Long before Iron Man popped on the scene, we were warned that not all Marvel movies turn out to be hits. Fantastic Four, DareDevil, Elektra were a few underachievers that ultimately left comic book fans pissed and $10 less rich. Then there is Punisher: War Zone, the uber bloody revenge flick which is new to DVD and Blu-ray. The question is, where does this latest iteration of Frank Castle’s story sit in the universe of comic book movies.
Although the dialogue and acting are excruciatingly bad, there’s something to be said about watching a guilty pleasure like this one. Director Lexi Alexander clearly knew what she wanted out of this one and she wasn’t afraid to show it. The movie starts out without any reservations, jumping head first into a bloody gunfight between Frank Castle and the goons of mob boss Gaitano Cesare. And if you know Punisher, you know that not too many people are walking away from this fight. And the whole movie is like that; unapologetic and largely unnecessary fight scenes.
The only person to escape this fight is Billy “The Beaut” Russoti, played by one of my favorite alums from one of the best TV shows of all time, The Wire, Dominic West. West is a great actor, but is mildly amusing as The Beaut, who becomes the vile Jigsaw at the start when his face is disfigured. Dexter’s Julie Benz also shows up, proving that she can be in the two goriest movies of 2008 in the last ten years (Rambo was laughably violent).
I don’t want to say that War Zone is the worst Marvel Studios movie ever (Daredevil, come on down!), but I will admit that there’s a time and a place for this type of movie. Its most memorable aspects will be West’s zany performance as Jigsaw and, obviously, all the blood and gore and audacious scenes that laced the movie. If anything, I will give the film credit for making Frank Castle the ruthless and violent vigilante that he’s supposed to be. If you’re a fan of the comic series, you’re more likely to run towards this interpretation of the gritty vigilante. If you’re a casual viewer expecting to see more of that Marvel Iron Man magic, then you will be disappointed.
The bonus features aren’t really anything special and they’ve thrown in a digital copy of the movie, just in case you want to seen brains being splattered on your iPhone screen.
*2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION DVD SPECIAL FEATURE
DISC ONE
• “The Making of Punisher: War Zone” featurette
• “Training to Become The Punisher” featurette
• “The Weapons of The Punisher” featurette
• “Meet Jigsaw” featurette
• “Creating the Look of The Punisher” featurette
• Audio commentary with Director Lexi Alexander and Director of Photography Steve Gainer, ASC
• Theatrical trailer
DISC TWO
• Digital Copy of the feature film
Title: : Punisher: War ZoneStarring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West
Studio: Marvel Studios
Release Date: March 17, 2009
Rating: 6 / 10
AHAHA! That gender problem is fixed here, but not on the Google Alert. Poor guy! The author, I mean. Lexi Alexander is a former international kick-boxing champion and stunt woman. She did a cool movie, fun to watch, very well crafted. As another fan said. Punisher: War Zone has heart as well as action galore. It’s a shame it didn’t do better at the box office.
Nice research.
Lexi is a she.