Punisher: War Zone (2008)

It's no secret that the principal focus in many mainstream comic books is that eternal struggle between good and evil. But while this war is waged primarily between clearly-defined superheroes and supervillains, there are also those characters that fall in between. They are the antiheroes, those who will go to whatever further lengths they deem necessary in order to accomplish their goals. Some will use fear and intimidation against their foes. Others will lie, cheat, and steal as much as they see fit all in the name of what they believe is the "greater good."

And then there are those who will cross that line that the more traditional heroes won't by killing people if they have to. Characters like Spawn and Wolverine have no problem taking a life, but one character has become synonymous with fatal violence. Whether they be mobsters, drug dealers, gangs, corrupt cops and politicians, rapists, or any other kind of criminal, they'll all eventually meet their maker thanks to the Punisher.

Created by Jerry Conway, Ross Andru, and John Romita Sr. in 1974, the Punisher was born in a time when movies like Magnum Force and Death Wish were depicting justice from the barrel of a vigilante's gun. The Punisher was a hit with fans following his initial appearance as an assassin who had been fooled into targeting Spider-Man, and he has become one of Marvel's most prolific B-list characters. And in 1989, the Punisher became the star of the second feature film to be based on a Marvel Comics property. Starring Dolph Lundgren in the title role, the movie ended up going straight to video in North America and was forgotten relatively quickly.

He got his second chance at Hollywood stardom fifteen years later in the wake of Marvel's surging dominance in the world of comic-based movies, and the movie — starring Thomas Jane in the title role and John Travolta as the villain — was only a modest box office success. It proved to be quite popular when it arrived on DVD, however, prompting Lions Gate Films to approve a sequel. But thanks to troubles during the development phases, Jane chose not to return, and the project passed through multiple writers and directors before it was decided to simply wipe the franchise's slate clean with a reboot. The movie, titled Punisher: War Zone, finally got settled enough to enter production and see its release on December 5, 2008. Unfortunately, the movie ended up being a pretty tremendous flop that was hated by critics and quickly forgotten by moviegoers. That's a shame, because they missed out on one of the most absurdly fun movies to come along in a while.

Six years have passed since Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) watched his wife and children die at the hands of the mob. During that time, Castle has become "the Punisher," a one-man army waging a violent war against organized crime. When a notorious mobster avoids jail after the shooting of a key witness, Castle decides to crash the party thrown in the mobster's honor. After he brutally kills all of the partygoers, he discovers that a lone survivor, Billy Russoti (Dominic West), managed to escape.

Castle tracks him to a recycling plant, wiping out nearly all of his henchmen before throwing Russoti into a glass-crushing machine. Unfortunately, Castle later learns that one of the henchmen he killed was actually Nicky Donatelli (Romano Orzari), an innocent FBI agent who was working undercover. A devastated Castle considers abandoning his life as the Punisher, swearing to make amends to Nicky's widow Angela (Julie Benz), and daughter Grace (Stephanie Janusauskas).

As it turns out, he may have a way to make up for his mistake. Russoti lived through Castle's attack, left with a hideously mutilated face that leads him to adopt the new alias "Jigsaw." Upon learning that Nicky was a mole, he targets Angela and Grace as he tries to find the money that Nicky had been left in charge of. And knowing that Castle will soon come after him, Jigsaw breaks his psychotic brother Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchinson) out of a mental institution to back him up and kidnaps the Donatellis and Castle's weapons supplier, Microchip (Wayne Knight). He then recruits as many punks, thugs, and goons as he can to stand between his hostages and Castle. With the FBI and the local police trying to hunt down both he and Jigsaw, Castle must fight his way through Jigsaw's personal army if he wishes to rescue those innocents who have been put in harm's way. 

Punisher: War Zone is of what has become a rare breed. They simply don't make movies like this anymore. Jason Statham's movies get close, but the days of movies like Cobra and Commando are long gone. Those action movies with unstoppable protagonists and over-the-top villains stopped being trendy when the '80s ended. But Punisher: War Zone has no trouble going back to that style. It embraces it, never once trying to shy away from its nature as a B-movie. It revels in its threadbare plot, its unbelievable characters, its hammy acting, and its over-the-top violence. It's an '80s movie with a 21st-century flair, and in spite of its flaws, it's a fun movie.

