Review of Punisher: War Zone (2008) by Bob L — 29 Jan 2010

Had some great moments in this- the first hour contains the most explicit ultra-violence and well put together action, with some interesting touches; like a parkour runner taken out mid-air with a rocket launcher! All the grit to make it a worthy sequel to the 2004 movie.

Alarm bells rang when the lead villain announces "Billy's dead- from now on, I'm Jigsaw". Sure enough, the last forty minutes rapidly spiral down into Hollywood comic-book cliches- gangs made up of urban street style people, cheesey metal guitar riff soundtrack, neon coloured lighting (like Batman and Robin), the comedic copper sidekick.

.. oh I could go on. How a film could get it so right in the beginning and then get so wrong I don't know. Worth a glance for the opening hour, but the last act sort of down-graded it for me.