PUNISHER: WAR ZONE (2008)

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"Lexi Alexander japs hard with an unexpected uppercut that will leave you shell-shocked and smiling like an idiot. Her Punisher is something you have to see to believe. "

Yes. It's true. Frank Castle makes Batman look like a Pussy. And thank fucking god, this isn't another boring origin story.

Forget what you think you might know about this upcoming reinvention of the Punisher franchise. However you might be picturing it in your head is wrong and inaccurate. War Zone comes on as an unexpected treat for fans of 80s action flicks, and it is destined to be a cult classic far removed from the annals of Marvel Cinema as we know it. Coming in under the Marvel Knights banner, it is the first of their graphic novel adaptations to earn an R rating, and it certainly deserves it. The film goes toe-to-toe with Sylvester Stallone's January bloodbath Rambo in the violence department. But that's not what makes it so special. The film kicks off with a bang, fully establishing Ray Stevenson as the new, and only worthy, successor to the Frank Castle name. After the obligatory re-introduction of our hero, the film does something weird. It starts to exhibit one amazingly shocking and off center scene after the next. The strangeness aggressively dog piles on top of itself, and you are breathlessly left wondering what the Hell this mean mother fucker will pull out of its hat next. It is truly something you have to see to believe. And if you are like me, you are going to love it. I haven't seen a film really go for it with this much audacity since Wayne Kramer broke our noses with his Running Scared, which was bold and brash enough to make Paul Walker cool for the first time in his life.

Punisher: War Zone is the first comic book movie in a long time that doesn't take itself seriously. It harbors the absurdities associated with your average superhero and gleefully exploits the goofy nature of those pulp origins. If you are not a fan of camp in its purest essence, this film is not for you. You will walk out of the theater, scratching your head, wondering why certain people love it as much as they do. It owes just as much of its soul to films like Phantom of the Paradise and The Warriors as it does to films like The Dark Knight. Some of the kills are so gloriously over the top, you can't help but laugh. And when the villian suits up in one of Eddie Murphy's old Raw outfits and struts down the street with his kidney chewing sidekick brother, you know you've flown out of the real world and into the land of "batshit crazy".

Approaching its ultimate climax, the film gooses you up out of your chair. Even after some of the impudent stunts that have been thrown directly in your face without consequence, you almost can't believe the avenue its about to careen down wildly. I can't remember the last time I clinched my fist and thought, "Fuck, yeah! You can suck it, 40 oz Soda! I'm not missing this ending for anything." Even if the first hour failed to move me in any manner, I would sit through its weight ten more times to see this shit again. It's that exhilarating. And I don't remember The Dark Knight establishing or delivering that single heated sort of moment that stops everything else in its path. Again, though, if you are a fanboy diehard that has never delved into the grotesqueries of carnival theory, and you hump home scribbling a detailed thesis on the scholastic aptitude derived from the painted page, you will scoff at the absurd and illogical nature of it all. Because director Lexi Alexander understands true camp and uses it to elevate the otherworldly nature of her characters, removing them from their sheath of unintentionally laughable ludicrousness. Trust me, folks. The girl is in on the joke.

Now, don't misinterpret what I've said. I'm not claiming that Punisher: War Zone is a better movie than The Dark Knight. The plain and simple fact of the matter is: It's a funner film. To sit through. To visit a second and third time. The last Batman sequel is an epic undertaking and a masterfully constructed piece of cinema. But it's a beat down experience that will leave you black and blue, frowning upon exit of the theater. It is an exercise in dark psychoses. There is no genuine sense of joy in its body. And it moves like a 2008 film. It shucked off the goofy vibe of its forefathers, such as the 1960s TV show and the Joel Schumacher cannon entries. What Lexi has done here is swooped in and collected all of that neon out of the garbage. Like a resourceful art student, she has taken this shunned trash of the past and built the beginnings of an amazing franchise out of it. With each new graphic novel that is brought to the screen, people yell, "It reinvents the genre!" Some of those folks are currently blue in the face. Punisher: War Zone bucks that trend by reverting back to the classic explode-em-up action extravaganzas of the 80s, taking that esthetic and updating it for a more jaded, war warn audience. Makes no bones about it, Ray Stevenson steps up his game, and from the moment he walks on screen, he totally obliterates any incarnation of Frank Castle that has ever come before him. His Punisher stands outside the walls of anything Marvel has ever brought to the screen before. And it's a welcome change of pace.

Looking at each frame of this film is like flipping through a gorgeously painted strip panel pulled directly out of a comic book. Cinematographer Steve Gainer, working closely with Alexander, has made each scene its own money shot. Its all neon, and pulp, and broken glass. Even removed from the story and the action, these images would be a spectacle to behold. We're given an exhilarating rush of hyperrealism that breaks the comic code barrier. It's undeniably striking in its richness and its tone. No one can deny that. If there is one complaint I've heard thus far from those that have seen it is about the script. "The action's good, but the story is horrible." That, again, is the picky consumer that just wants to find something to complain about. To call the Punisher: War Zone script bad is to call almost every script ever written for any comic book out there bad. The story, its hero, and its villains are directly pulled from the world of Marvel's 80s oeuvre. The plot and its structuring, and the culmination of scenes as they are stapled together is as honest a portrayal of any pulp mag I've ever seen. To praise comic book storytelling on the page but then scoff at it in this sort of light is inexcusable, and only goes to prove your own insecurities and need to be heard. To view this script in a negative light is to not really understand the story telling techniques of comic book folklore at all.

Punisher: War Zone is definitely one of the most unique and surprising films of the year. I had no expectations walking into it, but left the theater exasperated. So much so that I can't wait to see what Lexi Alexander does next, that crazy German. There is one scene here where her villian rounds up a number of gang members to create an army. Its one of the best moments in the entire film. And watching it, I realized that if Paramount ever does go through with their proposed The Warriors remake, this woman is the only soul on the planet that could direct it and do it justice. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Punisher: War Zone gets a loudly screamed, "Whoop-doo!" In fact, it embodies everything the Whoop-doo Nation is about.

(All of B. Alan Orange's reviews are based on the Boo! or Whoop-doo! evaluation system.)