Review of Punisher: War Zone (2008) by Movie R — 24 Mar 2011

(Reviewed by: Nick) My rating of Punisher: War Zone may come as a shock to most people and it may even sicken others, but to me, this Punisher movie was one hell of a thrill ride. If there is ever a perfect "guy" movie, this is it.

Yes, there is virtually no story, but what plot there is, is decent. I admit, however, that it is your usual good guy vs. bad guy scenario movie. I didn't very much like, though, the side story of the dead FBI agent's wife and daughter.

I thought the movie would have been fine without it. But, enough about the story. What makes Punisher: War Zone so much is the over-the-top characters and even more over-the-top violence. It's great.

Right from the beginning, the viewer knows this isn't going to be the usual action movie. PWZ isn't afraid to go out of the box and be different which is shown right from the start with Frank Castle wiping out a whole mafia family very violently and never lets us throughout the movie.

Then, of course, like mentioned, are the characters. In my opinion, Ray Stevenson is a much better Punisher than Thomas Jane. He just has the physique and the demeanor about him that makes it believable he's a ruthless vigilante.

Dominic West is actually pretty maniacal as Jigsaw in this movie, but he certainly wasn't fantastic. The person I think that stood out the most was Doug Hutchison as Loony Bin Jim. He pulled off the craziness of the character fantastic.

To put it straight, Punisher: War Zone isn't a fantastic movie by any stretch, but it's will to be different has made it a guitly pleasure of mine. If you're looking to just sit down to watch a movie and turn your brain off for a couple hours and watch people die, look right here.