Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter, a bartender and a young samurai plot revenge against a ruthless leader and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins.
Bunraku is a visually audacious film that resembles a living graphic novel or stage production, blending film noir, samurai cinema, and Western tropes with a striking, stylized aesthetic clearly inspired by Japanese bunraku puppet theatre. Its cinematography and production design are genuinely exceptional — a riot of saturated color, theatrical staging, and inventive transitions that make it unmistakably singular. Novelty is high for the same reason: the execution is so distinctive and committed to its own bizarre visual language that it stands apart. However, the plot is thin and functional at best, serving mainly as a framework for set pieces rather than genuine drama or tension. Acting ranges from charismatic (Hartnett, Gackt) to wooden, and the ensemble never fully sells the emotional stakes. The ending deflates rather than delivers, resolving the conflict in a way that feels perfunctory given the stylistic energy that preceded it.