Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Director:

Lexi Alexander

Writers (WGA):

Nick Santora (written by) and
Art Marcum (written by) ...

Release Date:

5 December 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Vengeance has a name.

Plot:

After hunting down and killing hundreds of violent criminals, Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, faces his most deadly foe yet: Jigsaw. |

Plot Keywords:

Woman's Neck Broken | One Man Army | Wall Safe | Decapitation | Fire Fight

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ray Stevenson	...	Frank Castle
Dominic West	...	Billy / Jigsaw
Doug Hutchison	...	Loony Bin Jim
Colin Salmon	...	Paul Budiansky
Wayne Knight	...	Micro
Dash Mihok	...	Martin Soap
Julie Benz	...	Angela
Stephanie Janusauskas	...	Grace
Mark Camacho	...	Pittsy
Romano Orzari	...	Nicky
Keram Malicki-Sánchez	...	Ink
Larry Day	...	Agent Miller
Ron Lea	...	Captain Ross
Tony Calabretta	...	Saffiotti
T.J. Storm	...	Maginty

Also Known As:

The Punisher 2 (USA) (working title)
The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank (USA) (working title)
The Untitled Punisher Sequel (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong brutal violence, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA | Canada | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:18 | Singapore:M18 | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Australia:MA | Malaysia:18SG | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Mexico:C | Argentina:13 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-18 | Norway:15 | New Zealand:R18 | Netherlands:16 | USA:R (certificate #44752)

Filming Locations:

Brossard, Québec, Canada

Company:

Lionsgate

Trivia:

This is the first movie by Marvel to use the 'Marvel Knights' logo.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: This movie is a reboot and not a sequel to The Punisher (2004), so any differences between the two movies are not necessarily continuity errors.

Quotes:

Special Agent Paul Budiansky: Would you mind explaining to me, how a handcuffed criminal in custody escapes from your locked car?
Martin Soap: [embarrassed] Castle's a slippery one.

Movie Connections:

References The Punisher (2004)

Soundtrack:

Bulletproof

Exactly what you'd want in a Punisher movie

I saw this a couple hours ago in Fullerton, CA. I was a reader of the comic, and am a fan of what we've seen from Marvel lately. This movie is just what I wanted, and what I expected.

Ray Stevenson is perfect as Frank Castle, and everyone else is at least good enough for an action movie. Dominic West is over the top as Jigsaw - which is what Jigsaw should be! A horribly disfigured mob boss with a vendetta is not a subtle thing to begin with.

As for the "respectable" critics' complaints: 1. Violence: Of course it's violent! What part of the title "Punisher: War Zone" implies peaceful conflict resolution? He's not the "Admonisher". The gore and violence is not at the level of a "Saw" film, but it is high. It is rated "R" for a reason.

2. Dialogue: I think the critics have been spoiled by "Dark Knight" and "Iron Man". Those were comic-book movies with extraordinarily good dialogue. "Punisher: War Zone" is no worse than a "Predator" or "Rambo: First Blood". Not great, but not awful. This is not supposed to be "Hamlet".

3. Script: The story moves along well, and when there's a break in the action (which isn't very often), the film doesn't drag- it's always going somewhere. Not perfect, but good. Much better than the critics have made it out to be.

All in all, a good time, and one that I'll buy and re-watch as soon as it comes out on DVD.