Bunraku
2011124 minutes
rated R
In theaters September 30th. Available On Demand September 1st.
by Scott Mendelson
There is a certain danger to any movie that spends the first five minutes explicitly explaining why the picture looks and sounds as it does. In this case, we have to understand why the world of Bunraku looks like a hybrid between the 1960s Batman TV show and a blood-drenched martial arts drama. The film is certainly a case of style over substance, and the utter lack of substance may be fatal for some viewers. But the picture boasts a unique visual palatte and some interesting ideas. It also boasts at least two wonderful action sequences, creative in their design and accomplished in their execution, that makes the film almost worth watching. Bunraku is not quite a good film, but it is surely a bad one worth watching for those who know what they are getting into.
