The best – and arguably only – way to enjoy 2008’s critical and commercial calamity Punisher: War Zone is to watch it as an absurdist comedy, even though we’re not sure that’s what the intention was.
Marking Frank Castle’s third attempt at silver screen stardom, Ray Stevenson followed in the footsteps of Dolph Lundgren and Thomas Jane before him by headlining a box office dud that didn’t even come close to sniffing a sequel. Not only that, but it’s one of the heftiest flops to ever come bearing the Marvel name, after War Zone topped out with $10 million in ticket sales on a $35 million budget.
However, if you make sure your brain is switched firmly into the “off” position, then the ludicrous shoot em’ up does play entertainingly well as a tongue-in-cheek black comedy. Whether or not it was supposed to be so outrageously and excessively violent that it became hilarious was deliberate remains up for debate, but you’ve got to think director Lexi Alexander knew there was no way anyone could ever hope to take the film seriously.
From an objective standpoint, Punisher: War Zone is terrible. That being said, there’s something almost endearing about watching Stevenson wear the same expression through all 103 minutes, whether he’s blowing a parkour enthusiast to bits with a rocket launcher, taking heads clean off shoulders while hanging from a chandelier, or trying to emote over the death of his family.
Jon Bernthal is the definitive take on the vigilante for a lot of fans, but that hasn’t prevented the character’s last cinematic outing from ending up as one of the most-watched titles on ad-supported platform Freevee, per FlixPatrol. Just don’t take it remotely seriously, and you’ll be fine.