Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Excellent, a Must See

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I could tell exactly what I was getting myself into once I saw the opening segment where the Punisher breaks into a mafia mansion during a feast where he nonchalantly snaps some poor lady's neck after decapitating an old dying man. Keep in mind that old man was probably a terrible human being but that lady was likely his innocent daughter or even wife who was just there due to family ties. Punisher then climbs onto the ceiling fan and twirls around 360 degrees while simultaneously firing in all directions singlehandedly murdering everyone in the mansion. It's absolutely inspiring and awe inducing. It gets even more ridiculous when the Punisher accidentally kills an undercover cop and undergoes severe guilt and trauma, so to make amends he begins to stalk the grieving family of the cop he murdered. Not only is the Punisher even more of a deranged lunatic than he usually is in other forms of media but hes also quite possibly superhuman in this rendition, he has an insane amount of stamina and is capable of punching straight through a man's head, also capable of fixing his broken nose by shoving pencil up his nostrils. It is unquestionably brilliant, this is a gem of a film that flew far under everyone's radar and it's a damn shame that not enough people saw it.The acting is atrocious but its so inadvertently bad that it reaches a level of hilarity to the point where I can't even tell if this is supposed to be an actual film and not just some sick comedy about a physics defying lunatic that runs around slaughtering folks for fun. Especially when referring to the performances of Dominic West who plays Jigsaw, and Doug Hutchinson who plays Loony Bin Jim, both deliver two outstanding breathtakingly beautiful performances for two of the greatest antagonists to ever grace cinema. Their performances are so noteworthy that the two deserve their own section dedicated to them and only them. Watch the film and you will understand why. As far as actual film direction, this film is horribly shot. There's that one infamous scene where Woolie from TBPF gets shot out of the sky mid stunt by a CGI rocket and I think that one scene speaks for itself.There are actually a few decent aspects of this film that aren't due to The fight scene towards the end is genuinely enjoyable though. It's goofy as hell with Frank Castle mowing down hordes of baddies in a surprisingly entertaining fight sequence where he moves up apartment stories. There's an unexpected attention to detail that can be appreciated with Frank constantly weary of his ammo supply seen consistently reloading his rifles, its a neat detail that is often glossed over by many blockbusters and even films that are far superior to this one. Not a masterpiece by any means but its a fun fight scene with notable details to appreciate. Jigsaw's design is also pretty good even without his amazing dialogue the design stands on its own as good.Just watch it. It's amazing 10/10

I guess the Punisher isn't one of my favorite superheroes, but I do appreciate what they do with him. He's a guy who kills so many people it's to the part where nearly nobody wants to help him. Wolverine has actually technically killed more people than him. The Punisher seems to work better in contrast to the other superheroes, but at least he's represented pretty good here. That's kind of a problem, because it's weird to see that in a superhero movie. It really is just a standard mob movie, but I did recognize the characters. It was weird how cartoonish some of the Punisher's kills were.Now, I do like the idea of him feeling remorse for accidentally killing an innocent. It does show good character development. I remember Microchip from the comics, even if it was just in the Marvel Encyclopedia. It's nice to see Jigsaw being introduced but he doesn't get to survive unlike the comics. The problem is that this movie is just awkward. It's hard to treat it as a superhero movie or seriously given how over the top the kills are. The movie isn't terrible and I'll give it credit for at least being unique. **

The movie is frankly (pardon the pun) offensive. I know that watching this after the great Netflix introduction of the Punisher is the final nail in the coffin, but even without it, this film is garbage. Not only does it have cardboard characters and no plot to speak of, but it revels in extreme violence that is justified by the same boring and cretinous "killing bad guys is good".After forcing myself to watch the whole thing I have to ask: how the hell did they get Ray Stevenson, Doug Hutchison, Julie Benz and Colin Salmon to play in this piece of crap? It feels like a Mexican Nunsploitation film without any nuns! It feels like a room filled with cardboard characters that no one bothered to paint.Bottom line: not bad enough to be funny, not good enough to be worth it and probably a movie all the actors in it wish never to be associated with.

Just came back from watching the movie and I was definitely pleased. I was a bit worried that I would be let down after reading some of the early reviews, my suspicious about the reviewers not understanding the character were confirmed though.Stevenson is a brilliant Frank Castle, the guy is a tank in this movie, however i do have to say that for me, he is no Tony Jones. shredding through his opposition just like a on screen manifestation of the character should. The critics complaining about the gore prove them unfit in being tasked with stepping anywhere near the film with a pencil and paper, doling out stars or thumbs.the plot other than to say that it was massively inadequate and was there just for the sake of having a plot. The action, albeit good and entertaining, was way over the top, and at many times pointless. Now don't get me wrong, I love a great action flick, but there comes a certain feeling of annoyance when the plot is practically ignored just to have Frank slay a herd of people. In my mind, and I'm pretty sure many of you will agree, the action is supposed to SUPPLEMENT the plot, not the other way around. This movie failed to do that.