The action-adventure seriesBlack Lagoon(2006) exemplifies the continuing confluence of Japanese and American filmmaking. Rokura Okajima, a minor flunkey in a powerful corporation, thinks his life is over when he's kidnapped by pirates. It's only his business career that ends: he joins the pirates as "Rock." The trio of Dutch, the understated leader; happy-go-lucky techie Benny; and trigger-happy Revy becomes a quartet, although Rock struggles to find a place in their shady underworld. They're less pirates than soldiers of fortune, ready to do anything if the price is right. Dutch, Benny, and Rock are fairly typical anime types and form a credible team. But murderous, potty-mouthed Revy has all the appeal of a rattlesnake in an Easter basket. This less-than-jolly crew pursues adventures involving treasure aboard a sunken WWII U-Boat, pornographers, drug and arms dealing nuns, kidnappings, and a terrorist plot to blow up US embassies. Bullets, blood and four-letter words fly, but it doesn't add up to much. The gun battles, car chases, knife fights, and explosions take up so much screen time, there's none left for character development or a coherent narrative. Although it's based on a manga by Rei Hiroe,Black Lagoonfeels like a cartoon version of a Hollywood blockbuster. Extremely violent and profane,Black Lagoonis not for the squeamish or easily offended. (Unrated appropriate for viewers over 17: graphic violence, violence against women, extensive profanity, grotesque imagery, alcohol and tobacco use, racial slurs, offensive ethnic stereotypes, Nazi imagery, offensive religious imagery)--Charles Solomon(1. The Black Lagoon, 2. Mangrove Heaven, 3. Ring-Ding Ship Chase, 4.   Die Rückkehr des Adlers, 5. Eagle Hunting and Hunting Eagle, 6.   Moonlit Hunting Ground, 7. Calm Down, Two Men, 8. Rasta Blasta, 9.   Maid to Kill, 10. The Unstoppable Chambermaid, 11. Lock'n Load Revolution, 12. Guerrillas in the Jungle)