At the helm is Lexi Alexander, an Oscar-nominated short film director handling only her second feature-length production here. I'll confess that I've never seen any of her prior work, but her direction here isn't bad at all. The movie has a particular energy to it, only really slowing down when it absolutely has to. She also, thankfully, never goes the trendy route by having the camera bounce around while the editor makes a cut every half a second. That sort of thing gets old quickly, and I'm glad that Alexander never resorts to it.

And thanks to the intimate cinematography from Steve Gainer, the unique use of color and lighting, and the bountiful violence and bloodshed, Alexander is able to make the movie look like Steve Dillon's Punisher artwork leapt right off the pages of the comic books. Not only does the movie look very authentic, but the efforts of Alexander and her crew help to make it feel authentic as well. Even the music composed by Christopher Franke helped to set the tone. Its militaristic sound really supports the idea that the Punisher's crusade against his foes is not just a vendetta, but a full-fledged war.

Next on my list is the screenplay, credited to Nick Santora, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway. You might think that because two of Iron Man's writers also handled Punisher: War Zone, the two movies might be similar in style. But if you do think that, you would be wrong. The similarities between this movie and that one begin and end with their Marvel Comics roots. All truth be told, there's no real reason to critique the writing in a movie like this, because its all superfluous. Nobody has ever accused the Punisher of being a very deep character, and the script ultimately reflects that. There's no real soul-searching or any reflecting on the nature of vigilantism. This isn't Death Wish or The Brave One. It's all just set pieces for the big action sequences. But is there anything really wrong with that? Not every movie has to have really thoughtful, profound writing or anything like that. What's wrong with having one-dimensional characters shooting each other for an hour and 45 minutes?

Last but not least is the acting. A lot of fans were concerned when it was announced that Thomas Jane was going to be replaced, but Ray Stevenson is great in the role. He totally embodies the character, playing him as a shark that cannot, will not be stopped. Stevenson is good in the parts where he has a dramatic moment of pain or self-doubt, but really, nobody goes to see a Punisher movie for an emo Frank Castle. They go to see him completely obliterate his enemies, and Stevenson is up to task when it comes to that.

The other members of the cast do fine jobs as well, though their roles are pretty much background dressing. Julie Benz and Wayne Knight are likable, while Dash Mihok and Colin Salmon are okay in their roles as a cop and an FBI agent relentlessly hunting the Punisher. Doug Hutchinson is also really good as Jigsaw's insane brother. But it is Dominic West that steals the show. His performance as Jigsaw seems to be inspired by Tommy Lee Jones's work in Batman Forever, playing the role as over the top as he can get. The incredibly silly accent he adopts only adds to the whole thing. You can tell West is having an incredible amount of fun as Jigsaw, and that fun is infectious. He doesn't make for a very intimidating villain, but he's most certainly an entertaining one.

It seems almost serendipitous that Lions Gate Films opened and closed 2008 with ultraviolent action movies featuring Julie Benz in a supporting role. Starting with Rambo and ending with Punisher: War Zone is a heck of a way for a movie studio to bookend a year. Granted, Punisher: War Zone is not perfect But it makes up for that by reveling in its own silliness. Yeah, it's incredibly violent. Yeah, the dialogue is bad at times, nor does it have much of a plot or character development. But the movie doesn't care, and it doesn't expect you to care either. And you know what? I enjoyed it a lot. It's not for everybody, but those who like this sort of thing will eat it up.

Final Rating: ***½

The Punisher (2004)

Ninety-nine percent of comic book heroes are light and happy. No matter what the heroes are up against, there always seems to be a smirk underneath the surface. While most heroes bask in the lighter side of things, there are a few that exist in darkness. One could make an argument that Batman is one of these. A young boy witnesses the murder of his parents, and lives a double life in adulthood: a millionaire playboy by day, a vigilante crime-fighter by night. However, one character isn't much better than the criminals he seeks to bring down. Sometimes referred to as Marvel's "angel of death," he stands as the purest definition of antihero there is. One could say that he's a big amalgamation of Batman, John Rambo, Charles Bronson from Death Wish, and Michael Douglas from Falling Down. He's violent, mean, and doesn't care about consequences because he has nothing to lose. He is The Punisher.

Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) has it all: a loving family, a great life, and an adventurous job as an FBI special agent. So adventurous, in fact, that the Bureau has to move him around every so often for his own protection. Finally retiring to live a normal life with his beloved wife Maria (Samantha Mathis) and young son Will (Marcus Johns), he takes one final undercover assignment before settling down as a family man. Unfortunately, the assignment turns sour and ends in the accidental death of a young man named Bobby Saint (James Carpinello).

As it turns out, Bobby is the son of powerful Florida businessman and money launderer Howard Saint (John Travolta). And like most people involved in organized crime, Howard and his wife Livia (Laura Harring) aren't exactly the forgiving type. The Saints dispatch a squadron of goons led by family consigliere Quentin Glass (Will Patton) and Bobby's twin brother John (James Carpinello in a dual role) to the Castle family reunion in Puerto Rico and have the entire Castle family is massacred, including Maria and Will. Frank chases Glass and John out to a nearby pier, but wouldn't you know it, he's out of ammo. He gets cornered and ends up on the business end of a few gunshots and an explosion, but somehow manages to survive. He floats ashore and is found by island native Candlearia (Veryl Jones), who nurses him back to health.

Frank emerges from seclusion five months later and starts stocking up on firearms like he's getting ready to host an NRA convention. He takes up residence in a squalid apartment building in Tampa's industrial district, becoming more and more detached from humanity while existing on a diet of sardines and Wild Turkey bourbon. Despite his reclusive and eccentric behavior, Frank is immediately embraced by his three curious neighbors: Joan (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), a waitress at a local diner who's spent her whole life being done wrong; Spacker Dave (Ben Foster), a little runt with an inferiority complex and a face full of piercings; and Bumpo (John Pinette), a tubby guy who spends most of his time cooking for Joan and Dave and listening to old vinyl records of operas.

But I can totally understand them immediately welcoming him to the neighborhood. Who wouldn't want to make friends with Frank? I know I'd like to hang out with an alcoholic with homicidal tendencies caused by watching his family tree get chopped down. Anyway, Frank enlists disgruntled Saint lackey Mickey Duka (Eddie Jemison) to give him the inside scoop on things, and begins to make life for the Saints a living hell. Even with Saint's goons and hitmen like the musically-inclined Harry Heck (Mark Collie) and a blonde behemoth called "The Russian" (Kevin Nash) after him, nothing will stop Frank from achieving his ultimate goal: making sure Howard Saint learns that no evil deed goes unpunished.

The movie is a lot deeper than I thought it would be. From the trailers and commercials, I expected a generic mindless action movie, but I was surprised. Sure, there's explosions and fights and guns, but there's more to it than that. Thomas Jane's Punisher is a far different movie than Dolph Lundgren's Punisher, that's for sure. Inspired by the Garth Ennis-penned "Welcome Back Frank" comic book storyline and drawing obvious inspiration from the films of Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, and Don Siegel, we are presented with the story of a man whose sole purpose in life is to get revenge on the criminals who stole his loved ones from him. I'll be the first to admit, that kind of character is starting to get played out. Batman did it. Charles Bronson (all five Death Wish movies), Vin Diesel (A Man Apart), Brandon Lee (The Crow), and Uma Thurman (Kill Bill) have all done it. Clint Eastwood and just about every other spaghetti western hero ever has done it. An old lady even did it in Troma's Surf Nazis Must Die. Despite seeming like a retread of a cinematic standard, The Punisher makes it work.

Visually, the movie is astounding. The direction of Jonathan Hensleigh and cinematography of Conrad Hall give the movie a spaghetti western feel with a 21st-century action movie spin. I absolutely loved Carlo Siliotto's dramatic score, especially during the more intense scenes; the recurring theme throughout the movie was exceptionally great. I have no complaint with the "soundtrack hard sell" songs either. I don't care how many times I hear "Broken" by Seether and Amy Lee, it never gets old. I'd also like to give great big thumbs up to stunt coordinator Gary Hymes and his crew. Almost all of the stunts were practical effects, and the fight scene between Frank and The Russian is the big standout. There's a reason I consider it my favorite cinematic fight scene from 2004, folks. It was that fun to watch. Written by Hensleigh and Michael France, the script is good for the most part. As said before, it's very obviously inspired by the "Welcome Back Frank" comics.

