The comic was delayed this morning due to a server hiccup not allowing me to input the comic correctly. Major thanks to Dave Buist for helping to set things right. Dave has his own web comic that I’ve mentioned before called Taking the Bi-Pass that you should all check out. Give Dave a big Theater Hopper “thank you” and visit his site this afternoon!

I sawPunisher: War Zone this weekend and people keep asking me what I thought about it. My reply? “It’s about what you expect.”

Admittedly, my expectations were low for this film and it didn’t disappoint. The film LOOKS amazing, don’t get me wrong. It’s lit especially well and Ray Stevenson inhabits the scary, stoic ferocity of The Punisher quite well. It’s just… well… It’s just when people start talking, the movie suffers for it.

The plot is boilerplate. Four years after losing his family in a gangland execution, Frank Castle is still out on the streets murdering thugs and crooks in cold blood. The police envy his vigilantism and even throw him tips from time to time. But while on another mission, Frank slips up an murders an undercover FBI agent. What makes it worse is that the agent has a family.

Frank decides to give up the life, but one of the gang members survived his brutal attack. Incidentally, the one he threw into a giant bottle recycler. His face torn to ribbons and stitched back together on the cheap, Jigsaw is born and vows to kill The Punisher and anyone who stands in his way.

Dominic Westas Jigsaw is a campy distraction through the entire movie. Today’s comic does not over-exaggerate his stereotypical mobster “Noo Yawk” accent. It is as if director Lexi Alexander asked him to play the role as broadly and comical as possible.

When Jigsaw and his brother Looney Bin Jim (recently freed from a mental institution) literally pimp-strut down the street recruiting local gangs to team up and take out The Punisher once and for all, there’s very little credibility to salvage from the production.

Ultimately, the movie plays EVERYTHING broad. Much has been written about the violence in this picture, which is way over the top. But after a while, the sight of head’s exploding at point-blank range becomes funny, not disturbing.

I blame director Lexi Alexander. A native of Germany, she approaches violence with a very European sensibility. It’s graphic and intense, but the movie is always winking at you – letting you know it isn’t real. When the Punisher punches a hole in a guy’s face,she’s pretty much gone off the reservation.

The Punisher needs a director with an American sensibility for violence. Someone who will make it gritty, real and – most importantly – regrettable. The Punisher isn’t a thrill killer. He doesn’t commit acts of violence for the sake of it. He kills because he feels he has to. And, in the end, the one he punishes the most… is himself.

I’m sure we’ll have more to say about Punisher: War Zone tonight on The Triple Feature. So be sure to tune in live over at TalkShoe.com at 9:00 PM CST. If you have questions for the group before we record, feel free to send them to group@thetriplefeature.com. Or, participate live in the chat field. You can even call-in if you like!

We hope to see you there tonight! Tune in and thanks for your patience waiting for today’s comic!