Special Agent Budiansky:
You're nothing but a killer Castle.
The Punisher:
I'm okay with that.
Actors: Julie Benz, Doug Hutchison, Wayne Knight, Colin Salmon, Ray Stevenson
Directors: Lexi Alexander
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 2
Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
DVD Release Date: March 17, 2009
Run Time: 103 minutes
This marks my third Punisher review. I found myself asking 'Why three?' These aren't sequels like Spiderman or Batman... but three retellings of the same story. Only the second Punisher with Tom Jane is an 'origin' story, but it is also the worse of the three and also missed the mark as far as origins go.
Each movie is rated R. Each movie also brings a very unique take on the character. The second Punisher, even though it's Rated R, it is the tamest and most cartoonish in nature. Dolph's Punisher definitely has the most angst (as well as mental issues, he is truly insane in his version), but Ray Stevenson's Punisher War Zone is by far the most violent of them all.
Still, why three movies where none are a continuation of the main character? Simple. Just like The first Hulk, the second one, The Incredible Hulk was trying to set things right. But more important- It was preparing for The Avengers. The same thing applies to The Punisher War Zone. It is fixing some of the problems with the second movie as well as getting the character ready for the up coming Avenger's movie.
So how good is Punisher War Zone and is it worth seeing even though the box office take suggests otherwise? The answer is a resounding yes it is worth it.
This is what the first Punisher could have been with a bigger budget. Gone are the cartoonish characters of the second movie. Although Jig Saw is pretty unrealistic, but that character is done well. If the Joker is the nemesis of Batman, Jig Saw is probably The Punisher's most notorious rival of the movie franchise.
Billy Russo is a big time mob leader who becomes Jig Saw after a horrific accident in a glass recycling machine. It is very similar to what happened to Jack Napier in the first Michael Keaton Batman movie, but the results are much more gory. That's pretty much the end of the similarities. Jig Saw is just as insane as The Joker, but more gruesome and much more violent.
The plot is simple... Revenge. Revenge against anyone deemed a criminal. No spoiler's there!
I first saw Ray Stevenson in the HBO mini series Rome. He played Titus Pullo, and in my opinion he stole the show. As much as I loved him in Rome, I had my doubts whether he could pull off the lead in a Punisher movie. Ray quelled all doubts that's for sure.
His version of Frank Castle isn't as brooding, angst ridden, or insane as Dolph's, however Stevenson's Punisher is the most brutal of all three. I do tend to view these as a continuing story, Jane's Punisher as the first, Stevenson's as the second chapter when he is at his most ruthless, and Dolph's shows how not being able to let go of the tragedy and violent death of his wife and daughter ultimately drove him to insanity and even welcoming his own death.
As much as I swoon over the first Punisher, Stevenson does an excellent job in Punisher War Zone. Like I previously mentioned though, this is one violent movie. It falls in line with Scar Face and the latest John Rambo movie.
In this outing of The Punisher, Frank has an inside man at the police department, Detective Marty Soap. Det. Soap is a bit of an outcast in the department because of his obsession with The Punisher. Little does the department know that Soap gives Frank leads on criminal activity and when they are having meetings. No spoiler there, afterall Soap is a secondary character.
Also there is FBI agent Special Agent Paul Budiansky played by Colin Salmon who takes on the agency's investigation of Castle. He immediately suspects there is more to Det. Soap than the rest of the police force suspect. Colin adds some class to the cast. He is probably best known for his role of Charles Robinson, aka D.A.D. in the Brosnan Bond era.
I mentioned violence on par with Scar Face and Rambo. There is a scene where Budiansky reluctantly teams up with The Punisher to bring in Jig Saw and his mob. They manage to apprehend one of the mob members and Castle proceeds to interigate him in true Punisher fashion. After they extract the information they need, Budiansky insists on bringing the thug in for justice. Before he can say anything more, The Punisher raises his shotgun and blows the thugs head off... and there are no cut scenes or punches pulled. It's as violent and gory as things get. Castle just doesn't care nor does he believe in the justice system any more. The only justice is his justice... The guilty will be punished...
The video transfer on Bluray is very good, but this movie tends to be very dark, which fits the mood and content. It however has a very red and warm tone to it. It is movies like these that makes the reason for a properly calibrated HDTV or projector setup even more important, else they will not look like the director intended.
The audio is action packed and the bass is always present. After all, there are countless shootouts and explosions to keep it active.
Probably the worse part about the Bluray version is the 'digital copy' It is almost unwatchable in my opinion, and this one also was pretty hard to install. What really frustrated me was after I got a new PC system, I tried installing the digital copy again and it told me I couldn't because it had previously been installed and registered once already. I truly miss the days of the HD DVD combo discs. I see no reason why they can't include a standard definition copy instead of these horrible digital copies.
Overall I rate the storyline
Video transfer is
to
and audio is a solid
.
Bonus features are pretty interesting, so I give them
as well.
The Bonus Digital copy though... I'd have to give that
at best. If you really want a standard def copy, wait until Block Buster has it in their four for $20 rack and then get yourself a real SDVD copy to go along with the BD version.
I seriously doubt we will see another Punisher flick as a stand alone movie. He will return though in the up coming Avenger's movie. Let's just hope they manage to do a good job with all the characters that will be in The Avengers.
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