I'm still working on reviews for two other writing stuff, Yarny and Liquid Story Binder, so they'll have to wait until next week. So instead I thought I'd review a movie :) I'll try not to spoil too much, because you really should see it :)
Bunraku
Starring: Josh Hartnett, GACKT, Woody Harrelson, Ron Perlman, Kevin McKidd. Also features Demi Moore.
Rating: R
Summary: In a world without guns, a mysterious drifter (Hartnett), a young samurai (GACKT) and a bartender (Harrelson) find themselves working together to overthrow the ruthless leader who controls the town (Perlman) and his Red Suit army.
My Thoughts:
First, for all the hype the company behind this movie gave it, it was completely underpromoted. Not a lot of effort was put into trying to promote this to the public which I think did the movie a huge disservice.
Bunraku's not your typical movie. Set in similar style to movies like Sin City and Kill Bill, it's a very different ride. Director Guy Moshe draws heavy inspiration from origami and bunraku, which is an old Japanese style of puppetry. It's bright and colourful and doesn't always takes itself seriously, which makes it rather fun. The storyline is rather good, the fight scenes are spectacular and the acting's superb. I've never been a fan of Josh Hartnett and I don't tend to go out of my way to see his movies but I really enjoyed him in this one. Ron Perlman is not your typical bad guy, doesn't encompass the "evil" archtype as much as you might expect. Woody Harrelson's character in the bartender is the wise guide helping the two protagonists along and sometimes is very much a father figure. Kevin McKidd, as Killer No. 2, IS your typical bad ass and embodies it well. With a rather stylish form of fighting more reminiscent of dancing than combat. And GACKT, even if you've never heard of him or think him just a singer, he's going to surprise you. For these guys alone, the movie's worth checking out.
Demi Moore's character of Alexandra is unfortunately kind of a useless character. Moshe, who also wrote the script, could have easily written the same story without her character. She plays her part well, it's just a shame that Alexandra doesn't have a more firm anchor in this story as she could have.
Yes, it does have a few shortcomings. In many ways the story showed a lot of potential that Moshe didn't quite reach. For example Alexandra's relation to the bartender could have been better developed. Their whole time in this movie especially at the end seemed kind of anti-climatic. The movie is also a little over-narrated; I'm not opposed to movies with narrators, unfortunately Moshe used the narrator to tell just a little too much of the story, instead of the characters. I would have eliminated it entirely, or at least kept it to the beginning and the end. But despite those things I really loved this movie. Visually the movie is stunning and unique like a blend of stage and movie. The fight scenes are well choreographed and entertaining to watch. There are no slow or dull moments in this movie, no lulls in action or dialogue as Moshe has set a very good pace between action and acting. And everyone's acting in this movie is supurb. It's hard to go into much more description without spoiling the movie itself, but please definitely pick this up and check it out. You won't be disappointed!
Bunraku can be ordered from Amazon.com, or buy it at Wal-Mart. Bunraku hits theatres in Japan January 2012.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Review Monday: Bunraku
Posted by
M.R.J. Le Blanc
on Monday, November 28, 2011
Labels:
Movie,
Review Monday
About Me
- M.R.J. Le Blanc
- Reader, writer and World of Warcraft gamer. My goal: to write 1million words in a year. Yes I'm ambitious!
Works In Progress
Chasing Dreams
The Dragon King
The Demigod's Curse
Revenant
The Dragon King
The Demigod's Curse
Revenant
Awards I've Gotten
Followers
Helpful Sites
- AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler
- Agent Obscura
- Agent Query
- Agent Research & Evaluation
- Backspace
- Fiction Factor - Building Realism Through Characters
- How Publishing Really Works
- Jennifer Jackson
- John Jarrold
- Miss Snark
- Preditors & Editors
- Publisher's Marketplace
- QueryTracker.net
- The Bookshelf Muse
- Writer Beware Blogs!
- Writer Beware!
- Writer Beware's Thumbs Down Agency List
- Writer Beware's Thumbs Down Publishers List
- WritersNet
The AW Blogroll!
Links I Like
- 2tylish - Unofficial GACKT Fansite
- Antonio Restivo
- Bright Weavings: The Worlds of Guy Gavriel Kay
- Celtic Myth Podshow
- Cesar Millan - Official Site
- Cindy Pon
- Crimson Moon
- Dragon Cave - My Dragons!
- Fantasy Art by Nene Thomas
- GACKT Official Website (english)
- Guy Gavriel Kay
- heise's deviantART gallery
- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
- HolyClothing.com
- Locks of Love
- Mary Lindsey's Weblog
- Moon-Struck, an unofficial GACKT translation site
- Ontario Writers' Conference
- Original Chinchillas
- phoenixlu on deviantART
- RabbitRescue.ca - Finding homes for domestic rabbits in Ontario
- Shakira.com
- Sheltie Nation
- Smart B*tches, Trashy Books
- Stillinheaven
- Sturm un Drang
- The Art of Sara Forlenza
- the purple patch
- World of Warcraft - Official Site
Labels
A Game of Nobles
Anne Bishop
Author Interview
Beautiful Nightmare
Birthday
Blog Award
Blog Chain
Blog Question
Books
Chasing Dreams
Cindy Pon
Contest
Dalila
Distractions
Dreaming Fun
Ebooks
Excerpt
Friends
Gackt
Gaming
Goal
good/bad stuff
Goodies
Hobbies
House of Amberwind
life: world events
Local Stuff
Mirage
Movie
Music
NaNo
Nemesis Now
New Story
New Year
Opinion
Out and About
Path of the Hunter
Personal
Photo
Pics
Picspam
Progress
Promo Stuff
Publishing 101
Rant
Recommendation
Redemption
Revenant
Review Monday
review: writing program
Shopping
Tech Stuff
Technology
Tessa
The Dragon King
Tips and Tricks
Tolkien
Travel
TV Shows
untitled dark fantasy
untitled historical
Video
warlord story
Wishlist
Wordcount Update
World of Warcraft
Worldly Issues
Writing
Blogs I Follow
-
-
-
Christmas Traditions2 weeks ago
-
In Memoriam: Janet Reid8 months ago
-
-
-
#3325 years ago
-
Scepter of Fire Pre-Release Teaser5 years ago
-
-
FREE YA Sampler Book5 years ago
-
Valentine's Day Giveaway(s)!5 years ago
-
Hello :)6 years ago
-
Wolf-Killer OUT NOW6 years ago
-
-
Test Post - Ignore7 years ago
-
-
-
-
World AIDS Day 20178 years ago
-
-
-
BookEnds Has Moved9 years ago
-
Closing Down.9 years ago
-
-
-
Marked By You9 years ago
-
Hello, I must be going...10 years ago
-
Review: Silent Pain10 years ago
-
All things considered, ol' DWR10 years ago
-
BA10 years ago
-
NEW BLOG!10 years ago
-
-
Dealing with sociopathy11 years ago
-
AAA Travel Insurance11 years ago
-
Please update your RSS feed link11 years ago
-
Pub Rants Has Moved!!11 years ago
-
Hurricanes and PayPal12 years ago
-
-
theseventhcircleofelle12 years ago
-
Shifting (my book) Preview13 years ago
-
A Flair for the Dramatic13 years ago
-
The Matter of Words13 years ago
-
-
-
Time Rodents and the Delicate Warriors14 years ago
-
Que Vaya Bien14 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0 comments:
Post a Comment