Punisher: War Zone DVD: Review By Twisted Smile (The Untold Smile)

I would like to begin this by saying that I love the Punisher character. Frank Castle has always been a very unique individual in the world of Marvel comics and has gone from costume wearing hero to just a skull shirt and a bad temper. I was hoping for the best with this new film incarnation. Sadly I didn’t get it.

Punisher War Zone is the sequel to The Punisher staring Thomas Jane and John Travolta from 2004 and plays more like a remake. Gone is the brutal murder of the entire Castle family tree from the first one. Instead it is replaced with the more faithful park shooting of Frank's family in the comics.

The film suffers greatly from poor storytelling and terrible performances, a let down considering that Ray Stevenson is quite good as the gun swinging vigilante and my personal favorite actor to dawn the skull shirt. Stevenson seems at home in the dark and sad mind of Castle and pulls off a very close resemblance to the Tim Bradstreet incarnation in the comics. I had high hopes for the film when it was announced that Lexi Alexander would be directing. Her last film was Green Street Hooligans a fantastic film about European football firms that would do anything for their favorite teams. It was a very big let down to see that this film didn’t come anywhere near how great her previous film was. Another sad thing is that I don't see a Punisher sequel coming anytime soon. I would really love to see Stevenson return as Castle in a well written and better acted sequel, but given the Punishers poor performance at the box office in all his incarnations I just can't see it happening in the near future.

The special features on this edition are nonexistent. The theatrical trailer is all you get as a snack.

I am sorry to say that I can not recommend this film. It was a complete disappointment and another set back for Marvel's brutal vigilante. Here's hoping you get yours soon Frank because you damn well deserve it.