By Jenna Nelson

Published December 11, 2008

Revenge films tend to follow one of two routes: the stories are either deadly serious or stylized tomes you have to admire for their sheer visual gusto.  “Punisher: War Zone” falls somewhere in between, and that’s precisely why it’s not so great of a movie.  This latest comic-to-screen adaptation dips its fingers in grim storytelling and gory theatrics, though it never brings both together in cinematic harmony. “War Zone” is a movie in search of a home, but its unwillingness to plant its roots leads to its eventual but entertaining undoing.

  His family executed after witnessing a mob hit, Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) has since assumed the identity of a vigilante known as the Punisher. Feared by New York City’s criminal ilk and wanted by the police, Castle wages a violent one-man war on anyone who finds themselves on the wrong side of the law. But his latest assault on a local crime family has left one survivor itching for revenge.  After landing in a glass-crushing contraption that slices his pretty-boy looks to ribbons, gangster Billy Russoti (Dominic West) emerges as a grotesque thug christened Jigsaw. Determined to reclaim the criminal empire Castle stole from him, Jigsaw sets about recruiting all manner of evildoers in order to take over the Big Apple. Meanwhile, Castle wrestles with his conscience after accidentally killing an undercover FBI agent, forcing him to consider hanging up his guns for good just when he’s needed the most.

  2004’s “The Punisher” was a turgid affair with a straight-to-DVD finish, tolerable but nowhere near as exciting as it could’ve been. “War Zone,” on the other hand, comes across as extremely active and much more polished than a movie with this much gratuitous violence should be. And boy does this flick get brutal, with the opening scene alone featuring more exploding heads and slit throats than in Van Damme’s entire résumé. There comes a point where the violence becomes almost comedic in nature, with the trail of bodies Castle leaves in his wake evolving into a running gag.

  At some points, director Lexi Alexander devotes serious attention to building up Frank Castle’s tortured psyche, to remind viewers that he’s still an anti-hero who’s let the darkness within get the best of him. It’s a nice thought, but when Alexander whips viewers from this introspective character development to show people getting blown to smithereens, the effect is more than a little jarring. Plus, Stevenson makes for a pretty bland Punisher, and only West seems to be having a good time, although his stereotypical Brooklyn accent teeters on the brink of total annoyance.

  For what it’s worth, “Punisher: War Zone” is the best of the three “Punisher” titles to date. While it’s not a complete success, it has a better grasp of its intentions than its predecessors, not to mention just the right amount of kick to accompany the action. It’s nothing that you can’t wait to catch on DVD, but “Punisher: War Zone” is still a more rewarding action experience than the likes of “Transporter 3” turned out to be.