Let’s just get it right out there, Punisher: War Zone is my favorite comic book movie. Intentional or not, it’s the movie I keep going back to when judging all other comic book movies. Is it hyper-violent? Of course it is; it should be. I hate to use the word “underrated” here but PWZ is definitely overlooked and I really don’t get why.

Once I tweeted how much I loved the film and I got a new follower. I didn’t know who the person was so I looked them up; it was Lexi Alexander. I looked at her bio and realized, for the first time, that the director of Punisher: War Zone was a woman. I had just assumed it was directed by a man. I remember tweeting that I hadn’t realized it was directed by a woman and Alexander said that was a compliment. I’m glad she didn’t take offense, but I had to go have a think about why I just automatically thought the film was made by a man.

Punisher: War Zone is the story of Frank Castle AKA The Punisher (played by Ray Stevenson). His family was murdered in front of him and since that time, he’s been dispensing with New York City bad guys. We first meet Castle when he invades a dinner thrown by a mob boss. In one of my favorite set pieces, he dispenses with everyone at the table in the most magnificent fashion. One person he wanted to get but didn’t was Billy "The Beaut" Russotti (Dominic West). He's essentially a worker for a mob boss Castle has just killed, so Russotti decides he’s going to take over. Later, the two men tangle and Russotti ends up in a glass crusher where his face gets mangled. When he eventually sees what a mess his face is, he names himself “Jigsaw”. When Punisher and Jigsaw finally meet again, the body count is high.