Bunraku takes the combined talents of Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore and Ron Perlman  and places them in an utterly insane universe where cowboys clash with samurai warriors and megalomaniacal despots in a hyper-real, hyper-stylised environment.
The name comes from an ancient from of Japanese puppet theatre, and at times the movie feels like a stage-play on film, the back-drops popping up and down, the camera zooming in and out origami-like wonderlands.

Yet in spite of the film's technical achievements, it fails to hold together as a coherent whole, the result overlong and undercooked.

Set in a post-apocalypse world where the gun has given way to the sword, Josh Hartnett stars as 'The Drifter' - a lone stranger searching for a card game. His journey leads him to Woody Harrelson's bar where he meets Yoshi, an accomplished samurai swordsman, and the pair initially fail to see eye-to-eye, attacking each other with some venom.

Soon however, they realise they are bound by a common enemy - namely Nicola the Woodcutter. The most powerful man east of the Atlantic, Nicola rules the land with the help of the Red Gang - a group of beautifully-attired warriors, and the Deadly Assassins - nine ruthless excecutioners, led by the fearsome Killer #2.

Setting aside their differences, the cowboy with no gun and the samurai with no sword therefore team up to defeat these forces of evil, endeavouring to take down Nicola's army with the help of the bartender and an amry of the oppressed.
Unfortunately, while the story initially intrigues, it soon substitutes style for substance; the screenplay too knowing, the dialogue too self-conscious. Writer-director Guy Moshe is obviously playing with narrative conventions by blending hero myths from east and west to tell his story, but his script has nothing new to say on the subject, instead piling cliche upon cliche.

It looks amazing, the universe he has created utterly unique and original, like a pop-up book brought to life. But the visual flourishes quickly wear thin, at times seemingly enforced for no other reason than to paper over the cracks of a dull and predictable narrative.

Moshe certainly knows how to stage an action sequence, with a car chase and a circus fight particular stand-outs, but again too many of these sequences feel like we've seen them before, a side-scrolling brawl harking back to Oldboy; an animated flashback reminsicent of Kill Bill.

The cast is also a mixed bag, Ron Perlman on scene-stealing form as the villain of the piece and Woody Harrelson clearly having a blast as the bartender. Demi Moore also impresses with a brief turn as Nicola's whore-turned-lover.

But Josh Hartnett struggles as the drifter, his Clint Eastwood impression failing to ring true and his chemistry with Yoshi (played by Japanese pop star Gackt) practically non-existent. Kevin McKidd is all over the place as Killer #2, his scenery-chewing antics initially entertaining but soon outstaying their welcome.

That's not to say that Bunraku is a total disaster, the film certainly deserving of credit for its ambition. Indeed, from a technical point-of-view it's little short of a masterpiece, a feast for the eyes throughout.

But a film that wears its influences so proudly on its sleeve needs to say something original with its narrative, and Bunraku has nothing in this department, instead playing like a series of utterly derivative sequences unfurling in utterly predictable fashion.

So by all means watch the film for the striking visuals and stunning action, just don't expect to be engrossed by the story or thinking about it much after the credits have rolled.
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I have to admit, I don't know what to make of BUNRAKU the new feature by writer-director Guy Moshe (HOLLY) after only one viewing. I know I liked it, let me be very clear about that. It's an explosion of color, light, movement, words, and violence the likes of which I have truly never seen. It has a wicked, nasty sense of humor and appears to be mixing philosophies from as diverse origins as Zen Buddhism to Old West "violence first-ask questions later." There's a bit of old Hollywood dancing spectacle thrown in, as well as some of the smartest and most exciting blending of martial arts styles ever to be attempted. In a strange way, the plot almost doesn't matter; I found myself eagerly awaiting the next set piece, knowing that about every 10 minutes or so, I was about to see something fresh and visually assertive and mind-blowing. I have issues with the running time and maybe some of the overwritten dialogue, but the one thing BUNRAKU can never be called is "dull."

The story is nicely layered in this future world that has been ravaged by violence, so much so that guns have been banned from society, which of course gives way for criminals to come up with slightly more creative ways of killing and threatening people. We have an Eastwood-like drifter (Josh Hartnett, in what might be the most interesting character he's ever played) who rolls into town looking for the leader of the most powerful crime syndicate, the elusive Nicola the Woodcutter (Ron Perlman), who is protected by a gang of nine killers. Kevin McKidd ("Rome") is Nicola second in command known only as #2, who is like Gene Kelly with the soul of a sociopath and the skill of the finest martial artist. McKidd might be my favorite part of BUNRAKU, as he spins, side steps, and kills with a snake's grace and a hyena's smile.

Also trying to bring Nicola down is a samurai named Yoshi (played by Japanese singer Gackt, which I didn't know until after I saw the film). This guy is fantastic, and I hope we get to see him again in something, anything. His teaching tell him that violence is not the answer, but when Nicola's band of red-suited thugs come into his uncle's restaurant and hurt his family, he takes up sword and proceeds to do some damage. Another one of my favorite characters is one known only as The Bartender (Woody Harrelson), who knows all the players in this violent game and attempts to help our heroes defeat Nicola and his assassins. There's just something about Harrelson that centers any film he's in. His delivery is such that even the most dense language and complex ideas make sense and seem right.

