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Directed By
Lexi Alexander
Written By:
Matt Holloway, Nick Santora, Art Marcum
Cast:
Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Julie Benz, Doug Hutchison, Wayne Knight, Dash Mihok, Colin Salmon, Keram Malicki-Sánchez, Larry Day, Romano Orzari, David Vadim, T.J. Storm, Tony Calabretta, Steven P. Park, Jon Barton, Bjanka Murgel
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Punisher: War Zone (2008)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
December 11th, 2008
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Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight was an exercise in balance and restraint. He never really went over-the-top in his madness and evil, did not engage in frenzied speechifying, remained calm and confident, and was all the more chilling because of it. In 'Punisher: War Zone', we have a completely opposite type of villain, one far more common in action movies: the cartoonish psychopath. He goes by the moniker of Jigsaw (no relation to the clever killer from the Saw franchise); his real name is Billy Russoti (Dominic West), a two-bit gangster whose face is cut to pieces after The Punisher Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) tosses him into a glass recycling/crushing device, something he probably should not be able to survive, but he does, and it makes him crazier and more dangerous. Jack Nicholson underwent a similar transformation in Tim Burton's Batman, when he fell into a vat of chemicals. Jigsaw looks freakish, but is not all that menacing, and neither is his brother Looney Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison).
They fail to realize that they are up against a merciless and indestructible foe, who goes through the whole movie laying waste to countless goons, hardly getting hurt, though he does not possess any actual superpowers. A former Marine, Frank is well-armed, with weapons supplied by Micro (Wayne Knight), a shady arms dealer. He also has a comrade within the NYPD, Martin Soap (Dash Mihok). The NYPD is quite protective of Frank, and appreciate his work in cleaning up the city, regardless of how extreme his methods might be. He is pursued by Paul Budiansky (Colin Salmon), a federal agent, hoping to arrest Frank.
Frank has killed a good guy, Paul's former partner, who has left behind a wife, Angela (Julie Benz), and a daughter, Grace (Stephanie Janusauskas). Angela will ultimately forgive Frank for this crime, and not harbor the grudge against him that he harbored against the people responsible for his family's murder, whom he wiped out in the last film. As you may know, Stevenson replaced Thomas Jane; The Punisher was first brought to the screen back in 1989, with Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. Stevenson (from the HBO series Rome) never smiles, but then I doubt there is much Frank has to be happy about, unless he gains satisfaction from his work
This is a dark, loud, humorless, and gruesome picture, with copious amounts of gore. The brutal, absurdly gratuitous violence does display some moments of ingenuity, and comes off as unintentionally amusing because of how casual and nonchalant it all seems. Stevenson does what he can with this role, which could really have been played by just about anyone, since it is so nondescript, and requires only a male actor with a lack of emotion and the ability to look convincing in the stunt sequences. I do not see much of a future for this comic book franchise on the big screen; compared to Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, and Iron Man, The Punisher is just not as interesting, a tortured vigilante motivated by grief and anger. Charles Bronson played this same kind of character more effectively in Death Wish and its numerous sequels.
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