While the latest MARVEL release out in theaters, the Dissection looks at a release that hit DVD and Blu Ray shelves. It puts two heroes together who share the awesome superpower of firearms and a love of the color black. With the world in chaos, how will these two forces be able to stop it?
With violence. Lots and lots of violence.
The Story
When The Punisher takes out a black market weapons dealer with stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. tech, he inadvertently stumbles upon a much larger terror plot under investigation by Black Widow, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Detained by the clandestine law enforcement organization, Nick Fury offers the Punisher his freedom in exchange for one mission: To work with Black Widow and stop the terrorist group known as LEVIATHAN.
The Cast
Jennifer Carpenter as Black Widow. Raised at a young age to be a assassin and spy, was taken under the wing of Nick Fury and SHIELD for her skills. Tragically has a medical condition that prevents her, a Russian born citizen, from speaking with anything other than an American accent.
Brian Bloom as The Punisher. A veteran and family man who’s life was dashed with the gangland murder of his family, Frank Castle takes justice in his own hands to punish the guilty, usually with death. Not considered to be the best guy to share those torrented GAME OF THRONES episodes with.
Grant George as Elihas Starr. A former SHIELD scientist, and love interest to Black Widow, turned lieutenant to a terrorist group looking to breed a genetic Bio-weapon. Because that sort of stuff NEVER backfires…..
John Eric Bentley as Nick Fury. The leader of SHIELD, or at least the public face of it. Also, and this may seem like a surprise, he is a massive, massive dick.
The Dissection
When it comes to DVD animated movies, especially ones featuring superheroes, that has seemed to have been an avenue that MARVEL has ignored in lieu of theatrical films, TV shows, and making loads and loads of money for Disney. That, however, changes with the release of this movie, AVENGERS CONFIDENTIAL: BLACK WIDOW & PUNISHER.
Punisher (Bloom) and Widow (Carpenter), not exactly bosom buddies at the start.
This is another Madhouse/MARVEL collaboration, after IRON MAN: RISE OF TECHNOVORE, and features Black Widow and The Punisher. Contrary to the box and trailer, 95% of this movie is focused on Widow and Punisher. The rest of the names pop up for a few seconds, from the obvious names like Iron Man and Thor, to less mainstream names like Amadeus Cho and the former Ms now Captain Marvel, and even some obscure villains that will make you rush for Wikipedia, like Gravitron.
This focus on these heroes introduces a nice contrast in the film’s narrative, adapting the story to fit the style of the hero it focuses on. Widow’s aspect of the movie builds on this sentiment of intrigue, deception and betrayal, and one this aura of who the real allies and real villains are. Punisher, on the other hand, is all brute force and intimidation and Castle’s view of punishment for the wicked. It even plays up the negative aspects of those lifestyles that the characters find themselves in during the film. And the voice actors do a good job with each character.
Each character has their own style, as mentioned. Black Widow is more about using agility and finesse, while Punisher is more with gunplay and fear. Of course, with the aspect of animation and the art style, it goes a bit extreme with those traits. Widow does gravity defying moves and twists and turns her body in insane ways, while Frank Castle can give the Hulk a run for his money in the amount of carnage and mayhem he comes up with, and not only survives, but no sells.
One man against an army of mooks. Poor mooks.
Moving on to the negative aspects, the story itself is not really engaging. It’s not cause it’s a bad story, but because it feels like a movie that needs supplemental materials to enjoy. The secondary story especially, involving Widow and Starr feels like a comic book story from the 4th issue of a series that you have not read the previous issues for. It introduces their history in a way that does not feel natural. And his motivations in the film go from tragic to just plain pathetic the more it goes into them. Additionally, late in the movie, there is a new threat built up that needs the attention of the heroes, but that threat is then regulated to mook status by the end of the next scene. Finally, while it is just a small role, Amadeus Cho’s appearance in the film is a major derailment of the film, he comes off as majorly annoying, and there’s no real payoff to his story.
While the extras change depending on the format, there’s no real difference between seeing the film on a Blu Ray or on a DVD. The Blu Ray features concept art of the characters and set pieces as an exclusive,and both feature two short videos that detail the histories of Black Widow and The Punisher, as well as going into the development of the film.
The Avengers (Who show up for 10 minutes, but get top billing for some reason)
The Verdict
The movie is a bit of a hit or miss affair, but is not a bad choice to see, especially if you are a fan of the characters and/or the animation style. It’s a good solid step for MARVEL after a few unsuccessful attempts to get some solid ground in this market. However, it doesn’t really matter in what format you end up seeing it as, so pick the most convenient one for you.