Cast Member: Shun Sugata

While its uniqueness may not be for all, ‘Bunraku’ wears its quest for originality proudly on its sleeve and for the most part succeeds at offering a different take on an old Western/Samurai style set up.

For those prepared for difficult material and subject matter it is a stylish, gripping example of fearless, maverick cinema.

No doubt those who need oodles of story/plot/narrative to justify enjoying a film will grumble (yawn!) but on the whole this is a superior sequel and a super-charged martial arts film.

There may not be much here that we haven’t seen before, but it’s certainly been a while since we’ve seen most of it done so well.

It’s extreme, it’s sleazy, it’s as mad as a bag of snails (and even features a woman who is half snail!) but it is a lot of fun.