A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I'm probably not the best suited person to analyze this movie as I am not the most knowledgeable of neither anime nor comic books. I like anime, and enjoy comic book films and television series, but I'm not a hardcore fan. Comic book fans go into movies already knowing the characters for the most part, whereas for me it's like I'm introduced to each character for the first time. In a way that makes me more objective as I don't know what characters are supposed to be like, and simply watch the movie for what it is. At any rate, I watched this movie and here are my thoughts.I know anime fans have a debate on "dub" vs "sub"—that is whether they prefer anime movies dubbed into English or with English subtitles. While I normally prefer subtitles to maintain the authenticity of the work, in this movie's case, it is more like this is the English version of the movie than simply a dubbing.As indicated by the title, this movie focuses on the character The Punisher. Even having seen "The Punisher" (2004), my memory of this guy is vague. He is a vigilante character, who is neither good nor bad, who does whatever it takes to protect the innocent regardless of whether his actions are with in the laws or not. He is arrested by the international organization S.H.I.E.L.D. and they plea bargain with him. An evil crime organization, Leviathan, has stolen weapons and plans to auction them off. The Punisher is sent on a mission with Black Widow to stop the sale of these weapons.While the artwork was vivid, the animation was minimal—I suppose to keep the feel of reading a comic book. There was not a whole lot of movement in the animation, even in action sequences, and still shots of characters' faces or long pans of people or scenery was common.Overall, the film is formulaic of any episode of a super hero animated television series. The bad guys have an evil scheme and the good guys have to stop it. That's not a bad thing, it's just what it is, and I happened to like that.

Reviewed by: Dare Devil KidRating: 3.7/5 starsA terrific feature for two of Marvel's relatively unsung heroes – Black Widow and Punisher. Black Widow is presented with all her sex appeal, charisma, spunk, and martial arts skills, while Punisher is shown as an eternally laconic cynic with raw muscle power, toughness, and copious amounts of gray shades – just how we've come to love them from the comics. We're also introduced to a new villainous organization (with hints of a possible link to HYDRA) that could make its presence felt in future Marvel outings, even in the upcoming movie ventures. During the climax, the fans are even treated to special appearances from some of the more famous members of the Avengers. The screenplay is very good and keeps us engrossed for the film's short runtime. The animation is more than decent for a direct-to-video offering.Marvel studios is consistently bringing us memorable tales like these in the form of neat, little videos to accompany their top quality, big- budget, full-length feature films. First is was the two "Ultimate Avengers" videos, then came "Thor: Tales of Asgard", and now this. All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable little fare that admirably doffs its hat to two heroes of the Marvel universe that have contributed a lot in the background, but never really been given top billing.

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.

**Although every effort was made to be objective, this review is not flattering. If you are a die-hard fan of Marvel animation, regardless of quality or execution, what follows may elevate your blood pressure and cause mild discomfort** First thing you have to know, I love Marvel, grew up on Marvel in the 60s, the guy at the local drug store actually set aside the issues for me as they came in. So it would be pretty hard to develop a full-length Marvel animation feature that really ticked me off. But, amazingly, the producers of this bizarre production succeeded. Second thing you need to know, Marvel has essentially been taken over by a bunch of suits who think more like Bill Gates than Stan Lee. While the 'sweet money' is chasing the major breakout franchises -- and doing goofy things like remaking "Spiderman origins" FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO KEEP THEIR PRE-EXISTING DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS ALIVE -- the real effort is being put into "monetizing" the lost and forgotten properties deep inside the archive that have been collecting dust. Not making this up, Google it!, you will find lots of corporate-speak explaining what they are really up to. Some of this makes sense. For example, digging Captain America out of the ice was a good thing. He is a fun guy. We missed him. But some of the other salvage operations -- Shazam comes to mind -- are stretching the envelope, and not in a good way. Which brings us full circle to this product. (Because that is what it is, a product, not a film, not entertainment). The point here is clearly to rehabilitate Punisher and, to a lesser degree, Black Widow. As the mainstream reviewers have already noted, the other Avengers don't show up here until the very end of the tale and, even then, have very limited screen time. Do I have anything against Punisher? Not really. He is highly derivative of the Mack Bolan Executioner character which popped up some 5 years earlier than his own 'origins', and his live action film attempt was hardly memorable. Otherwise, I was ready to be impressed. And as for Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson has done such a great job with this character in live action that I was simply anticipating getting to know her better. Disappointed on both counts. First the anime. Japanese studios can do bright and sunny (at which they excel) or they can do dark and gloomy, but they seldom blend the two. This production is so gray that you will think something is wrong with your DVD drive or your screen has gone bad. Seriously. As for the action -- what action?? Taking a page from the Avengers live action film -- or at least TRYING TO -- the writers spent most of the first hour in (what they thought was) dramatic banter, and saved the "action" for the last 15 minutes. Which kinda defeats the purpose of animation in the first place, since animation makes it possible to have continuous bangups and beatdowns without blowing the SFX budget -- over at DC animation, for example, they have already figured this out. Marvel however is still struggling with the concept. The end result? -- well, if you factor in the soporific dialog that seems more written BY children than FOR them; the gray sheen and washed out backgrounds; the failed attempt to "breakout" these characters from the Marvel sub-sub-basement -- and a really sloppy "unrequited love" story arc which, in the real world, wouldn't make it to an afternoon TV soap opera -- you end up with one of the most disappointing animation features of all time. Alternate recommendations? Watch instead (literally) ANY episode of the old X-Men TV series, more fun than a barrel of hammers; or Ultimate Spidey, same deal; or, check out DC's full length The Flashpoint Paradox. Unlike this film, that one actually works.