History Film / PunisherWarZone

* SadisticChoice: Jigsaw and his AxCrazy brother Loony Bin Jim give Frank a literal one in the form of a ShootTheDog scenario: [[spoiler:if Frank chooses between killing either the Donatellis or Micro, the brothers release the ones who were spared, otherwise they just kill all three hostages. Although [[HeroicSacrifice Micro offers himself to Frank to spare the Donatellis]], the latter instead elects to TakeAThirdOption. He kills Loony Bin Jim instead, and Jigsaw retaliates by killing Micro. Although given Frank's last words to Micro ("You won't feel a thing, Micro") coupled with Micro's nod to Frank, it seems as if they both understood that no matter who Frank choose, all of the hostages would have been killed anyway; by eliminating Jim, it gave Frank a brief window of time to save the Donatellis. Once they are out of harms way, he then [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutally]] makes sure that Jigsaw pays for Micro's death]].

** ThoseTwoBadGuys Pittsy and Ink are depicted as father and son.

* AdaptationalJobChange: In the comics, Paul Budiansky was a member of the NYPD like Martin Soap. This version is an FBI agent.

* GunsAkimbo: Punisher uses both pistols all the time until he is out of ammo.

** You expect this from Loony Bin Jim right off the bat... but [[TokenGoodTeammate Ink]] takes one of the Donatelli wall mounted swords, stabbing a female officer before going back to snort coke.

A critical and [[BoxOfficeBomb financial failure]] upon initial release, the film nonetheless has a small cult following, chief among them Creator/PattonOswalt who gave it a ColbertBump in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200112003055/http://www.pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?page=spew&id=90 this]] blog post. Having more in common with Creator/GarthEnnis's run on ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX Punisher MAX]]'' than the last movie, the film could be described as a giant monument to [[{{Gorn}} violence]], stupid fun, [[RatedMForManly masculinity]] and [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer balls-out insanity]].

** The Bulats serve as normal Russian criminals types, and Cristu is also a smuggler in New York City though Tiberiu is referred as being a RetiredMonster. In the comics they were former war criminals who became human traffickers. [[spoiler:Additionally, unlike the comics, this version of Tiberiu loved Cristu enough to seek revenge on Jigsaw for having him arrested, whereas both father and son in the comics pissed each other enough that they tried to kill each other.]]

* AdaptationAmalgamation: The film uses characters from both the mainline ''Punisher'' comics (Jigsaw [[spoiler:as his presence in the MAX series only came about a few months before the release of the movie]], Detective Soap, and Microchip) and ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' (The Bulats, Pittsy and Ink, Maginty, Paul Budiansky, and Don Cesare).

* AdaptationalHeroism: In the comics Microchip eventually became an enemy of Frank [[spoiler:before his death,]] while here he remains an ally to him throughout [[spoiler:all the way to his murder.]]

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: To some degree. A couple of characters (Cristu Bulat, Tiberiu Bulat, Pittsy, Ink, and Maginty) are InNameOnly and not as nearly as horrible as their comic book counterparts.

* AdaptationalWimp: Pittsy, Ink, and Maginty, are lacking in the badassery their MAX counterparts had.

** Jigsaw is presented as the nephew of Don Gaitano, as Jigsaw calls him "Uncle" and Pittsy says "I'm sorry about your family" after the Punisher kills Cesare.

** Jigsaw is presented as the nephew of Jennifer Cesare's grandfather, Gaitano, as Jigsaw calls him "Uncle G" and Pittsy says "I'm sorry about your family" after the Punisher kills Gaitano.

* AdaptationAmalgamation: The film uses characters from both the mainline ''Punisher'' comics (Jigsaw [[spoiler:as his presence in the MAX series only came about a few months before the release of the movie]], Detective Soap, and Microchip) and ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' (The Bulats, Pittsy and Ink, Maginty, Paul Budiansky, and Jennifer Cesare's grandfather, Gaitano).
* AdaptationNameChange: Jigsaw's last name is changed from "Russo" to "Russoti".

