Masquerade Hotel

I guess I'm really demanding, since I wasn't completely satisfied with this movie either, and it's full of ace actors. Granted, you can't completely determine the quality of a film based solely on the number of quality actors, but considering that it was a story that was carried primarily by people, it wouldn't have gone anywhere if it weren't for the good performances. It's actually an enjoyable hotel spectacle, where we're lucky enough to see a few episodic events with different types of visitors and an unsolved serial murder case lingering in the background. So it's actually suspenseful, and at the same time human, and unfortunately slightly opaque. The hotel setting is terribly vibrant, colorful, and lovely to look at. Probably the biggest drawback for me was the length; towards the end I thought it really dragged. But that's just the way the Japanese are, I find that's how they make their films. A hotel mystery with a very good cast where you suspect everyone. Funny, great, not particularly challenging. For fans of Kimura or Nagasawa, this is an obvious choice. For fans of Higashino stories, too. An improved 3 stars. (2019.09.21)

A Japanese whodunnit in the style of Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie should not offend fans of such work. I enjoyed it perhaps a little more than the recent Knives Out, which is probably due to my favourite hotel setting, but the running time was excessive and if the film was half an hour shorter I wouldn't have been angry. The actors are fine and the last half hour is suspenseful and there's no shortage of fine set-ups, so decent within the genre and for the Japanese. Surprisingly, the visuals are good too. Story****, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment***, Music***, Visual****, Atmosphere***, Suspense***. 6/10. (2020.06.11)