Film Review: Punisher: War Zone

Posted by Ron Williams on Dec 11, 2008 in Comic Book Movies, Comics, Films & TV, Reviews | View Comments

Film review: Punisher War Zone

Description:

Frank Castle a.k.a The Punisher wages his personal war against the criminal elements of New York City. When an assault goes wrong, Frank must decide whether to continue his mission or hang up his guns. One of his enemies, Jigsaw, may just make the decision for him.

[info via Imdb.Com]:

Director:

Lexi Alexander

Who’s in it:

Ray Stevenson … Frank Castle
Dominic West … Billy Russoti / Jigsaw
Doug Hutchison … Loony Bin Jim
Colin Salmon … Paul Budiansky
Wayne Knight … Micro
Dash Mihok … Martin Soap
Julie Benz … Angela Donatelli

Release Date:

5 December 2008 (USA)

Genre:

MPAA:

For fans of Marvel’s gun toting vigilante The Punisher, this may be a bittersweet installment of an often uneven and underrated property.

Frank Castle has been a symbol for many that made their entry into the comic book world in the 80′s and 90′s. He represents a genre born in the late 60′s that grew into its prime in the mid 70′s revenge / vigilantism themed works full of ultra-violence and often void of morality short of eye for an eye.

Similarly the death’s head sitting on his chest making no excuses about what he’s in the business of doing has been an icon in pop culture since his heydays in the 80′s and 90′s.

My experience with The Punisher is a common one of inner city youth, he represented a stylized reality of the streets and the mentality associated with those on either side of  lawlessness. He was the perfect antithesis [Brawn] to Bat Man’s approach to vengeance [Brains].

I’ve now had the privilege [or for you cynics, the misfortune] of having now seen all of the attempts to bring him to film, and of course as someone that was more than a casual fan, I’ve had problems with them.

What many fans such as myself had problems with in the 2 previous incarnations of Castle in Films was that he was nothing like the Frank known in the books.

Dolph Lundgren, while iconic for his portrayal of Ivan Draco in the Rocky franchise, was just not cutting it for the character. Notably missing was the Death’s Head Skull and several details of his origins were changed. He did nothing to convey the underlying emotion behind Frank’s methods but it is Dolph Lundgren.

Thomas Jane came close, however his Frank was located in Tampa FL and one of the key elements of his origins were altered in a way that set wrong in the hearts and minds of fanboys & fangirls. To add that, Jane’s baby face was a distraction once he took on the persona of a man out for revenge. What he did bring to the table was adequate acting chops, not necessarily a need to play the part but it did help you at least accept the psychology behind seeking vengeance against any and all who perpetrate violent crime against innocent people.

He did well enough to accept him in any sequels, even if he looks like Christopher Lambert and should really be considered for a Highlander reboot. I digress.

Sparking this incarnation was Thomas Jane’s backing out of the production due to creative differences and the studio seeking out a little known British actor, Ray Stevenson. A lot of you may know of Stevenson as the actor who portrayed the character Titus Pullo from HBO’s short lived series Rome. For those not familiar with the character, it was essentially an ancient version of Frank Castle, an ex-military guy with problems who didn’t hesitate to part a few skulls if necessary for revenge & vengeance.

I’ll address some questions you may have if you sat through Jane’s Punisher flick.

Does it continue where the last film left off?

No. With Jane’s departure came a reboot, this Frank is the Frank we’re familiar with.

This means no Tampa?

Indeed it does, everything that felt odd about the last film in terms of who The Punisher is supposed to be and where he belongs has been removed. He is in New York City wreaking havoc where possible. They’ve even included a flashback of the tragedy in Central Park in case you still needed convincing.

Are there any tie-ins to other Marvel Franchises?

No. Which depending on who you ask this is a good thing, I’ll let you be the judge as to why.

No Cheesy Villain?

Yes, there is cheese and the cheese is fried gold. Much of the complaints you will hear from others will be about Dominic West’s performance. This is duly noted, as West like Stevenson is a Brit and an alum of another quality and underrated show on HBO, The Wire. If you’ve seen his portrayal of James McNulty you know he has acting chops.

