It should surprise no one that visually quirky, graphic-novelish, pulp-noir action flicks rarely come through the sausage machine intact.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Sep 30, 2011

Extremely cool-looking in the manner of "Sin City,'' but clumsily staged, slackly acted and mind-numbingly dull...

| Sep 30, 2011

A potpourri of genres that ends up a morass of clichs.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Sep 29, 2011

"Bunraku" is so desensitizing with its hyper-stylized distractions and movie references it feels more mush-up than mash-up.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | Sep 29, 2011

One long, extensively choreographed fight sequence in which "mortal" blows are delivered so often, and with so little lasting impact, that a brawl just becomes a brawl becomes a brawl.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 29, 2011

You can tell the makers of "Bunraku'' were really excited about creating a cool, new movie world, because that's all the movie is: 118 minutes of effects, art-direction, and genres.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 29, 2011

Bunraku's premise involves a level of fanboy wankery that makes Sucker Punch look restrained.

| Original Score: C | Sep 29, 2011

Bunraku is far from a cinematic leap forward, but for a couple of hours, it does make "one-dimensional" something other than a pejorative.

| Sep 27, 2011

Bunraku aspires to be Kill Bill: Vol 3; it's more like an ornate pitch for a Dick Tracy reboot.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 27, 2011

Two compelling characters embark on a journey in a wonderfully intriguing environment; if only the execution of the tale was as gripping as the visuals.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 26, 2011

A mega mash-up in the vein of Sucker Punch, Bunraku jumbles together elements with a self-consciousness that's as turgid as its story proper.

| Original Score: .5/4 | Sep 25, 2011

What do Hartnett and Geckt want with Perlman? Mostly, I think, they're just looking for excuses to get into elaborate kung fu fights.

| Original Score: C- | Sep 5, 2011

Moshe, who wrote and directed, creates a boldly Expressionistic alternate reality to background this heavy-on-the-action story, but neglects narrative and character beyond the most basic strokes.

| Sep 23, 2010

It's a pic that's akin to a terrarium of plastic flowers -- gaudily decorative, but airless and lifeless.

| Sep 14, 2010

With great chemistry between Hartnett and Gackt, and incredible visuals, the ambitions of director Guy Moshe's sophomore feature more than make up for what it lacks in substance.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 14, 2010