by Richie Caldicott

Created on: January 08, 2009

The Punisher has always been, by far, my favourite comic book character. I collected the comic books as a child and still have many of them today, which is why I wasn't expecting to be impressed by The Punisher: War Zone. It's not that I haven't appreciated Hollywood's efforts to immortalise the character in celluloid, just that the brutality and vicious resolve of the character seems to have been overlooked in the past (presumably in an effort to make the film's more marketable or socially responsible). However, having just finished watching Frank Castles latest filmic outing, I must admit to having just being taught a lesson or two about premature judgement.

Given the various setbacks and delays the movie faced over the last couple of years; the studio's continued indecision over whether they wanted War Zone to be a teen-friendly PG-13 / 12A action flick or an adult and more violent R / 18 rated affair, alleged problems between director Lexi Alexander and Lionsgate, I don't think that anyone was expecting greatness from the film. And, perhaps worst of all, the studio was touting The Punisher: War Zone as a "rebooting" of The Punisher franchise, leading many, myself included, to assume that the audience would be treated to a third "origin" film, focusing on the events that gave The Punisher his motivations rather than the continuation of his story.

But that is not what The Punisher: War Zone is. In many ways the film is almost a direct sequel to the 2004 Thomas Jane movie, The Punisher, it begins five years after the murder of Castle's family and although the scenario of their deaths differs slightly from those depicted in it's predecessor, the fact that the events are told almost exactly as they occurred within the comic books is a welcome change. As is the absence of Thomas Jane, with Ray Stevenson providing a much angrier and visually accurate depiction of the vigilante (and he's also a far better actor to boot). He looks great in combat fatigues, jumping through windows and firing off rounds from unfeasibly large guns and yet he is more than capable of handling the subtler acting required also (though how anybody could doubt such given his performance in the excellent HBO / BBC series Rome is beyond me).

Making his first filmic appearance is Jigsaw (one of my favourite nemeses from the Punisher's archives) and Dominic West has the character pinned down perfectly, playing him as a larger-than-life walking narcissistic clich with bouts of self-parody and dark

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