The Curious Case of Frank Castle

First...a personal history. The recent version of the Punisher starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta (actors whos work I like) is wank. It's cock. It's the least punishing movie about punishing I can think of. I really like the cheap Dolph Lundgren version from the early 90's. Frank Castle is tougher, the cast groovy, it has some style and it kicks arse.

Punisher: War Zone is the best adaptation, to date. It sets up its intentions early, in a scene where the Marvel Comic;s vigillante gatecrashes a mob get-together. There is blood. Huge explosions of blood. Inventive deaths. Exploding heads. Gloriously violent decapitations. Tee Hee. I was worried by distributer Lionsgate's recent 'pussying-out' with their gory movies ( The house of Saw thinks theyre a respectable outfit these days), but they certainly delivered here.

Its pretty well directed by Lexi Alexander who shows she knows how to frame and light a scene (although it can fall into the talking head trap a little too easily). I think there's better work to come from Ms Alexander.

Ray Stevenson makes a brooding on screen presence and his dialogue is kept to an absolute minimum. There's a couple of comic book lines which come across as corny, by both Mr P and his enemy Jigsaw, but the overall style is less reality based than its predecesor and so its not too jarring the odd time it happens.

If you liked the outrageous ultra-violence of last years Rambo movie, then this is the ticket for you. If you didn't...sod off and watch Momma Mia! for the eighty third time.