Avengers
Confidential - Black Widow and Punisher
(2014/Sony/Marvel Comics Blu-ray w/DVD + Digital Copy)
Picture:
C+/C Sound: B-/C+ Extras: C- Animated Film: C
Admittedly
I am a bigger DC Comics fan than Marvel, but being a comic book fan
boy I partake in all walks of superhero life. The latest release
from Sony/Marvel seems to be a direct attempt to compete with the
many DC Comic straight to home video releases; while keeping the
Avengers
brand in the forefront of people's minds.
Avengers
Confidential - Black Widow and Punisher
takes us back into the world of S.H.I.E.L.D. where a mole has
infiltrated the seemingly impenetrable organization; allowing
super-secret weapons, amongst other device schematics to slip into
the wrong hands. They have found a link to the terrorist group, but
that individually managed to escape; but not before The Punisher
could get some intel (*cough* torture *cough*) of his own. Nick Fury
is on the scene as well, not happy with Punisher's dangerous tactics,
but Punisher thinks the same of Fury. The group of terrorists is
revealed as Leviathan and Punisher is determined to bring them to
their knees. Due to their stylistic differences (to put it lightly)
Nick Fury and Punisher come to a compromise; Punisher could release
his wrath on Leviathan, but would have the spy named Black Widow tag
along to keep him in line.
As
the duo explore the hellish affairs of Leviathan they discover that
the job is much more complicated than expected; meaning the will need
the full power of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers to bring this
organization down.
The
pairing of Black Widow and Punisher may seem odd at first, but
exploring their dark, shrouded pasts and their hopes of redemption it
is understandable. The dark tone of the characters seems to fit well
with the Anime-like style of the film; even if it isn't truly this
reviewer's preference for animation. Again this pairing seems to
attest to the fact that Marvel is looking to expand the general
consumers' knowledge base of their comic heroes, while catering to
longtime fans. This will allow them to more readily integrate these
expanded universe characters into future films and television series.
Making it easier to swallow that Black Widow and/or Punisher could
be a member of the primary Avenger team.
The
film is OK. Again, I don't particularly care for Anime so that made
this film somewhat distracting. Also, whereas I love the Punisher
and Black Widow is a solid enough peripheral character; having an
entire film devoted to them was a bit of overkill (no pun intended).
It left me wanting more heroes to appear and to diverge from them
being the primary focus.
The
technical features here on Blu-ray are adequate, but far from great.
The picture is presented in a 1080p, 1.78 X 1 digital high definition
image presentation that has blunted colors and weak black levels;
concurrently having an inconsistent image that is soft throughout;
having this reviewer questioning its High-Def claim. The sound is
somewhat better in its 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track;
presenting crisp, clean dialogue. Panning is weak and lacks that
extra umph
as it is not nearly as aggressive as it should be for a superhero
feature.
The DVD is a downgrade
even beyond the wavering Blu-ray presentation.
Extras
are short and lack detail. Extras include:
