Punisher: War Zone
Lionsgate | Release Date: December 5, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
30
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
10
Negative:
12
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
TV Guide MagazineJeremy Wheeler
Rarely have moviegoers seen such a two-fisted wrecking ball of vengeance such as the one realized here by Ray Stevenson. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Assuming you can appreciate the high level of gore and assorted sadistic weirdness, the action is satisfying. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyClark Collis
Dominic West (The Wire) plays a facially mutilated Mob boss as if he's in a broad SNL sketch. Read full review
50
Village VoiceLuke Y. Thompson
The script isn't what matters here: This is a slasher movie with guns, and, uh, huh-huh, that's pretty cool. Read full review
50
VarietyJohn Anderson
Along with torrents of gore, Punisher: War Zone has moments that are deliriously funny, because the violence is so awful and so casual. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It looks great, it hurtles through its paces and is well-acted. The soundtrack is like elevator music if the elevator were in a death plunge. The special effects are state of the art. Its only flaw is that it's disgusting. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The film works a bit better than the 2004 "Punisher" installment, the one starring surly, dislikable Thomas Jane as Frank Castle. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This is essentially a Steven Seagal movie without the Ponytailed One, and may appeal to those who enjoyed Seagal's rather bland, cookie-cutter action films. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The blood and gore quotients of Punisher: War Zone are extremely high and are sure to sop the appetites of the series' fans and virtual bloodlusters. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
No worse than the second. Still, it pales in comparison to the first, which starred Dolph Lundgren. And that, right there, should tell you everything you need to know. Read full review
40
Film ThreatScott Mendelson
Although it's possible to enjoy the first act and third act carnage without paying attention to the plot mechanics, the storyline itself continuously reminds us of the fallacy of Castle’s quest. Read full review
40
EmpireTom Ambrose
Another violently unsuccessful attempt to bring this comic book character to screen. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The dialogue is beyond clichéd, and performances feel cobbled together from other movies. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
If most December movie releases are epic-length and Oscar-ambitious, then Punisher: War Zone has to be considered Hobbesian counterprogramming: It's nasty, brutish, and short. Read full review
38
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
The acting is better than the script deserves and Lexi Alexander's cut-to-the-hearse direction lends the film considerable kick. Read full review
38
PremiereStaff (Not credited)
A disappointingly schlocky effort that gives up on trying to make a realistic Punisher movie, settling instead on a hokey, multi-colored-neon gun rave best enjoyed in Rob Zombie's family room. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
So unrelentingly violent that all but teen boys might as well stay home. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This awful sequel dispenses with any such pretense, its cartoonish characters running an endless gauntlet of hypergruesome violence. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
This is junk, a bunch of hard-R action scenes kept together by the thinnest of plots. Read full review
25
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
There is no stylistic thrill to this blunt object of a callous action film. It's content to bludgeon the audience into numb resignation. Read full review
20
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Anyone with a modicum of good sense -- or a weak stomach -- will take it as a warning to stay the heck away from this literally and figuratively deadly "War Zone." Read full review
20
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Does it have to be so witless, so stupid, so openly contemptuous of the very audience it’s supposed to be pandering to? Read full review
0
New York PostKyle Smith
With its dopey fight scenes, grimy look and goopy gore, this movie is so far from ept that inept is the wrong word. It's anti-ept. Read full review
0
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
All Alexander proves in Punisher: War Movie is that a martial-arts-trained woman can make a film just as stupid, coarse and numbing as any muscle man. Read full review
More From This Movie

30 Critic Reviews

6.0 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL