Punisher Warzone is deemed by most Punisher fans to be the best in the series of three, and I agree (in part). The backstory is the most consistent after two mishaps. Frank Castle now has a son and daughter with his wife. And a larger point of contention for many fans is fixed as well. Instead of the family massacre that happened in the 2004 version or the car bomb that occurs in the 1989 version, Castle’s family stumbled upon a mafia hanging of an informant and to keep them quiet, the family was murdered in the park during what was supposed to be a happy picnic. The location is also canonically in New York, contrasting with the 2004 locale of Tampa, Florida, though this by no means makes the film more or less enjoyable, since location is only part of how one appreciates and is absorbed into the film’s narrative. Ray Stevenson’s portrayal is spot on to the Punisher’s divided psyche, desiring retribution for his family’s murders and yet also showing a human side that isn’t manifest as much with Dolph Lundgren’s Punisher. And it is only so much with Thomas Jane’s Punisher described as a work on progress in the 2004 film. That Frank Castle is not the complex figure having already suffered the tragedy and worked through it in some way that the other two films present. The best part of Warzone, many would say, is the brutality and violence that appears throughout the film. Frank Castle cuts off an old geriatric’s head, breaks his wife’s neck, headbutts a guy once, apparently incapacitating him and kicks a chair attempted to be used to strike him into the assailant’s face, lodging it in his eye. There are many other points that I could elaborate on, but suffice it to say, this film is not for the squeamish. Even I (who am not weak of constitution or squeamish by nature) grimaced at the targets of the Punisher’s more physical attacks, including a guy getting his face literally punched in. I’m guessing all the gun violence has been desensitized out of me.
In terms of supporting characters to the Punisher, Microchip, portrayed by Wayne Knight, best known in Jurassic Park as the hacker Dennis Nedry, is probably the best, seconded by Martin Soap, another comic book canon figure. Microchip’s identity is consistently portrayed as someone sympathetic to the Punisher’s cause, but also in disagreement with some choices he makes. In this version, Microchip is the one that is persevering with Frank to continue his quest for justice after having already avenged his family and feeling content. But in the comic, as I recall, he eventually started to question the Punisher’s methods as too extreme and was killed off in a confrontation. But Microchip’s fate in the film is not much better. First, his invalid mother, who serves as a point to capturing Microchip for the villains, gets her head blown off and then Microchip accepts his fate to be shot and taking the bullet as Frank takes out the other captor. Soap’s involvement is similar to his role in the comic as a police informant for Frank, also manifesting his support in the film by letting Frank out of his handcuffs and out of the squad car after his capture by what appears to be Lawrence Fishburne (but he’s not). He serves a similar role that Lou Gossett Jr. does in the 1989 film as one who pursues the Punisher as a reality, though most view him as a myth. His devotion to seeking out the Punisher is only seen more clearly in his supporting Frank however he can. Though it is debatable if he agrees because he sees it as the right way or if he himself admits he is too cowardly to take the Punisher’s ways on himself. Whereas the Punisher, who lives in what appears to be somewhere near the subway, contrasting with the sewer hideout in Dolph Lundgren’s portrayal and with the crumbling apartment complex in the 2004 film, connects with few people except Microchip and Soap.
This notion of the Punisher’s detached character is tested by the involvement of a subplot where Frank accidentally kills an undercover FBI agent, widowing his wife and daughter. He later comes to make amends and befriends the little girl, while her mother is less than enthusiastic to see him. After a confrontation where Frank reflects that she is much like his late wife, knowing how to use a gun, however much she didn’t want to confront the danger of being the wife of an FBI agent, he leaves. The two are taken to Frank’s hideout and then are kidnapped after Frank seeks out his enemies. They are then used as part of a dichotomy between Frank’s desire to protect the innocent and his loyalty to his friends, Microchip in particular. Soap would’ve been an interesting replacement, but Microchip is more invested in Punisher’s cause than Soap, so his eventual death is not as much of a blow as it would be for Soap. This is because we’ve established that Microchip only had his mother left, so with her death by Jigsaw, all ties have been severed. This seems to contrast strongly with Dolph Lundgren’s willingness to partner up with Franco after Budiansky was held ransom, though there was no dilemma of choosing between two victims, so the choice was more forced and quick than in the conclusion of Warzone.
