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Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Director: Lexi Alexander

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From Time Out London

‘Oh God, now I’ve got brains spattered all over me,’ exclaims The Punisher’s slippery inside man, Detective Soap. You may feel the same at the end of this messy, sadistic reboot of the Marvel comic-book series. ‘Rome’ stalwart Ray Stevenson brings great conviction to the role of vigilante Frank Castle, previously essayed by Dolph Lundgren and Thomas Jane. But even he can’t save a recycled plot in which vain gangster Billy the Beaut (‘The Wire’ alumnus Dominic West) is sliced up by a bottle-crushing machine.

The movie’s McGuffin is a bio-weapon destined for ‘the ragheads in Queens’, but the threat to National Security takes a back seat to director Lexi Alexander’s gleeful depiction of the flesh-slicing, kidney-ripping, head-exploding violence meted out by The Punisher and his two nemeses: the now hideously mutilated ‘Jigsaw’ (West) and his brother Loony Bin Jim. Despite myriad production problems, ‘Green Street’ director Alexander says this is the movie she set out to make, which is both oddly admirable and slightly worrying.

Author: Nigel Floyd

Time Out London Issue 2007, 5 - 11 Feb, 2009

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User reviews of this film

Marsellus said...

Posted on Feb 09 2009 09:22 Usually action films can get away with not having a plot if there are lots of action scenes - see Face/ Off for example. However, this film only really has one action scene at the beginning and one at the end. In between is a lot of boring exposition that masquerades as a plot but doesn't convince. There really was just not a lot in the way of a story and The Punisher takes a back seat to the supporting characters. Stevenson was suitably moody in the lead-role but was never given any standout scenes. He simply grunts and shoots his way through the film. While Ray Stevenson may be a better Punisher than Tom Jane, Tom Jane's film was better than this one.

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