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Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014)
Probably the better of most Marvel animations, but not by much...
DC's animation department is notable for its voice acting, music, blend of art style and the animation itself. When it comes to animated films, DC nails it 95% of the time. That is not the case with Marvel, and this film is a fairly good example of that.
Starting with the good, the Punisher is the best thing about it. He's violent, cynical, and couldn't care less about SHIELD's mission over his own. Brian Bloom did an awesome job with him, and he'll probably be the only thing keeping your attention the whole time.
That's pretty much the most positive thing that can be said. The music in this film sounds like it came from a cheap porno (or a bad 90's anime film), and while the art is pretty, the animation itself is just bad. It's like watching a bad 90's anime film. And, with the aforementioned exception of Brian Bloom as Frank Castle, the voice acting is awful. Like a...bad 90's anime film...
Actually, that's really the best way to describe this whole movie. It really is like a bad, 90's anime movie, complete with balloon boobs on Black Widow (not like she didn't have them in the comics).
But if you can get past the voice acting, animation and dialog, then have fun swallowing the fact that the mighty, no nonsense Natasha Romanoff gets turned into a typical fantasy Anime schoolgirl whenever she confronts her love interest, Egghead. Yes, Egghead, the robot and/or the dumpy looking Nazi scientist. But don't worry, he gets redone as a brainwashed Bishonen type of guy, creating a star struck love story as Widow unfortunately works for SHIELD and Elihas Star (you didn't really think they were going to call him Egghead, did you?) works for Orion. It is literally the most predictable thing about this movie, and one of the most grating parts of it. You will be happy when he predictably dies on the right side of the law. Because Redemption=Death and The Power of Love tropes just had to be thrown in to this already clichéd romance subplot that was completely unnecessary and does nothing but take away any credibility from her character.
Alright, to sum this up without going to in dept: Action is okay. Everyone's a Jedi who can leap 70 feet in the air and move really slowly. Voice acting is cringe-worthy, dialog is even worse. Punisher's character was the best thing about this film, and Black Widow's good until she gets forced into a romance. And like I've said before, it really does feel like you're watching an anime with every negative anime stereotype, but with American comic book characters.