Review of Punisher: War Zone (2008) by John P — 21 Mar 2016

So here we are, at the end of the road with our Punisher movie review marathon. And let me just say that boy am I glad that I have saved the best for last. And by "best" I do mean the last good Punisher film out of the three. So apparently this was Lionsgate's last attempt at something with the franchise and, as the old saying goes, it's three strikes and you're out. After watching all three Punisher movies, over the course of a week, I think the main problem is that they are still telling this like they told Spider-Man with too much saturated color to the villains especially Dominic West who might as well should have been the Green Goblin. So let's end "punish" this final movie franchise once and for all.

The movie is directed by Lexi Alexander who must have looked at this script and said, "I'm going to make the most splatterific goofy as hell comic book movie" and that is all this is. You really cannot take this movie seriously at all because it is like a cartoon. A lot of the side actors are pretty stereotypical with their accents and it shows when everyone opens their mouth. Also there are moments where New York must have the dumbest police forces because there are two officers who try to look for the Punisher but they can't find him. But then we see him just casually walk across the street in NYC all decked out in body armor and his side arms. Despite my complaints there are a few more positives than negatives. Ray Stevenson is dead on perfect as the Punisher by looking, acting, and sounding EXACTLY how the comic book character should be. The violence is awesome as well, especially with all of the face gore that goes on in here. I mean the Punisher punches a guy and his head explodes! We also do get a little bit more of a story complex with the Punisher as he makes a mistake accidentally killing a federal agent and is now contemplating whether to continue his crusade. I also enjoyed the hell out of Wayne Knight's character as Microchip who supplies Punisher the guns and supports him throughout his mistake. The movie gets extremely creative as to how the Punisher kills people every single time. Overall, on a grading curve, this IS the best Punisher movie out of the other two and it is worth watching if you get the chance. But it is not good enough to buy the DVD unless you are a die-hard fan of the character.