If I didn't know better, I might have thought that BUNRAKU was based on a graphic novel or video game. The visual language, splashy blood, exaggerated colors, pounding music, even the way subtitles are displayed on screen in boxes that resemble comic-book narrative style, all seem to indicate a comics background. In some ways, the director's approach actually reminded of a hardcore but still playful version of SCOTT PILGRIM, but set in a world that folds in on itself during transitions like a pop-up book, which just happens to be a particular passion of Harrelson's character and led me to believe that a lot of what we're seeing is being filtered through his perspective.

The final act of the film is right out of the best of the Hong Kong martial arts realm, featuring Hartnett and Gackt punching and slicing their way past layers of deadly assassins to make their way to the Woodcutter, a name her rightfully earns with his collection of scary-looking hatchets. Not only is BUNRAKU exciting and entertaining, but there were points during the film that it genuinely surprised me with some new visual device or approach to a fight sequence or simply a color scheme or use of shadows. There is always something to look at in every inch of director Moshe's frame, and often in a movie this visually dynamic, the actors are overshadowed, but not here--the actors are simply too good.

I have to admit, I've been mostly neutral on Hartnett for the duration of his career. He had a nice turn in SIN CITY and I liked 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (although not necessarily because of him), but beyond that, he hasn't made an impact in my brain until BUNRAKU. Simply put, he's fantastic as an action star, and I hope this propels him into a phase in his career where he's able to capitalize on more physical roles. He's one of the few elements of this film that is underplayed, and the scenes between him and the equally subtle Harrelson are among my favorites.

I believe BUNRAKU is getting released stateside in December, and by that time, we'll all be knee-deep in Oscar bait and end-of-year family films. BUNRAKU is blessedly neither of those things, and should fend off your bloodlust and need for an adrenaline fix for a few weeks at least.
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“Bunraku” is a form of Japanese puppet theater where the puppeteers are on stage, dressed in black, manipulating large puppets to music. It’s also the name of the second full length feature from director and writer Guy Mosche. It tells a very classic story of a mysterious man coming to town in search of revenge, but ends up encountering much more. “Bunraku” is highly ambitious, a jumble of styles, and features a cast that includes Josh Hartnett, Ron Perlman, Woody Harrelson, Kevin McKidd, Demi Moore and Japanese rock star Gackt.

The Woodcutter (Perlman) sits in his house on the hill, the dictator of a town that has long banished guns and bullets, with his 9 Killers, specialist fighters who keep the people taxed and beat down. Along comes a Drifter with no guns (Hartnett) and a samurai with no swords (Gackt) each with their own motivations that eventually cross paths. Channelling westerns, samurai movies, Russian gangsters, stage plays, and a cadre of fighters that put the gangs in “The Warriors” to shame, “Bunraku” mashes up multiple genres. Set on stages instead of on location, you half expect a musical number to break out at any minute. Combine all that with montages done using a combination of animation and puppets, a score that varies between orchestral and video game sound effects, and dashes of comedy, Kung-Fu, and drama and you can start to imagine just how grand Mosche envisioned this film.

Kevin McKidd, playing one of the Killers, shines as a badass straight out of the “Smooth Criminal” music video, slick dance move style fighting included, and Woody Harrelson’s bartender character entertains every minute he’s on screen. While we do get an eye popping prison break scene from Hartnett’s Drifter where he beats his way through dozens of villains on multiple levels, I feel he was severely miscast. He throws himself into the role but his character falls flat and it’s tough to see him his a badass despite doing the fight scenes himself. Demi Moore’s role, as a long lost love, seems tacked on, as if they got her cast and then needed to flesh out the character at the last minute. Also, no fault of her’s, the dialogue she’s given comes off laughably bad and over dramatic. Perlman is solid, as always, but The Woodcutter is nothing out of the box for him; being a tough, yet soft spoken bad guy until provoked.

The sets would be grand, if this was a Broadway play, but due to so many camera close ups it’s easy to see flaws in them. Backgrounds have bubbles in the paint, the handmade chairs look jagged and obviously spray painted and everything else just appears cheap and I found it slightly distracting. Conversely, I was a fan of the costumes, which worked to combine multiple styles, and gave each Killer’s crew their own identity. Especially standout is one of the gangs dressed somewhere between a 1920s vaudevillian and 70s era punks. They leap around like break dancers, pummeling Gackt and Hartnett and provide yet another of the fun fight scenes. And there is where the movie excelled for me. “Bunraku’s” dramatic aspects never felt real, lingering in mediocrity and never pushing the story to where you cared about the character’s actions, but when we got back to the action, fun is to be had.

“Bunraku” is a mixture of many styles, some of which work and some that don’t. When it succeeds it’s a electrifying mixture of Western and Eastern classics, but it mostly misses, hindered by a weak script, set direction and missed opportunities. If it had only pushed itself more, given more drama, more action and more style, I think it could be an excellent movie. “Bunraku” is the perfect movie to push the limits and while it stands out from features around it, it’s lacking. I do look forward to seeing more from Mosche, as he has an original voice in movie making and that’s always something to celebrate.

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