Punisher: War Zone – 2008
*** Out of ****
The newest Punisher movie lies at about the extreme of how good a bad movie can get; so bad it’s good should be this movies motto. I enjoyed the previous Punisher movie with Thomas Jane as a guilty pleasure and it continues as such with every consecutive viewing. Punisher: War Zone takes this principle to a delirious high and former fighter, director Lexi Alexander certainly has a flair for directing high quality dreck.
On a purely visual level, this film trumps its predecessor and is indeed quite slick and well shot. Along with such artistic clarity however, follows copious amounts of blood and brutal sadistic violence, which at times repulsed me to a certain extent. For those who found the previous outing violent, will find themselves wincing more then in any other movie this year. It is this choice to turn The Punisher, Frank Castle, into a purely animalistic killer (Which truthfully is probably what he should be) that distances the audience from his blight and makes this B movie a pure action film; and features little dialogue, no character development, just pure unadulterated havoc. Replacing Thomas Jane, is Ray Stevenson, who I loved from HBO’s short-lived series
Following a crimson soaked encounter at a Cosa Nostra summit, The Punisher has found a true nemesis (A disfigured Mafioso calling himself only Jigsaw (Dominic West)). However, during this encounter an undercover FBI agent is killed by Frank Castle, the former Special Ops agent, and wracked with guilt, hovers behind the widow and daughter of the agent. Feeling a sort of connection to the two with his own slaughtered family, he fosters a protective tendency over the pair, which ramps up when Jigsaw seeks revenge against the family of his crony who was, obviously, an undercover operative. Recruiting his imprisoned brother Looney Bin Jim (Doug Hutchinson) following a feisty prison break to aid in his revenge, Jigsaw wages a war against The Punisher, his friends and goodness in general.
The high point of this film is undoubtedly Dominic West as Jigsaw, who oozes malice and over-the-top sadism and is certainly the best villain since…well Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight......never mind. His brother is equally insane, but is more laughable in his place then West’s portrayal. Wayne Knight as Castle’s ally, plays the role surprisingly straight and departs nicely from Newman on Seinfeld. Really, truthfully, don’t believe for a second that this film is a good movie, it is corny, clichéd, supported by minimal dialogue, and by all standards a bad, bad movie. Yet, damn was in fun.
© 2008 Simon Brookfield
