Rated
R (Pervasive Strong Brutal Violence, Language and Some Drug Use)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 43 Minutes
Cast:
Ray
Stevenson-Frank Castle/The Punisher
Dominic
West-Billy ‘The Beaut’ Russoti/Jigsaw
Doug
Hutchison-James Russoti/Loony Bin Jim
Julie
Benz-Angela Donatelli
Colin
Salmon-FBI Agent Paul Budiansky
Dash
Mihok-Detective Martin Soap
Wayne
Knight-David Linus ‘Microchip’ Lieberman
Stephanie
Janusauskas-Grace Donatelli
Romano
Orzari-Nicky Donatelli
Directed
by Lexi Alexander
 |
| "Vengeance has a name." |
Despite
being a fairly well-known character in the Marvel Universe, the big screen
success achieved by his more colorful superhero peers continues to elude the
Punisher, who first appeared as a villain in Amazing Spider-Man #129 in 1974. Created by Gerry Conway, Ross
Andru, and John Romita, Sr., the Punisher was an instant hit among readers and
was granted his own series after a string of guest appearances. However, his
popularity waned during the mid-1990s and it wasn’t until writer Garth Ennis
and illustrator Steve Dillon’s acclaimed twelve-issue limited series in 2000 that
brought the Punisher back to the forefront at Marvel. Ennis returned the
character to his lone vigilante roots with an increased focus on gritty crime-based
stories with a dose of black humor. Like Captain America, there were a number
of film adaptations, the first starring Dolph Lundgren as the titular character
in 1989. This version was never shown theatrically in the United States due to
New World Pictures’ financial difficulties and instead released direct-to-video
in 1991. Reviews were negative and Frank Castle was noticeably missing his
iconic skull emblem. Fifteen years later, Marvel decided to give the Punisher
another shot with Thomas Jane in the role. While I liked the 2004 version well
enough, the film received negative reviews and barely recouped its production budget
at the domestic box office with a final worldwide gross of $55 million. DVD
sales were strong (there was even an extended cut released with approximately seventeen minutes of new footage) so a sequel was green-lit. However, it was hampered
by creative differences, forcing Jane to pull out of the project in 2007. This
third attempt is a reboot with Ray Stevenson replacing Jane. The third time
wasn’t the charm as “Punisher: War Zone” was a major flop with critics and at the box office. However, “War Zone”
is actually the best of the bunch as it is the most faithful to the source
material. Sure, the film suffers from a generic story and cringe-worthy
dialogue but it delivers the action in spades, reveling in all the bloody ultra-violence
on display. If nothing else, “Punisher: War Zone” is never boring and even
proves to be an entertaining flick for a boring weekend.
Frank Castle (Ray
Stevenson) has been the Punisher for close to six years since his family was
brutally killed for witnessing a mob execution. Armed to the teeth, he assaults
a mob party held by Gaitano Cesare and guns down everyone in sight but Billy ‘The
Beaut’ Russoti (Dominic West) escapes to his recycling plant hideout. Two NYPD
detectives staking out the party, Martin Soap (Dash Mihok) and Saffiotti (Tony
Calabretta), inform Castle on where to find Russoti, tacitly approving of his
actions. Arriving at the recycling planet, a gun battle ensues between Castle
and Russoti, who trips and falls into a glass-crushing machine that leaves him
horribly disfigured. FBI agents arrive on the scene but as he escapes, Castle
discovers to his horror that one of the men he killed was an undercover FBI
agent named Nicky Donatelli (Romano Orzari). The partner of the deceased agent,
Paul Budiansky (Colin Salmon), arrives in New York City to bring the Punisher
to justice with the help of Detective Soap, who leads the ‘Punisher Task
Force.’ Wrecked with guilt over his actions, Castle attempts to make
reparations to Donatelli’s wife Angela (Julie Benz) and their daughter, Grace
(Stephanie Janusauskas), to no avail. He considers retiring from his life as
the Punisher but his weapons supplier, Microchip (Wayne Knight), informs him
that Russoti, now known as Jigsaw, is still alive and will go after Donatelli’s
family for revenge. To help him get rid of the Punisher once and for all,
Jigsaw frees his deranged, cannibalistic brother, James (Doug Hutchison),
nicknamed ‘Loony Bin Jim,’ from the mental hospital and recruits an army of
thugs to become the new crime boss of New York City.
