Review of Punisher: War Zone (2008) by Bradford D — 02 Apr 2011

I still can''t decide if this was the director's intent, but I found "Punisher: War Zone" hilarious. The violence, and there is plenty of it, is cartoonish and over-the-top. When Frank Castle shoots a bad guy in the head it either comes completely off or spews out a stream of "chocolate syrup" halfway across the room.

It makes fun of the military, corporate America and religion. There's a spoof of George C Scott's speech at the beginning of "Patton" as the main bad guy, Jigsaw, tries to recruit an army to kill the Punisher.

He tells his brother as they go recruiting that he's going to find a few good men the same way as the government; he's going to the poor part of town and pay off the most desperate people he can find.

When Jigsaw threatens a mom and child if they don't tell him the location of her dead husband's money, the mom responds, "I don't know. I swear to God." Jigsaw waits a beat, then gets right into the child's face and says, "What about you, honey? Is there any imaginary fairy you want to swear to?" If you find this kind of dark exchange funny and aren''t put off by non-stop violence & gore, then you might enjoy "Punisher: War Zone".

If you try to watch this as a realistic, Charles Bronson's "Death Wish" type flick, you are in for a big disappointment.