No Surrender Cinema: Punisher: War Zone

2008’s Punisher: War Zone features the absolute best version of The Punisher to ever appear in film.

That statement is likely to draw a mixed reaction from the crowd as if I was John Cena, but I stand by it. Dolph Lundgren might be one of my favorite action stars, but his version of The Punisher bore almost no relation to the popular Marvel Comics character. It got a little better in 2004 when Thomas Jane became The Punisher, but that version was watered down by too much Hollywood cuteness. Romantic tension with your neighbor (only in Hollywood could a character like Joan The Mouse be portrayed by Rebecca Romijn), choosing blackmail photos and mind games over a hailstorm of bullets, and explosions that are set up to burn in the shape of the Punisher skull logo were not things I wanted from it. As a longtime Punisher reader, I like the grittiness, the no hold barred action, and the Frank Castle that would shoot a scumbag in the temple without missing a beat. This movie delivered exactly what I was looking for in a Punisher movie.

Just like Edward Norton’s The Incredible Hulk was a reboot/sequel hybrid that made up for the sins of Ang Lee’s Hulk, Punisher: War Zone wipes the slate clean on The Punisher without backtracking towards another origin story. As the movie begins, we see that The Punisher (Ray Stevenson) is already an active member of the vigilante community. This Punisher is older, battle worn, untrusting, and angry, which is precisely how a man who had his family murdered in front of him should be. Not long after the opening credits roll, Frank Castle is storming the mansion of mobster Cesare, a man who the news states is responsible for over 200 murders but got off scott free. The old man must have wished he was in jail when the lights went out and came back on to reveal Frank standing before him, marching down the dinner table and cutting his head clean off. A woman, who I’ll assume is the newly deceased’s widow, reaches for a gun only to have Frank snap her neck. That right there is one of my main reasons for loving this movie so much. There’s no bias in the violence and no catering to the PC crowd; The Punisher avenges the innocent by any means necessary, no matter who might be blocking his path of vengeance.

During this opening melee, mobster Billy “The Beaut” Russoti (Dominic West) escapes to an industrial plant that doubles as his hideout (I swear, 90% of movie villains all have industrial lairs like it’s a requirement written in the Big Book of Evil). The Punisher follows suit, thanks to a tip off from detectives who are sympathetic to his cause. The Punisher goes after Billy, and when one of Billy’s henchmen is caught in the crossfire, we find out that he’s actually undercover FBI agent Nicky Donatelli. Billy gets tossed into a glass grinder, and if you’ve done your homework you know that nothing good ever comes out of a bad guy being tossed into any type of machine or vat of chemicals. Billy resurfaces as Jigsaw, scarred up like latter day Chucky and driven insane, making it his mission to kill The Punisher. Aiding him in this endeavor are his remaining henchmen Ink and Pittsy, as well as his brother Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison), a sadistic, cannibalistic mental patient that Jigsaw springs from your stereotypical shitty action movie asylum.

Castle takes time out of his busy criminal-offing schedule to deal with the regret over Donatelli’s death, and encounters his widow Angela (Julie Benz of Dexter fame) and daughter Grace. Reflecting on the consequences of his actions and remembering the mental torture from the death of his own family, Frank is ready to retire from his one man war on crime. A heart to heart with ally Microchip (Wayne Knight) makes Frank realize that he can’t allow the Donatelli’s to be victimized by Jigsaw, and he resumes his mission. As Frank chases Jigsaw down, Agent Budiansky (Colin Salmon), who was Donatelli’s partner and doesn’t agree with The Punisher’s modus operandi, wants Frank to pay for the death of his friend. Downtrodden Detective Soap (Dash Mihok), the sole member of the “Punisher Task Force” is paired up with Budiansky, who quickly realizes that the Task Force is merely for show, and the police force actually approves of The Punisher’s vigilantism.

The story is pretty straight-forward from start to finish. Frank’s excessively violent methods haven’t earned him many fans, but those that see him as a threat (The Donatelli’s, Budiansky) all come around when he uses those same methods to save them from danger. Jigsaw is a formidable foe, matching Frank’s penchant for violence with equal amounts of sadism. Frank’s few allies are put in danger, making his vendetta even more personal. The climax of the movie feels like a video game, with Jigsaw holed up in an old hotel that he fills with an assortment of criminals that wind up being fodder for our hero. The final showdown doesn’t come without Frank losing some friends along the way, but rest assured that’s only going to fuel Frank even more as he sets to eliminate the Jigsaw threat.

Ray Stevenson was fantastic as The Punisher, playing him as a grizzled veteran not just of his war on crime, but of the war in his head. He can’t shake what happened to his family that fateful day, and channels his emotions by cleaning up the streets. The death of Donatelli and the resulting connection he has with Angela and Grace just give him an added reason to ensure that Jigsaw doesn’t get away this time. West plays Jigsaw like he’s in dress rehearsal to be a Batman TV series villain. He’s hamming it up all the way through the film, but the craziness of Jigsaw counteracts the stoic demeanor of The Punisher. Fans of The Punisher comics will also enjoy a few nods to history throughout the film, like the inclusion of Microchip’s accomplice Carlos, who in the books is a character selected by Micro to be the replacement Punisher after Micro and Frank became enemies.

As awesome as this was to me, Punisher: War Zone holds the dubious distinction of being the lowest grossing Marvel movie to date. Reviews were not kind, and the movie going audience seemingly skipped it altogether. Even my buddy Chad Cruise, on this very site, gave our readers 20 reasons why he thinks this movie sucks. Only recently have I discovered that there is a pretty strong cult following for this film, with many agreeing with my thoughts on the Punisher’s portrayal and the action sequences. I’ve always been a huge fan of Garth Ennis, the writer responsible for many of The Punisher’s stories, as well as his other works like Preacher (what the AMC series is based on) and The Boys (soon to be a TV series on Cinemax). His approach has always been a sensationalistic one, with stories featuring offbeat characters, excessive, over the top violence, coarse language, and lots of sex. While the latter may be missing from this movie, Punisher: War Zone is an Ennis story come to life. The action is intense, graphic, and quite often over the top. Frank at one point punches THROUGH A GOONS HEAD. He also blows up a member of a parkour gang with a rocket. There’s enough blood and guts on display that Lionsgate could have borrowed some of the sequences for the SAW series of movies. Some might say I’m biased because of the Ennis inspiration, but I appreciate when film adaptations don’t take too many liberties. Punisher: War Zone, in all of its gory glory, is true to the source material, and finally gave us the “real” Punisher, one that none of the other portrayals can compare to.

One little addendum to my review. The new MCU version of The Punisher, played by Jon Bernthal in the Daredevil Netflix series, has been extremely well done. The small amount of the character that’s been seen is an interesting, realistic take on The Punisher. I’m looking forward to seeing his upcoming appearances in The Defenders and his own series later in the year, but I still feel like Marvel has a ways to go to get me to enjoy a Punisher as much as I enjoyed this one.

Punisher: War Zone is currently airing on the Showtime/TMC channels and On Demand. It’s also readily available on DVD and Blu-Ray through the usual sources.