Punisher: War Zone (2008)

★ 5.8 1h 42m 1,278 votes IMDb
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Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

Punisher: War Zone

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Cast

Ray Stevenson
Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle / The Punisher Died 2023 · Lisburn, Northern Ireland, UK Ray Stevenson (May 25, 1964 – May 21, 2023) was a film, TV and stage actor. He moved with his family to Lemington, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England in 1972 at the age of eight, and later to Cramlington, N...
Dominic West
Dominic West as Billy "The Beaut" Russoti / Jigsaw Age 56 · Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director, producer, and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's The Wire (2002–2008) and Noah Sol...
Julie Benz
Julie Benz as Angela Donatelli Age 53 · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Julie Benz (born May 1, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (1997–2004), and as Rita Bennett on Dexter (2006–2010), for which she wo...
Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon as Paul Budiansky Age 64 · Bethnal Green, London, England, UK Colin Roy Salmon (born 6 December 1961) is a British actor best known for playing the fictional character Charles Robinson in three James Bond films..
Doug Hutchison
Doug Hutchison as James Russoti / "Loony Bin Jim" / "LBJ" Age 65 · Dover, Delaware, USA Douglas Anthony "Doug" Hutchison (born May 26, 1960) is an American actor, known for his roles in The Green Mile, as corrections officer Percy Wetmore, Eugene Victor Tooms in The X-Files, as Horace Go...
Dash Mihok
Dash Mihok as Martin Soap Age 51 · New York City, New York, USA Dashiell Raymond Mihok (born May 24, 1974) is an American actor and director best known for playing Brendan "Bunchy" Donovan in the Showtime drama Ray Donovan..

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 7/10 Nov 16, 2018
***The best of the Punisher movies with a weak last act***

The Punisher first appeared in the Spider-Man comic in February, 1974, and became a semi-regular foe/ally in that mag, but was more apt to appear in Daredevil in the 80s until the character got his own mini-series in 1986 and then his ongoing titles: The Punisher (1987), The Punisher War Journal (1988) and The Punisher War Zone (1992). The character was so popular at the time that he inspired a black & white magazine as well (1989).

The reason The Punisher was and continues to be so popular is because he's essentially an over-the-top version of "Dirty Harry" and "Deathwish": Frank Castle's family is killed by the mob while on a picnic in Central Park and so he declares war on all criminals wherein he becomes their judge, jury and executioner. Unlike Daredevil, a lawyer who utilizes the justice system, The Punisher just kills 'em all.

The first movie version was 1989's "The Punisher" with Dolph Lundgren, which was a disappointment. Lundgren was good, but the movie was too Grade B cartoony and it took too many liberties. Still, some consider it a cult flick. The 2004 movie with Thomas Jane curiously transferred the character from New York City to sunny Florida, specifically the Tampa area. There were other oddities that didn’t sit well, but Jane was good as the protagonist and there was enough good in the flick to marginally enjoy it.

This 2008 rendition, “Punisher: War Zone,” was originally intended to be a sequel to the 2004 movie with Thomas Jane, but delays in the production caused him to pull out. Lexi Alexander ultimately got the gig as director and she pitched the idea of doing the film “as a throwback to '80s era action films” with 6’4” Ray Stevenson taking over as The Punisher.

Jigsaw (Dominic West) makes for a memorable villain with Loony Bin Jim an entertaining wacko sidekick (Doug Hutchison). Wayne Knight plays Microchip and Julie Benz the wife of an undercover agent that Castle mistakenly kills on one of his missions. The towering Colin Salmon stands out as a police agent intent on tracking down The Punisher.

It was a good call to bring the story back to New York City and, honestly, this has to be one of the best-looking big city movies I’ve ever seen, no kidding. The cinematography/locations/lighting are exceptional. While the movie has the urban grittiness of Nolan’s Batman trilogy, it balances it out with amusing cartoonish-ness. There is some quality drama, like Castle’s anguish over killing a “good guy” and his dealings with the dead agent’s widow & daughter, but it’s not overlong and dull like in “Batman Begins” (2005) and “The Dark Knight” (2008). Unfortunately, the last act, while serviceable, could’ve been better.

At the end of the day, “Punisher: War Zone” edges out the 2004 movie as the best film version of the character. It’s more faithful to the comics and overall more entertaining even though it totally bombed at the box office.

The film runs 1 hour, 43 minutes and was shot in Montreal, Quebec.

GRADE: B/B-
tmdb44006625 5/10 Mar 09, 2019
To be fair, Punisher: War Zone is the most accurate representation of the comic we've had to date. The gore, extreme violence, and borderline sadism is very much a part of the comic. Ray Stevenson is spot on as Frank Castle. Dominic West is not so good as Jigsaw but at least his gang is more competent than Travolta's.

Given that this came out in the same year as two other big comic book movies, there is one big thing that Punisher: War Zone contributes: proof that a female director can make an unforgivingly cruel but kick ass action flick, so I don't understand how more of them aren't being given the opportunity to do so.

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