Review of Punisher: War Zone (2008) by Sean M — 07 Jan 2011

Punisher War Zone is the third attempt at bringing the adventures of Frank Castle, gun-toting vigilante extraordinare, to the big screen. Previous attempts have achieved 'mixed success' to put it politely. Previous incarnations of the Punisher have seen Dolph Lundgren and Thomas Jane take on the lead role. Sadly, for various reasons, the films have failed to be succesful both in terms of box office draw or managing to create a portrayal of the character that appeased his many (in relation to teh comic books) fans. However, both previous films are viewed as solid enough 'brain at the door' action movies, just not necessarily Punisher ones. Does War Zone starring Ray Stevenson fare any better? Well yes and no. The film had a fairly poor box office return. However, in terms of capturing the look and feel of the source material (in this case the comic books) Punisher War Zone is held in very high regard.

Punisher War Zone is a balls out action film first and foremost. It does this very well. The action scenes are brutal and gory enough to keep die hard (pun not intended) satisfied, while the film also contains the Punisher franchise's trademark cynically dark humour. There are several scenes of over the top brutality which manage to be very funny (intentionally so).

Massed battle scenes at the beginning and the end of the film where the Punisher takes on dozens of enemies are a little bit reminiscent of video game violence, with the hero bravely stampeding through a hail of enemy bullet fire, eminating a sense of indestructability while he callously takes out waves of generic bad guys with minimal effort. It's over the top. It's a bit silly. It's dumb. The way a fun action film should be.

The acting is hit and miss. Stevenson plays the tortured soul quite well while Colin Salmon (a man better known for being that guy with the really cool voice from the first Resident evil movie) is solid as a disgruntled FBI agent tasked with hunting down the Punisher. On the other hand some of the villains' performances would not look out of place in a children's Christmas Panto. Whether or not this was intentional is up for debate. It doesn't really harm the film in any case. It's also worth noting that there are moments where the film tries to be sentimental and fails miserably.

But hey, this isn't a film for stellar acting or sentimentality. It is a film for bullets, blood and more bullets. In that respect Punisher War Zone delivers.