Heading to the theater to see Punisher War Zone was one of the better choices I made thi weekend. My $9 was well spent as the trailers prior to the movie consisted of upcoming release of Underworld, Friday the 13^th, and My Bloody Valentine.

Then, the actual movie started.

Oh, man, what was I thinking when I went to see Punisher War Zone? Well, I thought I would get a decent B-grade revenge film. At the outset, this is exactly what I got. The film started out as a dark and grainy film reminiscent of the sleazy 42^nd St action films of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Also interesting was the reboot of the Punisher series tat followed the lead of The Incredible Hulk. If people didn’t like the first film, don’t make a sequel. Just pretend the first film didn’t happen. With this Punisher film, the Thomas Jane original is wiped out of existence as we get the direct origin from the comics along with the Punisher’s actual main villain Jigsaw.

The opening of the film truly captures the essence of what the Punisher is all about: the audience/reader wallowing in the Punisher’s mayhem against those that will not obey the law. Of course, the Punisher is a metaphor for the audience/readers anger. And, yes, the Punisher in all his incarnations is angry. The anger we latently feels lives through the violent outbreaks of Frank Castle. That is what makes his character popular. He is a machine and an embodiment of fury. Sometimes, he can be the subject of decent stories. However, as far as movies go, its three strikes and your out.

The first Dolph Lundgren film was a long line of Marvel films so awful their either weren’t released on dumped on video. What always blew my mind about Dolph’s film was the villains ask him who he is and he sarcastically replies “Batman.” There are dozens of great heroes in Marvel’s library and they plug a hero from the competitor?

The Thomas Jane Punisher film is a dreadful pleasure. It is a moron movie tried and true without any focus. Is it serious? At points, yes it is. Is it unintentionally fun? Yes, quite often. I mean, how can you tell a serious story about a many seeking revenge from his wife and child’s death when he has to fight a guitar wielding, Johnny Cash look alike, country western singing hitman? And since when does the Punisher rent an apartment and let everyone know where he lives?

Oh, yes, Thomas Janes’ outing was deliriously idiotic but it was a fun diversion. And it did make enough money on DVD to warrant a new film in the form of Punisher War Zone. Sadly, the film collapses within 20 minutes.

The film starts out as a garish, angry, serious tour de force and devolves into abject stupidity in the second reel.

Ray Stevenson essays the role in this outing as Jane dropped out of the film after complaining how awful the script. (Apparently, he thought the script for the 2004 film was good which really is an ominous sign for the new film) However, we never do see much of what makes the Punisher tick. He is one dimension and one note. Sure, they give him a few lines of throwaway drama and moralizing but it is SOOOOOO clichéd that I thought I was watching a 1940’s B movie. (Actually, I was watching a 2008 B-movie) Virtually ALL the dialogue from every character is clichéd and borrowed from films we have seen dozens of times over. Really, this film consists mainly of dialogue you would find in a Sci-Fi Channel (un)Original. No matter how many shootouts you have or how many realistically violent scenes you toss in the mix, once you have lost the audience due to clichés and boredom you cannot get them back into the film.

At a budget of $35 million, this is a hug dud having barely pulled in $8 million in two weekends. However, this film still will have a run with PPV and DVD so it still may make $$$’s yet. So, don’t discount another Punisher film one of these days. But, don’t expect one anytime soon either.