The villains in Warzone are also interesting, though it’s a balance between the added in characters and the one canon villain, Punisher’s nemesis, Jigsaw. First, consider the added in characters. Jigsaw’s brother, not canon from what I can tell, is still an interesting addition. He seems to be completely insane, being restrained in the asylum and fed by orderlies, since he is catatonic as well. But when his shackles are removed, he speaks in an oddly childish manner. He then proceeds to attack the orderly, ripping out his organs to get his applesauce back (I’m not kidding). The involvement of the character is more important later as he kidnaps the widowed FBI agent and daughter, “axing” their guardian, a reformed Mexican gangbanger who is a friend of Microchip (yes, that’s his backstory) to get through to them. And in the final confrontation, he fights Frank in the upper levels of Jigsaw’s hideout, using a very erratic and wall-jumping style to overwhelm the Punisher. But eventually he is beaten and bruised and like many Punisher villains, killed by snapping his neck in a headlock. If anything, he gave one of the better Punisher fights in the films, besides Kevin Nash as the Russian. He takes the Punisher’s beatings and keeps getting up, almost enjoying the pain as was demonstrated when he smashed the mirrors in the first floor of the building so that Jigsaw didn’t have to look at his mutilated face. The guy jumped headfirst into a mirror, so suffice it to say, he takes even Frank Castle’s beatings easily. There’s also a subgroup of villains that seem to stand out. There’s the Italian mafia, Japanese yakuza and…the African American gangs… Really? Just seems a bit beyond stereotypical to me. Even the Eastern Europeans we see are less racist a subtype of criminal.
Jigsaw’s backstory is both consistent and inconsistent, which can be bad if done wrong, though this is effective nonetheless. Jigsaw, unlike his equivalent in the Punisher video game, is Billy Russoti, and not John Saint, which lines up with the comics. His mannerisms and general behavior are near identical to Jigsaw in the comics, concerned with his looks and after the surgery, becoming a maniacal crime boss, killing his plastic surgeon after being revealed that he was pieced together, not unlike his namesake. The way he gets his face destroyed differs from the comics, where he was thrown face-first through a plate glass window, cutting up his face, but not destroying it. I will warn you, the movie portrayal is far more disturbing. He is thrown into a glass crusher that spins the glass around a center point and smashes it all up, and the ensuing activity of the machine tears virtually all his face off and supposedly even damages his facial muscles and bones to some extent. The resulting face reminds me to some extent of Mason Verger from Hannibal with his sewn together face, though at least Verger didn’t have to feel the pain as much as Jigsaw did. Jigsaw’s end in the film didn’t leave open the door for a return. This disappointed me in some respect, since Jigsaw is well known to be the Punisher’s greatest adversary and if anything, his supposed death could’ve been more ambivalent than getting impaled with a spear and burned to death. But it still ends on a nice note of Punisher violence, going beyond what is necessary and being almost torture to the villain. This is both a gain and a loss to me. A sequel to this film could’ve had Jigsaw come back, albeit not necessarily as the main villain. But who knows if the sequel with Ray Stevenson will come to be with Barracuda…
I like to say this movie is tied with Thomas Jane’s Punisher, since Thomas Jane to me is the best Punisher appearance, voice and behavior wise, though Ray Stevenson is a close tie since his brutality is very similar, even resetting his nose with a pencil near the beginning of the film after his headbutt in the opening, which made me squirm and watch it a second time. The film is the most consistent with canon as well and even portrays Castle’s backstory a bit with relation to his previous priest training, speaking to a priest in the sanctuary as if they were old friends. Microchip, Soap and Jigsaw’s appearances all make this the favorite by die hard comic fans and I would agree in that regard. But I feel Thomas Jane’s version even with the retconned backstory and other changes, still keeps the same dark atmosphere that this version gives you in spades. So until next time, Namaste and aloha.
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