SCORE
-3 out of 5-
CREDITS
Frank Castle: Ray Stevenson.
Jigsaw: Dominic West.
Loony Bin Jim: Doug Hutchison.
Micro: Wayne Knight.
Directed by Lexi Alexander.
Produced by Lionsgate films.
PREFACE
The Bible:
"[L]earn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause" (Isaiah 1:17).
"Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death" (Leviticus 24:17).
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:38-39) (words of Christ).
"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:44-45) (words of Christ).
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord'" (Romans 12:19).
The world:
"He who does not punish evil, commands it to be done. "
-Leonardo da Vinci
"He who studies evil is studied by evil."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. "
-Edmund Burke
"The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil."
-Cicero
"They say, 'Evil prevails when good men fail to act.' What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
-Yuri Orlov, "Lord of War"
"Yield not to evils, but attack all the more boldly."
-Virgil
REVIEW
"Punisher: War Zone" is a film largely about stylized violence. The violence is so gruesome, the language so offensive, and the story so dark that I cannot endorse this movie. The target audience of this blog are saved Christians searching, as I am, for how to live a life pleasing to God and how apply His truth to the circumstances that confront us. Obviously, the protagonist in the Punisher leads a life that no Christian in this world has ever chosen to live. But then, how many Christians in this world have experienced the circumstances he has? For that reason, while I will not endorse or recommend this movie to any of you, neither will I tell you to refrain from seeing it. The point of this review, and any review on this blog, is to enable you to make that call for yourself.
Story: This film is not about violence for the sake of violence, even if it may seem that way at first. To understand the story, you need some background to the character. Frank Castle is an American veteran who, upon returning home from war, expected to find peace with his family. Instead, one day, while walking through Central Park, Frank and his family witness a mob execution, and his his wife, son, and daughter all become collateral damage in a war that the government and police were not, in Frank's estimation, truly fighting.
Those familiar with comic book on which this movie is based know the rest of the story well. For those who do not: the murderers were not brought to justice, so Frank tracked down the killers of his family and exacted revenge, but he did not stop there. A soldier by trade, Frank's reaction is to do what he does best: he declared open war on crime. Politicians talk about "justice," "due process," and "rights" when referring to crime, while they use terms like "collateral damage," "acceptable losses," and "strategy" when referring to war. Frank's family having become collateral damage in a mob war, decided that he had one last war to fight, so he pursues the enemy and victory with little caution for his own life. His goals are two: punishing the evil amd protecting the innocent so that no more families become "collateral damage." It ceases to be about revenge: Frank has killed everyone even remotely responsible for the deaths of his family before the movie even begins. Rather, Franks seeks to exterminate or "punish" evil. Thus, the Punisher is born.
The story of how Frank Castle became the Punisher is amazing, with a lot of emotion fueling it, but that is not what this movie is about. This movie is about the after effects. The origin of the Punisher is almost too much for a movie to convey (which is where the last adaptation arguably failed). Having once worked with crime victims as a prosecutor, I can tell you this: no movie can truly capture their pain. Rather than attempting to do this, the movie shows Frank's gruesome past in brief flashbacks, giving us but a glimpse of his painfult motivations.
We do not, however, need to fully understand Frank's pain to understand why he would want justice. This movie is not about justice either, though. It is about punishment, and you will be punished throughout the entire movie as you witness admittedly evil men tortured, maimed, and killed with a measure of brutality that only an obsessive sociopath could deliver. The questions the movie presents a Christian viewer is, can you understand why Frank Castle goes so far beyond justice, meaning can you understand what would drive him to compulsively kill criminals without remorse? Can his actions be justified in the Word?
Those of us who could relate to Frank's pain do not have the military training and mindset that Frank has. Had Frank been a philosopher, perhaps he'd have tried to make sense of the tragedy from a logical perspective. Frank was once in training to be a priest before the war; had he continued down that path, perhaps he would have turned to God to make sense of his loss. A person's reaction to pain is largely governed by his past experiences. People use what they know of the world to make sense of it. I think Christians are in the best position, perhaps, as we look, ideally, to the Bible to make sense of such pain.
Frank, nevertheless, was a marine. More to the point, he was part of a special forces unit, meaning he was used to making sense of the world and evil from behind a rifle. For good or for ill, this movie is about his application of the art of war as a solution to the threat of crime. When politicians use terms like "war on drugs" and "war on crime," they mean increased police measures and prosecutions, not vigilante killings. When the Punisher uses the term "war," he means it literally, and he uses military weapons to fight the enemy. In pursuing his war, Frank cuts himself off from the rest of the world, denies himself any human pleasures or fleshly pursuits, and dedicates himself to being the most disciplined soldier to ever walk the earth. Every night, he kills men that he judges to be evil, leaving us to question idf his judgments amount to justice, revenge, or something else.
