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Title: Punisher: War Zone (2008)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| 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 | |
Frank Castle, the ex-military man whose family was killed by criminals, who became a vigilante known as the Punisher, goes after a whole mob family and gets everyone except enforcer Billy Russoti. He tracks Russoti down and chases him into a vat that is used for crushing bottles. Frank turns on the crusher hoping it would take care of him but it doesn't. He survives but sustains very severe injuries that even with plastic surgery his face looks like a jigsaw puzzle. So he decides to adopt the name Jigsaw. Frank who killed one of Russoti's people who unknown to him is an undercover Fed, decides to pack it in. But when he learns Russoti didn't die and is looking for the money he entrusted to the Fed and will go looking for it at his home which means his family is in danger. So Frank tries to save them. But Russoti wants revenge on Frank so he breaks out his brother who is so crazed that he is committed to an asylum, to deal with him. And also another Fed who's a friend of the man Frank ... Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com
PUNISHER: WAR ZONE is a fun shoot-em-up – there's no more or less to it than that. A semi-sequel to the original 2004 film, this sees ROME's Ray Stevenson taking over the reins from Thomas Jane in a self-contained movie about his vendetta against a criminal gang. I'd heard a lot of talk about how poor this film was before I sat down and watched it, but I'm pleased to see it exceeded my expectations in every respect.
First off, the action scenes are excellent: fast-paced, well-shot (no shaky cam work here) and hard-hitting, with thugs getting their just desserts at every corner and all manner of extreme-weaponry mayhem. Secondly, the film isn't just about the action. There is a story, with characters (no matter how briefly sketched they are) and emotion too – Frank Castle is a creature brimming with repressed hurt and feeling and Stevenson is the perfect actor to bring him to life; few actors have eyes so sad.
Thirdly, the cast is pretty interesting. Dominic West, of course, gives it his all as the horrifically mutilated Jigsaw, bringing to life a truly comic creation. Doug Hutchison proves he's just as creepy as he was all those years ago in THE X-FILES when he played Tooms, the guy who could squeeze through letterboxes. Julie Benz (RAMBO) has a fairly thankless role as a mother who needs to be saved/rescued all the while, while familiar faces Colin Salmon and Wayne Knight flesh out more minor roles.
Of course, this isn't a perfect film. Some of the characters are intensely irritating (like the guy who appears to be the world's worst cop) and the running time is too short to really scope out the storyline, other than staging a few encounters. For what it's worth, the first film is still better, but that doesn't stop PUNISHER: WAR ZONE from being a satisfying action flick.