Unfortunately, there's a few bits that don't make any sense. If Harry Heck and The Russian (and eventually, the goons) know where to find Frank, why not just plant a bomb in the place and blow it up? Even if Frank didn't get exploded, he'd have one less place to hide. And where are the police? They find out Frank's alive in one scene, where he more or less tells them that he was gonna get some hardcore, deadly vengeance. One would assume that at least one homicide detective would put two and two together once the bodies bodies of various gangsters start showing up in the morgue. Besides, you'd figure somebody would have reported the very violent aftermath of the Frank/Harry Heck chase scene. And Joan falling for Frank... what was that? That's just oddly written character development. The dirt on his wife's grave has barely settled, and she's ready to jump his bones. Yeah, okay, whatever. I can imagine her thinking, "The mob murdered your family? You poor guy. Does that mean there isn't a Mrs. Castle?" I guess Joan isn't the kind of girl that likes to take things slowly.

On the acting scope, I enjoyed what the cast gave me. Thomas Jane had the right look and delivery for the part, and had me going with him every step of the way. John Travolta did a great job too, playing everything cool all the way to the end. He wasn't that much of a villain for the first two acts, but once we hit the finale, he just turned into a cold-hearted monster that kills everyone in his way. My big complaint is Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. I have no problem with her performance, but I question the casting department's decision. Take a look at her, and you tell me if you think she looks like a waitress living in a third-world hellhole of an apartment. I certainly can't complain about her or her acting ability, but maybe she'd be more convincing if she looked like Velma from Scooby-Doo. Or at the very least, less like a supermodel.

So we've got two separate Punisher movies. Which one do I prefer? They're both worth watching, but for my money, I'll side with Thomas Jane's. The movie serves as a good introduction into the Punisher mythos, while the other just drops us right into the middle of Frank Castle's criminal-killing routine with very little history. Jane's Punisher wasn't as insane as Lundgren's Punisher, and that's a big difference. Frank becomes the Punisher here, while he's been doing the vigilante thing for five years in Punisher '89. Oh well, I guess that's what Punisher 2 is for. Three and a half stars for The Punisher, Sutton says check it out.

Final Rating: ***½

The Punisher (1989)

Comic book movies have been around for a long time, going all the way back to the Superman serials in the 1940s and 1950s. It seems like you can't go a few months nowadays without a high-profile movie based on a comic book being released. Most of them are awesome, but let's face it, there's been a lot of less-than-stellar comic book movies. Steel and Judge Dredd are prime examples. And the truth of the matter is that most bad comic movies have been based on Marvel properties. Before Blade and X-Men, Marvel had to deal with Captain America, a bad '70s TV-movie based on Doctor Strange, and a Fantastic Four movie produced by Roger Corman that has only seen the light of day through bootleggers at comic book conventions. And let's not forget the epic disaster that was Howard the Duck, which many consider one of the worst movies ever made. Another Marvel movie lost in the shuffle was The Punisher. While the Punisher movie released in 2004 was a modest hit, the one released in 1989 didn't get a theatrical release in America. Instead, it went directly to video, not stopping to pass "Go" or collect 200 dollars.

Frank Castle (Dolph Lundgren) was one of the finest police officers to ever wear a badge. Presumed dead after a Mafia-placed car bomb killed his wife and children, Castle has become a one-man army labeled "The Punisher." Living in the sewers as a shadowy vigilante, Castle is a killing machine responsible for the murder of 125 mobsters in the five years since the death of his family. With many of the families decimated by Castle, lead gangster Gianni Franco (Jeroen Krabbé) comes in to bring the separate families together as one unit. His plan soon attracts the attention of the Yakuza, Japan's most powerful crime syndicate, who decide to take over the interests of Franco's families. Yakuza boss Lady Tanaka (Kim Miyori) orders her troops to kidnap their children and gives the mobsters an ultimatum: let the Yakuza run the show, or the kids meet the business end of a Yakuza beating. Castle is informed of the mass kidnapping and stages a daring rescue that includes demolishing an underground casino, getting captured and tortured, and hopping on a bus and being chased by Yakuza thugs.

