Punisher 2: War Zone

The first Punisher movie (actually the second) starring Tom Jane was crap. Just the sheer fact that it had ol' Saturday Night Fever in it made it suck even more. It seems that the franchise has a new lease on life with some perennial premium cable favorites. Rome's Ray Stevenson and The Wire's Dominic West (both also british) bring the pain. Dexter's love interest Julie Benz does a very believable job of acting the grieving cop wife as well. Ray Stevenson does not say a goddamn word for the first part of the movie, and Dominic West's big bag of crazy make this a really, really fun shoot 'em up. The plot is not particularly complex, but it brings a healthy dose of gun porn and some great explosions. The villain is actually kinda scary, and the united nations of gangs bring a nice element of progressive multiculturalism to the movie. The main thing it has going for it however; is no John Travolta. That big headed space boy is nowhere to be found with his Zoolander brand of acting. They achieved more with underrated HBO stiffs than the first one did with big budget goon John Travolta. The sociopathic gangsters and Stevenson captured a lot more of the original darkness with their inherent grit. I think that is the beauty of premium cable as well, (not that I have it, but I like the idea), it opens our eyes to dudes like Ray Stevenson and Dominic West, who would have languished in obscurity had it not been for the wily folks at those networks that use bad language. Anyhow, see the movie if you like violent films.