“Punisher: War Zone” is a
generic vigilante tale complete with hackneyed dialogue, little to no character
development, and a conflicting tone that veers from overly melodramatic to
silly black humor but all this matters little because people watching the film
are here for the action. On that front, it successfully delivers. Like Louis
Leterrier’s 2008 reboot “The Incredible Hulk,” it tacitly acknowledges the 2004
version but alters several details, largely pertaining to Frank Castle’s
back-story to align it closer to the source material. The Punisher was the
first in a series of psychologically-troubled anti-heroes and is one of the few
Marvel characters who lack any real powers, relying instead on his extensive
military training and arsenal of weapons. In this way he is like Batman but
what made him unique is that he had no moral qualms about executing the
criminals he hunts. A commonality among superheroes is that there’s a line you
just do not cross and no matter what, you do
not kill. Castle sees the world
in very black-and-white terms and views the justice system with contempt,
believing it to be ineffective and broken. His brutal nature has often come in
conflict with other Marvel characters and some have even tried to stop him. It
raises all sorts of interesting debates regarding the ethics surrounding his
actions but unfortunately, director Lexi Alexander and writers Nick Santora,
Art Marcum and Matt Holloway just aren’t interested. Sure, there’s a
half-hearted attempt where the film questions the validity of Castle’s war on
crime with its high risk of collateral damage but nothing is ever made of it.
The dialogue isn’t very good (and that’s putting it in a nice way) and it does
not help when much of the cast overacts with the delivery just feeling…off.
Still, I consider it somewhat of an improvement from the 2004 version, where
too many one-liners either made you cringe or tried too hard to be clever. The
black comedy also feels at odds with its grim tone, especially when it comes to
how Jigsaw is depicted. At one point, he recruits an army of thugs while
standing in front of an American flag as patriotic music plays in the
background, which comes off as rather goofy and only serves to undermine the
menacing nature of his character.
“War Zone” is at its best during the action
scenes, with Stevenson even training with U.S. Marines. The results are plain on-camera
as he moves with precise precision and I liked the little detail where he
reloads every weapon whenever there is a lull in a battle. Although the
previous installment was rated R, this one truly earns its rating and none of
the violence is watered down. In addition to being shot to bits, people are
decapitated, horribly disfigured, dropped from high buildings or just blown to
pieces. Hell, a mob boss’ wife gets her neck snapped at a painful angle, a
hospital orderly gets bloodily cannibalized and even an old lady gets half her
head blown off by a shotgun blast. Alexander really did not hold back when it
comes to the mayhem. The same cannot be said of the acting. Ray Stevenson
(famous as Titus Pullo from BBC/HBO’s television series “Rome”) is the best of
the bunch and while he never cracks a smile, he is Frank Castle come to life, bringing both a quiet vulnerability
and a no-nonsense determination. It’s a shame we won’t see him in the role
again. Everyone else overacts, with Dominic West and Julie Benz acting like
Italian stereotypes, complete with the strong accent. Doug Hutchison goes off
the rails as Loony Bin Jim and I don’t know whether I should applaud or laugh
at him. Wayne Knight is a welcome sight as Microchip, even if his screen-time
is small but Colin Salmon and Dash Mihok’s characters could’ve been excised
without harming the film to create a tighter narrative.
“Punisher: War Zone”
arrived on Blu-Ray back in March 2009 and the results are quite impressive. Alexander’s
goal was to mimic the palette of the comics and to utilize only three colors
on-screen at any given time, resulting in a rather dark film. While black
levels are solid and facial detail is strong, the odd filters used sometimes make
certain scenes appear muddy or soft but this is a relatively minor occurrence.
The stylized filters also recall other Lionsgate productions such as “Saw” or
“Hostel.” Audio is a whole different matter and is relentless with its thumping
action score and all manner of weapons being fired. I wouldn’t be surprised if
neighbors knocked on your door asking if you discharged a firearm! Dialogue and
ambient noise is also sharp. Although labeled as a ‘2-Disc Special Edition,’
the extras are disappointing and only the audio commentary with Alexander and cinematographer
Steve Gainer is worth a look thanks to its honesty. The other featurettes are
really too short to provide a complete picture on the making of the film.
Released on December 5, 2008, “Punisher: War Zone” received rather negative
reviews with a low 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted the film ‘recalls the
excessively violent, dialogue-challenged actioners of the 1980’s, and
coincidentally feels two decades out of date.’ Made on a production budget of
$35 million, it couldn’t even make that modest amount back as it was huge flop at the box office, making a
paltry $10 million worldwide and
disappeared from theaters in three weeks. Since then, Marvel has put the
Punisher on the backburner for now. I guess audiences just aren’t interested in
watching him. “Punisher: War Zone” isn’t the abomination most critics make it
out to be and the result is surprisingly enjoyable despite its thin plot, all
thanks to Stevenson’s presence and the gleefully over-the-top violent action.
Fans of the character will walk away pleased and it’s at least worth a rental.
It is what it is, nothing more, and nothing less.
Final
Rating: 3 out of 5
“Let
me put you out of my misery. This is just the beginning.”
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