Bunraku 2010

New York Times: Read more

Andy Webster, New York Times: A potpourri of genres that ends up a morass of cliches. Read more

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

John Hartl, Seattle Times: 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. Read more

Alison Willmore, AV Club: Bunraku's premise involves a level of fanboy wankery that makes Sucker Punch look restrained. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: 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. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: 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. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: "Bunraku" is so desensitizing with its hyper-stylized distractions and movie references it feels more mush-up than mash-up. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's not difficult to see why this movie - which reportedly cost $25 million - has been looking for a release date since it was finished more than three years ago. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: It should surprise no one that visually quirky, graphic-novelish, pulp-noir action flicks rarely come through the sausage machine intact. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Extremely cool-looking in the manner of "Sin City,'' but clumsily staged, slackly acted and mind-numbingly dull... Read more

Dave McGinn, Globe and Mail: 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. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: It's a pic that's akin to a terrarium of plastic flowers -- gaudily decorative, but airless and lifeless. Read more

Mark Holcomb, Village Voice: Bunraku is far from a cinematic leap forward, but for a couple of hours, it does make "one-dimensional" something other than a pejorative. Read more