PROS: And this is why the movie is about more than just violence for the sake of violence - you will have to ask yourself what you believe about crime and punishment. What does the Bible say about it? What does the world say about it? Does your government truly pursue justice, and does our system of enforcing the law and punishing criminals truly go far enough? I have placed some quotes in the preface of this review to aid you in contemplating these questions, possibly without need for watching this film.
The moment I realized this movie presented these questions and just how much it made me ponder them, was the moment I decided to write this review. That moment came when I read the quote from Isaiah 1:17 above: "Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow" (NIV, the one above is ESV). Without revealing too much of the plot, there is a moment in the movie where the Punisher kills a criminal who turns out to be an undercover agent of the FBI, leaving behind a widow and fatherless son. One could observe that Frank has done to this FBI agent's family precisely what was done to him by the mob: they are now collateral damage in a war, only this time it was Frank's war. The movie is largely about Frank's moral struggle with whether to continue the war as the Punisher, or to lay down the skull permanently (his symbol, worn on his chest).
The movie is incredibly well-acted, directed, and produced, and it is quite faithful to the Garth Ennis run of the comic, which will please most existing Punisher fans. It looks like it had a large budget, though I suspect it did not. "Punisher: War Zone" provides a different perspective of crime, punishment, and justice through amazing visuals, a well-choreographed use of stage violence, and the ongoing commentary of police officers, victims, criminals, and the accomplices of all. If you can get past the violence long enough to think about the plot, then it will really make you think about the meaning of justice versus vengeance, and whether punishment is synonymous with either of them.
CONS: I said that the commentaries of the characters will make you think. Unfortunately, the commentary most needed to analyze the ethical questions the movie presents is absent: Frank's. I suppose a by-product of being a disciplined solider is that you are a man of few words, who lets his actions speak loudest. However, as a fan of the comic, I recall Frank having an inner-monologue that gave at least some flesh to his thought processes, motivations, and reasoning. Like the comic, Frank doesn't negotiate or explain himself to the criminals he punishes, but the missing "thought bubbles" that served as Frank's narration in the comics prevent us from sharing Frank's pain and experience in the movie. The result is that a brilliant story is lost in a sea of violence that will distract most viewers, casual or otherwise, from the subtle themes and plot points woven into the film. For that reason, most will deem the violence pointless.
The violence is not the only thing in the movie that seems high-quality, though. The cinematography is amazing, and given that most of the movie occurs after dark, that is an accomplishment. Remember Tim Burton's "Batman" (1989)? The movie was so dark that it was hard to watch. Punisher does not suffer from this. Why is this a con? Because what you see so well is so gritty and ugly that you come out of the theater nauseous. The movie does not give its viewers a second to breathe.
The rare, brief pauses from the violence and cursing are shot in environments so gritty (i.e. sewers) or suspenseful (i.e. a widow's home, a graveyard) that they are also hard to stomach. Perhaps, as Roger Ebert said of the movie "Aliens," which suffers from a similar ailment, this was what the movie set out to do, in which case I have to applaud it. It does this well. The question becomes, though, can most audience members handle it? I think not. So the movie was destined to become a box office flop (though I predict high DVD sales). It is a victim of its own, built-in shortcomings. This story and its characters are not going to appeal to the general public.
The movie does not qualify as a "revenge flick" because it goes so far beyond revenge that you forget that Frank ever had a "score to settle." In fact, the movie takes place 5 years after he got revenge. That ship has sailed. Neither is this movie a harmless "action flick" like "Transporter." This movie is not the usual "comic book movie" either. Unlike "Iron Man," it is not based off of a comic written for the young. Legally, one is supposed to be 17 or older to buy the Punisher comics relevant to the movie.
It sought to do something different. While brave, that makes it a niche film. At most, it can hope to categorized as a "cult classic," or perhaps it will fall into a new genre with "Sin City," another comic-based movie that you would never want to take a kid to see.
This movie does what it set out to do, but do not take women or children to see it. I read online that a man took his wife to see this, and she cried for the rest of the night. The movie's use hardcore violence and profanity must be weighed against the only good thing it does: forcing those of us willing to watch it closely to reevaluate what we think/believe about vengeance, justice, crime, and punishment.