In this flick however, he does a little hamming. Not Tommy Lee Jones’ Two face – though comparisons can and should be made. But closer to a hybrid of Caesar Romero and Jack Nicholson’s Jokers. He’s a comic book villain made real, larger than life and not afraid to stick a middle finger up at reality & reason.

Ray Stevenson is Frank Castle

How was it?

Decent. Yeah, I said it, it was decent. It’s too flawed to be good, it’s not bad enough to be awful. It’s certainly not as bad as others make it out to be. I think the problem has been that we’ve been spoiled recently with some pretty good comic films, namely Iron Man & The Dark Knight. This movie is more along the lines of Blade, and as far as quality, Blade: Trinity.

What I mean is this has the feel of a direct-to-dvd B grade sequel or a cheap import that found its way to theaters. What works in its favor is its self awareness of the situation.

Lexi Alexander gives it to you straight up: It starts out with Frank doing what he does best and keeps at it until closing credits.

Admittedly the pacing will no doubt bug some as will the dialogue, to be honest however, short of a few story arcs, the books were no better. It’s all about the violence and it’s there in blood splattered spades.

There’s a body count here that reminds me of another movie, Rambo IV which coincidentally shares an actress and film company credit among other similarities. It literally becomes funny how gory some of the deaths are in this film.

In that regard the film is worth a watch, it’s a nice brainless popcorn flick short on story and high on action and a step above any recent Seagal flick.

Dominic West a.k.a Jigsaw & Crew

Bright Spots:

Dominic West: Terrible cliches and all, it was a break from serious psychopaths and tyrants with global aspirations.

Wayne Knight: Newman as Microchip was a nice cameo, if you’re familiar with the books he’s definitely not a bad choice.

Ray Stevenson: The guy looks like and carries himself as a believable Frank Castle, being short on words is forgivable, though we could’ve used the familiar journal dialogue to get a peak into his head.

Dash Mihok: His turn as Martin Soap is near dead on to the hapless dope from the comic, he’s still a valuable asset as Frank’s inside man on the force.

Not-So-Bright Spots:

Doug Hutchison: Loony Bin Jim while a good source of comedy was also a good source of annoyance, it seemed as if he was shoehorned into the plot.

Colin Salmon: Ordinarily I’m a fan of this guy, he’s been in a few decent movies as a supporting cast member. As an actor he’s usually solid. He didn’t have much to work with here and he had troubles with trying to manage a generic American accent.

Julie Benz: I don’t know what it is about her, but she annoyed me in Rambo IV as well.

I know, it’s almost unfair simply because he’s supposed to be comic bookish. He could’ve been played straighter and he was given way too much trust by Frank based upon screen time. Bad, bad, bad Mexican(!?) accent.

The Free Runners: Only because they’ve managed to overplay a semi-overplayed extreme sport / lifestyle. It was cool as a sequence in Casino Royale when the bomb maker tried to give Bond the slip but after that it seemed as if EVERYBODY had to have it in their commercials, TV and film. I was very pleased with what happened to these guys and admittedly I blurted out “Thank you for canceling the Mt. Dew commercial!” in the theater.

If I had my wish:

This film just needed a push in the direction of a plot, Ray was fine as The Punisher and will probably enter into the Jason Statham realm of actioners with a little help. I’d love to see Quentin Tarantino [Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs], Robert Rodriguez [Desperado, Sin City], Guillermo del Toro [Blade II, Hellboy], Joe Carnahan [Narc, Smokin' Aces], or even Guy Ritchie [Snatch,  Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels] at the helm for a seriously high quality sequel or yet another reboot in about 5 years.

My Summary:

Will you like it? If you like old 70′s revenge flicks where heads get cracked open with glee then in a word, yes. If you’re looking for a riveting plot and powerhouse acting, you’d better pop in your copy of TDK and skip this one.

3 out of 5 stars, worth a matinee.