Bunraku
Bunraku Image
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Metascore
28 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 11 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: Using cutting-edge visuals and heart-pounding fight choreography, Bunraku combines comic-books, spaghetti westerns, samurai films, video-games, and more into a stunning glimpse at an alternate future. In a world without guns, a mysterious drifter walks into a strange town terrorized by the ruthless Nicola and his army of thugs, headed by nine deadly assassins including the vicious Killer #2. The drifter is forced to trust a young samurai looking to restore his family's honor, and the local bartender who has been secretly awaiting a dream team to help overthrow Nicola's tyrannical regime. (ARC Entertainment)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 11
  3. Negative: 7 out of 11
  1. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Mark Holcomb
    Sep 27, 2011
    70
    Insular and indulgent as it is, though, the movie is never less than a visual treat.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Alison Willmore
    Sep 28, 2011
    50
    Bunraku comes up frustratingly empty, and just as many of its elements simply bloat an overlong run time. (Demi Moore shows up seemingly to give the film more than one female speaking part.) It looks good, but Bunraku feels like a Frankenstein's monster of references that someone failed to animate.
  3. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    Sep 29, 2011
    38
    If Bunraku were serious about subverting or reinventing the genres it's cobbled together, Moore would play the gunslinger or the samurai or the crime boss. But no. All she gets are a couple of scenes that demonstrate that she still looks great soaking wet.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Andy Webster
    Sep 29, 2011
    30
    Everything feels secondhand in Guy Moshe's Bunraku, a potpourri of genres that ends up a morass of clichés.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. dapper_dan
    10
    Play-like sets. Odd lighting. Interesting storyline. Demi Moore was not put to good use, but it was a very entertaining movie. Predictable, but entertaining.… Expand
  2. NKOAS
    8
    Though debuting in 2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival, Bunraku didn
  3. Sharit
    7
    Bunraku is not for everyone. People who are hungry for another slick action movie, may get disappointed by this movie. The movie is set on a dystopian world, where modern & ancient lifestyles cross paths regularly. After the global wars killing millions of people, guns are outlawed and knives & swords are back. 2 men (Josh Hartnett & Gackt) are out to get revenge against the most powerful man in Atlantic, the Woodcutter. Though having initially disliked each other, they are guided by the wise Bartender (Woody Harrelsen) to team up against the evil reign of the Woodcutter. The plot is simple and sometimes predictable, but makes space for a large number of well-choreographed action sequences. However, each scene has a colorful fantasy-themed dramatic background (probably shot on a Theatre Stage) - which can distract some people from all the tense action happening at front. The uniqueness of this movie is it keeps sending a fantasy vibe through-out, you will either love it or hate it!… Collapse
  4. ZeyeballZ
    0
    I was a true believer in The Harrelson Principle: a steadfast conviction that Woody Harrelson's presence in a movie's cast list was enough to indicate that it was -at the least- worth watching. This bloated turd of a movie has rendered the Harrelson Principle void.
    I beg you, do not watch Bunraku when there are so many good things you could be doing with your time and money.
    Seriously: the worst movie i have seen this year.    … Expand

See all 8 User Reviews

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