I recently commented on a review about The Incredible Hulk (written by Oldzia999), saying that Marvel didn't really get the hang of making films up until 2008, when they came out with Iron Man, said Hulk and Punisher: Warzone. Seeing as how both The Incredible Hulk and Punisher: Warzone are remakes (or do-overs, I guess), I thought it'd be fun to write a review for both the second and the third Punisher film. The first is of course the one with Dolph Lundgren, who never needs a review. Everything he does is pure awesome, after all.

So that brings us to the Punisher the 2nd. The story is, for those who know the character, pretty straight forward. Frank Castle (Christopher Lambe - I mean Thomas Jane, Dreamcatcher) has just retired from the police force and is enjoying a relaxing holiday with his entire family when everyone gets brutally murdered. Don't worry, that's not a spoiler, happens pretty much right of the bat. It turns out that the son of crime-boss Howard Saint (John Travolta, Grease) was killed during Castle's last assignment, and Saint is holding Castle responsible. Of course, Frank survives the assault and vows to become that which his enemies fear the most: The Batman!

Just kidding. He puts on a shirt with a skull and starts seeking revenge on Saint and his syndicate, doing so by an intricate web of lies and deceit. In fact, the only times the Punisher can be seen doing the punishing is when he's assaulted by two hitmen (not at the same time) who seem to be pulled straight out of Desperado and that Rocky movie with Dolph Lundgren as the giant Russian.

The Punisher was of course an adaptation of the same-titled Marvel Comic, but as many may have noticed, movie-Castle isn't as violet as comic-Castle by a long shot. Sure, he knows how to handle himself, but he'd rather avoid conflict altogether.
The acting isn't all that great either, even with Travolta playing one of the leads. I blame it on the fact that it's an early marvel film. Much like Ghost Rider or Daredevil (which were, in my opinion, still awesome though), the Punisher doesn't quite get there. It's more of an entertaining action flick that happens to have a dude with a skull-shirt as well, but to me, that's where the comparison ends.
As for the story itself, there's not a lot of originality here either. The whole revenge-thing is obligatory, but then there's that scene with the giant Russian in the Where's Wally outfit. Also, the scene where they're singing and dancing. That never works. Not even as a trick to get cheap laughs from the audience. Never works. Ever.

In short: The Punisher is to Punisher Warzone as what a traffic warden is to a marine: Something relatively soft trying to be bad-ass. If you're a fan of Marvel, you'll probably like it. If you're a die-hard Punisher fan, maybe a little less.