Ever since Tim Burton decided to develop and direct a much more mature version of "Batman" way back in 1989, movies based on comic books have evolved continually, reaching an apex of high quality with Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight." That excellent action movie even landed the late Heath Ledger a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
No matter how high-brow comic book movies have become, and no matter how many high-profile comic book movies will be made in the future, a few stinkers seem to always make their way to movie theaters worldwide, and unfortunately the latest "Punisher" movie, "Punsiher: War Zone", falls into this stinker category.
There is no doubt that this Blu-Ray DVD does contain some "behind the scenes" sections that are worth watching, such as "Training of the Punisher", which shows how an Army sergeant on the set showed actor Ray Stevenson, who portrays the Punisher, how to lock and load his weapon and how to emerge out of hiding places to shoot the enemy realistically.
But there are only two other "behind the scenes" sequences to be found on this Blu-Ray disc, far less than other action movie DVDs that seem to relish giving the viewer as many secrets in film-making as the DVD can possibly hold.
As far as the movie itself goes, "Punisher: War Zone" features the dismal and dull acting abilities of Ray Stevenson just going through the motions as he plays Frank Castle as a man on a mission to avenge the death of his wife and children at the hands of his nemesis, Billy Russoti/Jigsaw, played by Dominic West, who has the worst possible Italian accent I have ever heard in a major motion picture.
You have seen this type of avenge plot around 100 times, if you have been going to the movies for at least a few years, and "Punisher: War Zone" brings absolutely nothing new to make this new version of "Punisher" worth seeing. In fact, if you liked the Thomas Jane version of the "Punisher" that was released just a few years ago, you will be sorely disappointed by the way this newer version just loads on tons of gory deaths by the hands of the "Punisher" while never getting into the psychosis behind Ray Castle's penchant for extreme blood-letting.
The movie has a nice and colorful overall look thanks to cinematographer Steve Gainer, but the director, Lexi Alexander, adds nothing to the limp and hackneyed plot that features Dominic West's character, Jigsaw, as a mobster who just wants to dominate everyone in his path at all costs.
How many times have we seen this same type of dimensionless villain in countless action movies before? I'd say around 1 million or so, but who's counting? All in all, "Punisher: War Zone" has to be one of the worst movies based on a decent comic book I have seen in years. Let's hope the future of comic book movies has more in common with "Batman Begins" and it's superior ilk of genre action movies rather than with any film in the "Punisher" franchise.
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