Punisher: War Zone
Dircted by Lexi Alexander
Lionsgate, 2008
By Miles Baker
The best thing about Punisher: War Zone is that it feels like a Garth Ennis comic. There’s lots of exciting violence, some over-the-top humour, lots of cocaine use, a little bit of sentiment, then some more exciting violence.
Punisher: War Zone starts years after Frank Castle has adopted the Punisher persona, smartly avoiding his simple and uninteresting origins. Minutes into the film he’s spraying bullets into the bodies of gangsters and you know you’re in good hands. The violence is brutal and not shy about showing it. Head explode, necks snap, arms break – it’s visceral in a good way. Thankfully, the action is generally well-shot and edited. You can actually tell what’s happening in the fight sequences, which is sadly a rarity in today’s action films.
Then the film staggers a bit during the second act. You see, during the awesome violence of the first 20 minutes of blood shed, Frank kills an undercover FBI agent. Feeling guilty, and that his mission has gone too far, Frank takes a time out from all the things you went to see the movie for to stalk the FBI agent’s family and make amends. The scenes that try to humanize Frank are the weakest part of the movie, but it’s not all bad. There a couple of notable scenes where the sentiment is awkward and clumsy and missing a couple of shots. However, there are a few moments that I found surprisingly touching. A big part of why these moments land is Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle. He lands the look and feel of this character perfectly.
Dominic West as Billy Russoti/Jigsaw is also worth talking about. West is a great and charming actor, and it shows here. Fans of Tim Burton’s Batman will feel like they travelled back in time because his Jigsaw is extraordinarily like Jack Nicholson’s Joker. The effectiveness of this choice fluctuates greatly from scene to scene. There are times when his comedic, almost hammy approach is devilishly entertaining but it can also slip into cliche. Ultimately, I think a darker approach to match Stevenson’s would have been the better choice.
That being said, I think this movie is worth the price of admission. You get your money’s worth.
The part of me who took cultural studies is disgusted that I like this movie. Where violence solves anything and women are used as hostages for our super-masculine hero to save and visible minorities are all criminals. In social science terms, it’s a nightmare.
So, yes, it glamorizes violence and, no, women don’t have any interesting roles, but did you see when the Punisher punched right through that guy’s face? I rest my case.
Special thanks go to Alexander B. Huls of the REEL Addict for hooking me up with the advance screener.
best. title for a review. ever.
Thanks. Too bad it didn’t get anyone out to actually see this movie. It only made $4 million its opening weekend.
It’s a shame, really, because I’d say that this movie was a lot more fun than Quantum of Solace but did far worse. But I guess that’s the difference between a PG rating and a hard R rating.
Also, James Bond’s 22 previous movies versus the two other Punisher movies.