The rescue is successful, but Castle ends up getting caught and arrested. He's stuck in a maximum security prison, where he's interrogated by his former partner, Jake Burkowski (Louis Gossett Jr.). Jake's spent the better part of the past five years hunting for Castle, and isn't exactly happy that his friend is going to be convicted and sent to the electric chair. What's to stop his defense attorney from pleading not guilty via insanity? Ol' Frank watched the murder of his family, walks around naked in the sewers, suffers from extreme insomnia, and has morbid conversations with God about the morality of killing people. Throw in the fact that he's essentially a serial killer that targets mobsters, and the guy's got a big bucket of issues.

Luckily for Frank, he's intercepted by the Mafia while being transported to his arraignment hearing. Franco asks Castle to save his still-missing son from the Yakuza, but Frank not-so-subtly informs him that he's not interested in the business proposal. So Franco does what any good mobster does: he threatens to kill Jake if Castle doesn't play ball. Rather than let Jake die, Castle decides to kill two birds with one stone in a climax that settles the age-old debate of who would win in a fight: the Italian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, or the pissed-off Swede with the giant cache of machine guns?

The movie definitely has its ups and its downs. Dolph Lundgren is stellar as the Punisher, playing the role as a heartless psychopath that's completely detached from both society and reality. He had the look down, too. But in all honesty, I can't decide if he looked like a badass vigilante or a heroin junkie. (Or if he looks like a badass vigilante strung out on heroin.) Maybe if they'd given him a trenchcoat and let him wear the trademark Punisher skull, I could tell. But anyway, Dolph fits the role really well, and it's a shame the movie didn't hit American theaters. If he had, he'd have more than one role that he was known for. I thought Rocky IV was awesome, but I'm willing to bet that Dolph would want a little fame outside of one role. Then again, what would you rather have stuck on your résumé for the rest of eternity: Rocky IV or the Masters of the Universe movie?

Anyway, the supporting cast is also commendable, with the notable ones being Louis Gossett Jr. as the stereotypical "ex-partner who's the only one who knows what's going on" and Nancy Everhard as Jake's sidekick Sam. Kim Miyori plays her role as well as could be expected, but she wishes she were only half as cool as Lucy Liu in Kill Bill. Wait a second, an idea's forming. The Punisher: A Quentin Tarantino Film. Somebody call QT and see if he'd direct a Punisher movie, because I'd see it a zillion times.

The movie is severely lacking in the character development department, but with this style of movie, it doesn't matter. The movie is just a vehicle for Lundgren to be a big brooding tough guy that rarely speaks while he wreaks havoc on a major scale. Sure, the movie might be based on a comic book, but it's just the same as any other action movie from the 80s. Just take Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone out and replace them with Dolph Lundgren, and that's what you've got here. Everything from Mark Goldblatt's direction and Ian Baker's cinematography to Dennis Dreith's score are very typical for genre movies at the time. What separates The Punisher from movies like Commando and the Rambo trilogy is how cheap some of the sets look. The movie supposedly had a $10,000,000 budget, but I guess most of it went into buying guns and setting up the pyrotechnic effects, because the sets near the end of the movie look like they were made for fifty bucks to use on a public access TV show. But what can you expect? It's all getting blown up in the end, so who cares what it looks like?

Boaz Yakin's script also has some weird political commentary on the Japanese. We're supposed admire them because ninjas are cool, but we should hate them because they're coming in and usurping everything. The Yakuza come in and start displacing the mobsters, sort of like how everything in the 80s had that little "Made In Japan" sticker on them instead of "Made In The USA." Maybe this Boaz Yakin dude has something against Japan, or maybe it's just a weird coincidence. But it's an 80s action movie, so it doesn't have to be nice or make sense or anything like that. Besides, the Japanese goons in the movie aren't exactly physically intimidating, so Dolph has an extremely easy time killing them until they die.

Yes, folks, there is much havoc to be wreaked, bullets to be shot, stuff to be exploded, and bad guys to be killed. If you like that, this movie's for you. If not, you're not missing out on much. If you're looking for the definitive Punisher movie, go with the one from 2004. Two stars for this one.

Final Rating: **