Bunraku – Movie Review

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Gackt, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman and Demi Moore

Rated: R

Directed by: Guy Moshe

A drifter searching for revenge teams up with a samurai, to stop the most powerful warrior and put an end to his reign

Hartnett stars as ”The Drifter” a gun less cowboy/card player who is looking to put an end to the reign of Nicola the Woodcutter (Ron Perlman), with the guidance and help of “The Bartender” (Woody Harrelson), he is soon partnering up with a sword less samurai named Yoshi (Gackt), who is searching for a talisman that Nicola took from his family.

Bunraku (which is an ancient form of Japanese puppetry) relies more on style than any form of substance. Director Moshe deploys a look that is a cross between Dick Tracy and Scott Pilgrim. Hartnett looks like an early 80’s porn star with his wispy mustache and vapid character. The issue with Hartnett is that he can’t pull off a character that relies on any form of toughness, I imagine he fancies himself in the Clint Eastwood mold of actors and thinks that simply by deploying a squint like Clint, it will let people know he means business, While in his head this is a great theory, what the audience sees is a guy in a dark room with a bad mustache who is walking around like he has the sun shining in his eyes. The Drifter who is supposed to excel in fisticuffs, desperately needs to learn what a jab is, every punch is thrown like an awkward girl absurdly hooking strictly to allow his overcoat to splay across the air, As soon as you see the first fight you realize that Moshe so desperately wants to make a cool looking movie that he is willing to sacrifice everything including story to achieve this. The fight scenes are some of the worst ever captured on film, they are all choreography more akin to a large dance production than an actual fight.

Harrelson is serviceable as “The Bartender” pining over his lost love and current haggard prostitute Alexandra (Demi Moore), while the underrated Perlman does what he does as the #1 killer Nicola, portraying a killer who is just looking for a challenge while staying at the top. Japanese Actor/Musician Gackt stars as the east to Hartnett’s west as the Samurai without a sword looking to get his family’s Talisman back, Gackt’s performance is superior to Hartnett’s and at least has some motivation for his character.

While Bunraku does have an overly stylized look to it, it is the epitome of trying way too hard, it is literally as if Moshe watched other movies to create his style. There is one scene that cribs from a side scrolling video game complete with lame sound effects

Everything about the movie is inconsistent, With blood spewing one minute and the next scene being a James Bond Death. Buraku so badly wants to be cool and isn’t sure how to convey it. What Bunraku fails to achieve is inner cool, it is the ultimate film Poser.

Grade- 64

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