THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
A lot of people know that the Punisher is one of the most dangerous protagonists to ever be created by Marvel Comics. After leaving behind a memorable impression in his 2004 film, audiences didn’t mind the character shooting it up again. But I don’t think anyone expected to shoot more than before.
PLOT
The reboot Punisher: War Zone follows former marine Frank Castle whose been on a vigilante quest since he lost his wife and children to mob violence five years prior. He continues his quest for vengeance in New York after eliminating local Don Gaitano Cesare (John Dunn-Hill). When caporegime Billy Rusotti would try to hide from him, the Punisher would find him in his recycling plant hideout. After a brief firefight, Rusotti would become disfigured due to falling into a glass crushing machine. With a new physical appearance, he dawns his new nickname ‘Jigsaw’. Castle would be on the run from authorities after inadvertently causing the death of undercover agent Nicky Donatelli (Romano Orzari). Mistaken to be a cop killer, Agents Paul Budiansky and Martin Soap would lead a task force against the anti hero. As this happens, Jigsaw would free his cannibal brother Loony Bin Jim. Having regret over being responsible for Nicky’s death, he would choose to attempt making reparations with the family of the now late agent, his widow Angela (Julie Benz) and daughter Grace (Stephanie Janusauskas). He wants to retire from being a vigilante, but his armorer Linus Lieberman aka Microchip has him reconsider due to the possibility of Jigsaw going after Nicky’s family. That becomes a reality when the mobster and his brother hold them hostage. On his way there to protect the innocent family, the Punisher would kill Maginty and the Freeflow Gang to narrow down his enemy, leading to him being followed by Budianski & Soap. Despite having an altercation with Budianski, Nicky’s partner, they go to Angela’s house together to save them from Jigsaw. They succeed by killing the capo’s right hand men Pittsy (Mark Camacho) & Ink (Keram Malicki-Sánchez) and arresting both Rusottis. Billy is able to convince the FBI to release him and his brother in exchange of giving up Cristu Balat (David Vadim) smuggling biological weapons in Queens. Once granted immunity, they take Micro hostage, as well as the Donatellis again. When Frank finds out what happened, he finds Micro’s mother dead and his associate Carlos (Carlos González-Vio) critically injured who tried to protect the Donatellis. As he discovers this, Jigsaw sets up a small army of gangsters to rally against the Punisher. Before taking a stand, the vigilante convinces Budiansky to help him, who also informs Cristu’s father Tiberiu (Aubert Pallascio) of Jigsaw’s whereabouts. With Tiberiu having a shootout with Jigsaw’s forces in Bradstreet Hotel, it gives Frank a chance to sneak in and take out more hired guns. When he finds Billy and Jim, they are holding Micro and the Donatellis at gunpoint. Jigsaw offers the Punisher a chance to free the Donatellis if he kills Micro. Refusing to kill his friend, he kills Jim. As an act of retaliation, Jigsaw would kill Micro. Castle would end the conflict by impaling his enemy in a metal rod and throwing him into a fire. After a successful rescue mission, he is forgiven by the Donatellis and Budiansky. The film would end with Frank continuing to be a vigilante after saving Soap from a mugger.