** The Bulats serve as normal Russian criminals types, and Cristu is also a smuggler in New York City though Tiberiu is referred as being a RetiredMonster. In the comics they were former war criminals who became human traffickers.
** Pittsy and Ink are now father and son rather being [[ThoseTwoGuys those two henchmen]] and serve as Jigsaw's [[TokenGoodTeammate good teammates]]. In the comics they were equally as unhinged as their boss in the comics, Nicolas Cavella.

* AdaptationDistillation: The film uses characters from both the mainline ''Punisher'' comics (Jigsaw [[spoiler:as his presence in the MAX series only came about a few months before the release of the movie]], Detective Soap, and Microchip) and ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' (The Bulats, Pittsy and Ink, Maginty, Paul Budiansky, and Jennifer Cesare's grandfather, Gaitano).

Ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle (Creator/RayStevenson), waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti (Dominic West). After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle (who accidentally kills an undercover FBI agent during his attempted hit), he sets out to get revenge on Castle under the alias of Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of the mobster's evil deeds go unpunished.

* AdaptationDistillation: The film uses characters from both the mainline ''Punisher'' comics (Jigsaw [[spoiler: as his presence in the MAX series only came about a few months before the release of the movie]], Detective Soap, and Microchip) and ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' (The Bulats, Pittsy and Ink, Maginty, Paul Budiansky, and Jennifer Cesare's grandfather, Gaitano).

* AdaptationNameChange: Jigsaw's last name is changed from "Russo" to "Russoti".

A critical and [[BoxOfficeBomb financial failure]] upon initial release, the film nonetheless has a small cult following, chief among them Creator/PattonOswalt who gave it a ColbertBump in [[http://www.pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?page=spew&id=90 this]] blog post. Having more in common with Creator/GarthEnnis's run on ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX Punisher MAX]]'' than the last movie, the film could be described as a giant monument to [[{{Gorn}} violence]], stupid fun, [[RatedMForManly masculinity]] and [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer balls-out insanity]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to [[Film/ThePunisher2004 the 2004 film]], adding BloodierAndGorier to boot. The film is one of the '''darkest''' Franchise/{{Marvel|Universe}} films ever created, if not the darkest. So much so that Marvel created an entire new film subsidiary, Marvel Knights, to place its future dark films under to establish them as something a little more edgier than the usual Marvel fare (the only other film to date to use this banner is ''[[Film/GhostRider Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance]]''). See the NightmareFuel Knights logo from ''War Zone'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWfBSR_GJ-A here]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to [[Film/ThePunisher2004 the 2004 film]], adding BloodierAndGorier to boot. The film is one of the darkest Franchise/{{Marvel|Universe}} films ever created, if not the darkest. So much so that Marvel created an entire new film subsidiary, Marvel Knights, to place its future dark films under to establish them as something a little more edgier than the usual Marvel fare (the only other film to date to use this banner is ''[[Film/GhostRider Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance]]''). See the NightmareFuel Knights logo from ''War Zone'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWfBSR_GJ-A here]].

* AdaptationalHeroism: In the comics Microchip eventually became an enemy of Frank [[spoiler:before his death,]] while here he remains an all to him throughout [[spoiler:all the way to his murder.]]

* OneLastJob: The Punisher intends to retire after killing the undercover FBI agent Nicky Donatelli, however he's persuaded to continue "punishing" after Donatelli's family is endangered by Jigsaw. By the end, [[spoiler:it's clear that despite killing a majority of the criminal element in Jigsaw's ill-fated "Punisher party", there are still criminals that need to punished and Frank's not stopping any time soon...]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The plot of the movie is kicked off by Frank killing one of Russoti's men, Nicky Donatelli, only to find a wire on him and realize that Donatelli was really TheMole for the FBI and thus Frank shot an undercover agent.

** Billy's post transformation is a shout-out to The Joker's transformation scene in ''Film/{{Batman}}''.