bit on the cartoonish side to keep it wild and fun.
Punisher: War Zone is the less successful of Marvel's two reboots of 2008, but like The Incredible Hulk, it's a step in the right direction for the character. Just don't expect anything deep.
Punisher: War Zone
3 out of 5 Cap shields
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