StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

unmake I'll cop to having read a few issues of The Punisher back in the 90s, when I was barely a teenager. I believe it was actually the only Marvel title I ever read until the introduction of Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel.The Punisher isn't just a dinosaur, he's a relic designed to appeal to the worst kind of 13-year old male power(- less) fantasies. The impetus for the film's action is basically one pathetically insecure guy who doesn't think he's 'man enough' to receive the Black Widow's affections.. so he betrays SHIELD and reinvents himself as a super- powered villain. Classic example of the self-entitled 'Nice Guy' stereotype.Black Widow, of course, is here merely as fanservice.Terrible plot, banal dialog - at one point, there's a line about how many men Fury brought to subdue The Punisher, and even a mediocre hack would've known to riff on the fact that one woman was all it took. The art quality is decent, and I can only wish more Anime had English-language casts this good, but there is nothing else to this production's credit.I'd think fans of The Punisher or Black Widow would especially hate this - not only are they poorly characterized, but they're done so in canon-breaking manner. I men, according to Wikipedia Frank Castle is "in complete control of his mind" and immune to psychological assault, but here he gets brainwashed.. by an iPhone.

dbnguyen85 As far as Marvel animation goes, this movie generally looks good. It allows us to visit two characters sadly left behind in Marvel's cinematic success, and it does them some justice in a reasonably interesting plot. There are some problems of execution though. Black Widow's voice doesn't seem to fit, and is somewhat jarring from the very start. Either the actress didn't quite get it or she wasn't effectively directed, but it just doesn't seem to connect appropriately. Really, the voice acting for her character shines most during the tragic romance plot, which is unfortunately very trite and grating. Her part in it may be fine, but the villain's motivation is highly questionable as he sought to be "strong enough to be worthy of her." That might be fine in a simpler story with more innocent characters, but when it's a story involving Black Widow and Punisher, both dark characters who should be well steeped in matters of betrayal and cynicism, it feels like a stretch. Where the movie shines is in its portrayal of the Punisher, who stays consistent to his code throughout the course of the story. Black Widow has some character development for the purposes of the story, but Punisher stays a solid rock throughout. So it's definitely watchable. The action and animation are fun and well done, accentuating the particular skills of the two protagonists. The story beats hit their marks, but just happen to be ones that are more out-of-character for Black Widow. So if you have a couple of hours to spare, it's reasonably entertaining. You also don't necessarily need it in your life.

xamtaro Not content on dominating the big screen with a connected Marvel cinematic universe, Marvel now aims to create a connected anime universe. Avengers Confidential is a loose sequel to to Iron Man: Rise of Technovore. This time, Iron Man takes a back seat to previous supporting characters of Punisher and Black Widow. Following their debacle in Karachi, Frank Castle aka The Punisher, has returned to taking out organised crime lords. But when one of his hits crosses path with S.H.I.E.L.D, Frank is taken into custody. He has stumbled onto a vast international conspiracy involving an old Russian supersoldier programme and mind control. Unwillingly teamed up with s.H.I.E.L.D agent Black Widow, Frank has to deal with superpowered foes way out of his league while Widow must confront a shadowy figure from her past.It is an intriguing story. Well written and feeling like it came straight out of the comic books. No surprise there that it was written by comic book writer Majorie Liu. This is a cool way to tie The Punisher into the greater world of Marvel anime characters, themselves already sharing a lot in common with the live action movie universe. In live action, The Punisher's gritty mafia/street crime stories just do not mix with the Avengers' high flying superheroics. If they cannot do it in live action, anime would have to suffice.Credit goes to this movie for coming up with an interesting reason why the superpowered Avengers remain out of the picture. Since you have a villain who perfected mind control, the last thing you can risk is your most powerful heroes turning against you. So they get plain ol human Frank Castle, The Punisher, and plain ol human Black Widow. Except, the "plain ol human" bit is conveniently forgotten about 10 minutes in where both Punisher and Black Widow are able to go hand to hand with super soldiers, dodge bullets, punch people through walls and take injuries that would kill any normal human.Now, this being Japanese anime, Marvel has allowed Madhouse Studios (creators of classics like Ninja Scroll, Trigun and the rest of Marvel's anime output) to sprinkle their own eastern touch into this tale. The result......a mixed bag. First is the screenplay, written by Mitsutaka Hirota of Ramen fighter Miki and YuGiOh Zexal fame/infamy. It is a stiffled screenplay, clichéd and lacking any of the wit or character interplay that marvel's live action universe excels in.This is not helped by the mediocre voice acting from both Japanese and English actors. Punisher growls and grumbles his way through the movie lacking chemistry with Black Widow; herself portrayed more as a straightforward hero with a tragic past romance than a sultry manipulative secret agent whom no one can guess what she is planning to do next. This same screenplay turns our main antagonist into some love scorned brat with a serious inferiority complex who subjected himself to experiments to become a superpowered stalker after his old flame.Once again, Marvel anime serves as a showcase of what anime always gets wrong. Hyper detailed artwork is ruined by animation shortcuts. First time Director Kenichi Shimizu who watched one too many Michael bay movies peppers this show with shaky cameras, extreme close ups and long lingering shots focused on Black Widow's shiny leather clad chest and bum areas. Nonetheless, the character designs look straight out of Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust with long curvy sharp featured women, square jawed bulky men and a shadow for every nook cranny and crease on a character. They look beautiful.So in keeping with the usual Marvel Anime standards, we have another visually stunning little movie with a decent story but little else in terms of the script, characters and animation. Better than Iron Man: Rise of Technovore of course, and much better than that CGI atrocity Iron Man/Hulk: Heroes United. Yet no where near DC and Warner Premiere's most mediocre efforts.

Altie Derevko I wasn't expecting much when I turned this on. After the magnificent show of the Avengers, it's hard to elaborate on the fringes of the Marvel Universe. However, this movie goes to show that even the fringes can be as exciting as the main course.Focusing on the Black Widow and Punisher, this movie was clearly made by a Japanese anime fan for all the anime fans out there. And it doesn't get too aloof with the fact that it is quite anime. I am not a purist, but this was an exciting romp with a little twist of Japanese. Kind of like a light beer with a wedge of lemon.You get a decent enough storyline, punctuated with fast fight scenes and the Black Widow twisting herself into impossible routines, for your pleasure. The fight scenes are pretty much the highlight of the movie, with the story taking a bit of a back seat, so don't expect award winning script writing.You will find the dialog a bit cheesy, but we are dealing with a comic book story line. I feel it doesn't detract too much from what the movie is intended to be, purely a popcorn munching, time passing movie. I would probably watch it again in a few years, just to refresh myself.Graphics are standard Japanese anime, with Black Widow looking thoroughly like what a animator would have imagined her to look, svelte with flowing hair. Punisher gets beefed up and looks precisely like the comics.Voice acting in my opinion was spectacular. I enjoyed Jennifer Carpenter doing Black Widow - barely recognized her from her Dexter days, but it's definitely her. Brian Bloom gives a great performance as a gruff talking Frank Castle, reminds me of some of his work on A-Team in 2010.My advice is to watch this with an open, clear mind. Don't expect to see world class action scenes, with Joss Whedon witty banter. It's a Japanese anime mixed into the Marvel Universe and it gets a fair storyline through.At the end, it's a 5 dollar thrill ride on a roller coaster at a local fairground. Gets the job done, for a good price.I give this 10/10 for exceeding my expectations and having a solid casting and believable storyline.Kudos to the filmmakers.