Final thought: This film is a movie for guys with some time to themselves, making it good for rental/purchase on DVD. Watch it alone, though. Anyone you invite to watch it with might hate you later for inviting them. Beware: unless you have read the Punisher comics by Garth Ennis (also graphically violent and gritty), you may be missing out on a lot of the context that makes the movie worth watching at any rate. My own interest in the comic and the movie are born out of my personal interest in criminal law - an interest many do not share. As an alternative, try the "Count of Monte Cristo": it's a decent revenge flick with little cursing, light violence, and a positive ending.
Bottom line: 3/5.
John and I have an avowed interest in this particular comic character. Sometimes a writer comes along and either completely redefines a comic (anti-)hero, or who hones the character to a point where other versions seem irrelevant. Garth Ennis was such a writer for the Punisher comics over the last decade or so.
ReplyDeleteOne of the interesting things about the Punisher as a character is his contradictions. He commits acts of extreme violence, generally without anger or passion. He doesn't consider his war to be particularly just, preferring to think of it as necessary. Indeed, encountering others waging similar wars to his own at one point, he considers them murderers to be killed.
The Punisher also illustrates the difference between fighting a war and policing a populace -- when rules which would be typical of wartime are applied to criminals within a city, the terrible nature of that violence is more shocking.
One more interesting element about the Punisher is his lack of consideration for his reasons. He made his choice many years ago, and at this point not only does he not agonize over his decision, it has become part of his basic nature.
I think this illustrates a point about human nature -- whenever a man chooses an action, however good or terrible, the "central part of the man" (as described by C.S. Lewis) is changed indelibly; he becomes the sort of man who would make that choice. Each time that choice is made it becomes easier to make the same choice, and harder to make any other choice.
Frank Castle became the sort of man who would kill his enemy as a soldier. The terrible choice to kill became part of his nature. He then felt as though criminals (in a general sense, the actual killers of his family being only meaningless thugs in a larger organization) became his enemies, for having committed an act which destroyed his life forever. He then does what makes sense to him: kill the enemy using all the strategy and cunning he learned in war. As Frank says, "Every night I go out and make the world sane."
Frank has long since lost the ability to make any other choice. He has chosen his brutal and violent mission over all other considerations so often that he very nearly lacks the capacity to make any other choice.
I liked the film, though a bit less than John did. I think I'd probably still give it a 3/5, but heed John's caveats if you're interested in watching it. The film has almost a level of silliness, where it goes over the top intentionally. It has only a hint of this element, though, which leads to a bit of an uneven tone when compared with Frank's real and interesting angst about having hurt innocents and violated his code. Still, it's far better than the Tom Jane version from a few years ago (though Jane himself was good), and it's more interesting than your standard action fare.
Just a side note: If Rob and I have made this movie seem interesting, take that with a grain of salt. It is not a movie I would recommend to anyone. I started my career as an attorney with a trip to the morgue to see the autopsy of a baby. After that, violence loses a lot of its meaning. For most of you, this movie will not be a pleasant experience, and I highly recommend you examine the quotes before the review as an atlernative way to examine the themes explored in the movie. But, the review is here, ultimately, to enable you to make your own decision.
ReplyDeleteThis got me thinking some more about the Punisher character. I'll try to limit my thoughts on this topic.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting things about the Punisher, to me, is the contrast between his war and revenge. Revenge is to perpetrate an equivalent evil on a person who wronged you. Vengeance for Castle could have consisted of killing all the men who were responsible for the death of his family, or even of taking away the family of the man who ran the mob operation that sent thugs to the park that fateful day.
However, Castle doesn't see what happened to him as a single act or event to be avenged. War is his frame of reference; crime, represented by criminals, has performed acts of war towards him. The only response, as he sees it, is to declare war himself. Anyone he sees as a member of the group which attacked him (this group seeming to consist of violent criminals generally) is an enemy combatant, to be dealt with as such.
It's also important to note the difference in goals between vengeance and war. Vengeance calls for the same evil perpetrated against the perpetrator; war is not finished until one side gives up or no longer exists. For instance, the U.S. did not stop fighting against Germany until there were no more Nazis. Not all the Nazi soldiers were killed as part of this process; at some point the Nazi government surrendered and was dissolved. Thus the fighting continued until the Nazi state no longer existed and as such there were no more people that qualified as our enemies.
So if Castle sees his mission as a war against violent criminals, and he is not inclined to ever give up (he considers it certain that he will die fighting his war), there can be no victory until the group "violent criminals" no longer exists. This requires him to either kill them all or for all violent criminals to become nonviolent. The impracticality of these ends doesn't seem to concern the Punisher.
To an extent, it's hard to blame him for that. Simply because a fight isn't winnable doesn't mean we shouldn't fight it. However, it's very important to choose our battles correctly and justly, and I think we can all agree that however interesting he is as a character, Castle's fight is far from just.