Punisher: War Zone is a bad movie, but it is a magnificent bad movie if you can get into the rhythm and the logic of the film. It was supposed to be a sequel to Thomas Jane’s earnest, but terrible (not his fault) The Punisher, but it ended up being the third cinematic reboot of the titular character because everyone involved in the second reboot thought the third script was garbage.
Punisher: War Zone is one hour forty-three minutes long, and I probably clutched my pearls for most of the first third of the film at the empty, over the top violence and spectacle with no semblance of a story. This movie makes its Netflix Marvel counterpart seem comparatively tasteful and sensibly balanced. Frank Castle does not even speak until twenty-five minutes into the movie. Then there is finally a story more than simply Castle murders criminals for being criminals, which offers no hills and valleys, just a flatline of death. Jigsaw and his crazy brother, Loony Bin Jim, want revenge against Frank and use a widow and her daughter as bait. Doug Hutchinson plays Jim.
Let me explain who Doug the always memorable, but not recognizable and makes everything better simply by being in it Hutchinson is! He is best known as Eugene Victor Tooms in The X-Files’ episode, Squeeze, which to this day my mom puts things against any door regardless of how small it is because she believes that his episode was a news story that a man can crawl into people’s apartments through small spaces. Every surface in my house has scratches on it because she is leaning things against them as if THAT would stop Hutchinson if he really put his mind to breaking into my home. If you need a scary thespian, get Hutchinson!
Punisher: War Zone didn’t even really need Jigsaw with Jim around. The Wire’s Dominic West plays Jigsaw with a dreadful goombah accent and exaggerated gestures, which only becomes forgivable once he becomes deformed in battle. As brothers, they not only work, but they are actually kind of sweet. Jim instinctually knows that his brother is putting up a brave, sadistic front, and sweetly and recklessly devotes himself to insuring that his brother does not feel bad once they get back together. Jim as a character and Hutchinson’s interpretation of his character’s unhinged and unexpected responses to every situation makes him a perfect man to face off against Frank. The sibling dynamic is utterly perfect.
By that point, I realized that I had not signed up for any level of authenticity or choices grounded in realistic human behavior, and this movie commits to its vision of crass, demented and senseless violence. A viewer has two choices: turn the movie off or get on board and enjoy the graphic comic sensibilities. I got on board, and suddenly Punisher: War Zone seemed brilliant and even *gasp* funny! I watched Tag earlier so maybe I was desperate to laugh again, but there is a hilarious rooftop confrontation that Frank interrupts in the most explosive way. When Frank teams up with a cop that is investigating him, Colin Salmon epically loses it when Frank keeps being Frank. I think that the filmmaker made a little fun of Frank in the flashbacks making him look preppy as hell. Speaking of hell, “If I see your ass anywhere near hell, I’ll kick your ass up.”
Punisher: War Zone also kept all the disparate threads together and tied them in a neat bow. For example, one character casually mentions a war criminal. He becomes Chekhov’s war criminal, and yup, we get to see him before he becomes a pivotal part of the plot. I have to admit that I was impressed because usually little details like that bug me when they end up not going anywhere. I would rather that they never reference the point than mention it, and it is completely forgotten while the viewer sits dumbfounded and misguided remembering more than the filmmakers.
To the indiscriminating eye, it is as awful as an Uwe Boll film without one redeeming quality, but this film is actually hilarious and occasionally and effectively dips its toe into satire, which is more than a lot of self-proclaimed satirists can say. There is one scene that is such an acerbic comment about the US’ military industrial complex that then follows through by depicting the exploitation of the poor, immigrants and minorities that I felt as if Patton winced in response at equating his recruiting and inspirational speeches with criminality.
Punisher: War Zone has some nice visual touches throughout, especially as the movie unfolds, which juxtaposes Frank as an alternative savior figure such as a neon cross changing from “Jesus Saves” to “Save Us.” A woman cop gets stabbed with a sword in a movie full of guns, which seemed like a rape substitute, but is not the only impaling scene in the entire movie. Even though the movie isn’t shot in Manhattan, it is supposed to be set there, and it does a passable job, including a scene with a character becoming impaled on one of those iron fences, which is a thing. The movie may be extra, but it resonates and still cares about the details.
Lexi Alexander, a kickboxer and former stuntwoman, deserves kudos for directing Punisher: War Zone, making the best of a bad situation and creating a masterpiece out of offal. While I’m not familiar with her work, she has directed episodes of some of my favorite shows to watch when I want to watch TV purely for entertainment: Arrow, Supergirl and How to Get Away with Murder. By the end of the movie, I happily rewatched a few amazing sequences and would not mind watching it again but starting with the right frame of mind instead of reluctantly allowing the movie to slowly win me over.
Jon Bernthal is still the perfect Punisher, but I have a soft spot for Ray Stevenson although I’m sad that he wasn’t permitted to bring his sense of humor to the role. Indstead the film emphasized his imposing physique. I’ve always enjoyed his work in Jayne Mansfield’s Car, The Three Musketeers and the HBO series Rome. He is actually a good actor, and after Punisher: War Zone, he got to play another Marvel character in the Thor franchise, Volstagg, but he is unrecognizable in it.
Punisher: War Zone is not a good movie, but it is the best bad movie that I’ve seen in a long time, and if you don’t mind gratuitous violence and gross out moments, which normally I don’t, then I highly recommend it, especially since it brings that over the top comic, not cartoony, sensibility. Imagine if Frank Miller rebooted Dick Tracy except without sexual exploitation. It is all about the fight choreography, and once a story gets underway, it can be quite enjoyable despite the two dimensional dialogue. It is worth a viewing if you are a Hutchinson fan. I honestly may rewatch it again.