THOUGHTS
As a kid, I would watch anything with a Marvel stamp on it because that’s how much I enjoyed the content made by the said comic book brand. Due to being lucky enough to have read material of the Punisher and enjoyed watching the 2004 film, I was totally onboard with whatever this was gonna do. Director Lexi Alexander definitely boosted the ante by embarking violence more graphic than before, which I welcome because I expect it. That was what helped make the film generally entertaining, but that didn’t mean I loved it. As I got older, I realized that it doesn’t really age well due to trying too hard at being multiple things. We know the action makes it a superhero film, but the drama behind it is forcing it to be a gangster movie like The Untouchables. With the mix not really working, it leads to a lot of scenes that don’t really make sense. Like at the beginning, it was cool for Frank to turn off the lights to be ahead of his target, but I really doubt he’d do it undetected when there were so much plates set for dinner. The whole flare was an interesting way to reveal him for audience’s sake, but I would’ve not minded if we waited for him to be revealed after he actually killed everyone. Had he not used the flare, Billy would not be able to retreat. It’s weirder than the everyone at the table being so hesitant to attack him before he does. I did think it was cool for Frank to have his murder files take over the whole basement, but that can’t be possible. With the mob having their soldiers, it’s not like the Punisher is the only killer out there. And since he is mostly aware of his surroundings, how did he miss Grace outside the house? I know he wants to have his guard down out of regret for his actions, but it shouldn’t be hard for him to notice her when walking up the step to the door. Also, why didn’t Jigsaw check the strip club where Nicky said he kept the money? If he did check there already, that should’ve been said so. I know cops can be stupid onscreen, but they hit their lowest for actually trusting Jim when they walk into the room behind him. I mean that’s asking to get killed. No matter how cool the shootout becomes during the climax, it doesn’t change the fact how stupid the henchmen get when when they don’t notice Soap and Budianski outside. A bunch are on the roof and a few are are by the window, so they’re either blind or they’re fucking stupid. The only reason I find it bearable years later because once I ignore these issues, I am able to catch on to the theme to always fight for what you believe in and in this case, it’s about vengeance. It doesn’t matter if you prefer Thomas Jane or Jon Bernthal as the best version of Frank Castle because the late Ray Stevenson was able to make the character his own when he dawns the skull painted vest. With the loss he went through, his only purpose is to eliminate the crime that took away everything he ever loved. He fights and kills more grim than other dangerous individuals because he knows his targets don’t deserve mercy. When Nicky became his first casualty of war, he doubted his method being a difference maker. But the more he fought, the more he understood some things can be beyond his control since he couldn’t have known Nicky was undercover. Angelina had the right to be angry towards him because she was never ready to lose who she loved. But every time she saw him selflessly fight for her and her daughter, she was able to look past a fatal accident. And hey, even her husband remembered his intentions before he died, backing up how Frank couldn’t have known he was undercover. The worst set of circumstances brought these people together but at least now, the Donatellis have gained a new guardian angel they wouldn’t expect either. Considering how dangerous Frank is, it can be surprising to see there were people willing to trust him. It always surprises me Frank found an ally out of Micro, but Wayne Knight made him interesting for portraying him as one who is more aware of the consequences when getting dirty. He supplies Frank because he knows he gets the job done. Even he had his own level of selflessness as he begged Frank to kill him in exchange of sparing the Donatellis. Although the vigilante acted differently, it didn't change either of their intentions to save the most innocent characters. Since the protagonist acts on the wrong side, it's easy to forget there are others who still care about the law. Budiasnky and Soap may have been a mismatch, but both knew of the stakes and did their best in protecting the city they care about. Colin Salmon showed Budiansky as a guy too strict within himself on how to do the right thing, whereas Dash Mihok shows off Soap as a guy who puts good use of leeway. The latter tipped Frank as much as he could because like Micro, he knows his methods are more successful than others. With that being said, I'm sure they're not that bad of partners. With a hero so tough, it makes sense to have villains to be oh so bad. My god we had a scary pair out of Jigsaw and Loony Bin Jim. Dominic West & Doug Hutchinson went all in making the antagonists as openly deranged you'd expect from the kind of people in love with crime. Each of them brought their own levels of viciousness on their own, only to become worse when together. Luckily, their reign of terror before it could get any worse. What doesn't get talked about enough has to be the makeup given to make West become Jigsaw. It's incredibly pulled right from the pages, becoming way more faithful than what was done for the character in the Netflix series. In short, Punisher: War Zone is a definitive guilty pleasure action film for letting the action do the talking and does its best to keep viewers invested from there. If you love nonstop action, this is a must watch.
Bình luận