Masquerade Hotel (2019) User Reviews (8)

Molecule Review: Masquerade Hotel / Rich, Funny Investigative Thriller / 7 Stars

[nairtejas · 7/10 · 29 January 2020]

The elegance of the high production setup of Masquerade Hotel is enough to invite you in into this comic investigative thriller that is part funny, part serious as a team of police officers arrive at a plush, 5-star hotel to solve a case where a serial killer is supposed to execute his final killing. Although the film goes haywire and overlong in the second and third acts, I really enjoyed watching the lead actors play it out, and even more so as the film knowingly highlights the purity of the hotel management scene which is a delightful subject in itself. When things unfold finally, you feel a certain longing for the hotel, if you have ever enjoyed a stay at a 5-star. That's the impact Masquerade Hotel has. TN.

(Watched and reviewed at its India premiere at the 3rd Japanese Film Festival in Mumbai.)

A classy murder mystery ruined by a disappointing conclusion

[mister_bateman · 6/10 · 28 May 2020]

The great cinematography, the classical music soundtrack, the elegant, fancy hotel surroundings and the at times overly colorful characters give the movie an almost Disney-like, larger than life feel. It really draws you in right away. The plot begins to unfold in a slightly convoluted, but intriguing way. But then the murder mystery takes a backseat and instead we get an insight behind the curtains of the hotel business, which reveals the archetypal japanese perfectionism and deep, almost religious dedication to the work and the customer service. While sometimes over the top, this is quite fascinating and the police officer and the female receptionist have really great chemistry as they join forces and exchange their totally different approaches and mindsets. But too much of the murder story happens off screen and is only told verbally by the protagonists, there are too many suspects and victims that are only ever talked about and never shown and it becomes rather hard to follow. And ultimately the conclusion, after the movie spins this huge, complex web of motives and potential murderers, is quite a let down. However, I still enjoyed watching it, simply because of the great atmosphere, the charming hotel subplot and the nice characters.

Looks Thrown Together.

[net_orders · 5/10 · 22 February 2021]

GRAND HOTEL (1932) Japan style. Uneven mini plots (linked to a small, but expensive looking hotel) make up the bulk of the film - sort of like TV episodes. Murder mystery (usually running in the background except for the closing scenes) is hard to follow, since it is totally thread bare and stretched to the point of being an obviously faked plot. Actors are OK, but performances are nothing great. Cinematography is packed with tricks (camera is hyper acrobatic!) plus lots of CGI seems to have been used to compensate for the small main set (the lobby of the hotel). Special effects are fine, but highly repetitive. Music is overkill with dramatic sounding themes that seldom match the bland scenes displayed. Big orchestra sound. Subtitles are mostly OK, but can hit or miss the dialog. Viewed at JICC J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN

Nice atmosphere, predictable plot, disappointing ending.

[nicholasbatlaw · 6/10 · 6 September 2020]

Takuya Kimura does a great job at playing the disinterested detective that grows more and more passionate about his case. The acting is great, especially from the hotel staff.

The murder story takes a bit of a backseat, most of the case development is told through meetings rather than shown. Instead the story actually focuses on the behind the scenes of hotel management, Japanese work culture and perfectionism, often explaining the influence a good hotel can have on a person's life. It can be a bit corny at times though, almost anime-like but that's just part of Japanese movie culture.

The biggest problem of the movie however is that it's too predictable. They draw so much attention to some plot points that it becomes obvious it will be a key factor in the story later. The killer is also pretty obvious, it's so obvious in fact that you wonder if the movie is going to give you a plot twist... And it does, but it isn't a very good one. Also the killer's motive and logic is soooo stupid and non-sensical that I had to ask my Japanese friend if I understood it correctly... Unfortunately I did, and it really is THAT silly; an easily avoidable situation that makes no sense. I half expected a quirky scene where someone points out the obvious solution to the killer's problem and they say "oh, why didn't I think that?! Oh well! Too late now *murder*"

Plus the killer leaves all sorts of clues and seems to hint that he is some sort of professional assassin... But he isn't a phantom killer or anything like that, it's just a crime of passion, makes no sense to leave hints and I just don't believe that person uses such methodology. It really feels they had someone else in mind to be the killer but they thought it was too obvious or something and switched killers in the last minute.

Given than the heart of a murder mystery is the motive, method and reveal this movie greatly suffers from it, which is unfortunate because the whole plot about Japanese work culture is good.

Honestly, it's a yes.

[kainwalker · 6/10 · 12 January 2024]

Watched the movie after reading the book and I think it's a good adaptation. They made a good attempt at giving a visual flair to the original source.

So as much as I appreciate it as an adaptation especially if we compare it to similar works made in the past I'm not sure the movie itself is that good to stand alone for someone who is not that interested in the story.

If you read the book most of the time it will be people trying to piece the clues together and investigate and think, but everything in the movie happens at once, which I somehow appreciate because it has a good rhythm and I enjoyed the fact that the hotel customer stories intertwine more compared to what goes on in the book but at the same time everything happens so fast and it doesn't really give the viewer the time to wonder about what is going on, it's just one twist after another.

Rant about the plot (spoiler area): X4 gets painted as some kind of genius but then has the super asinine idea of waiting just outside the hotel for the whole damn night while is was pouring. I don't know: just go back a couple more times and wait for the staff to start the night shift, wait in the lobby, you really could not come up with a better solution??! Geez

The acting anyway is good. I'd still recommend the movie.

Masquerade Hotel

[jackson_ro · 3/10 · 8 December 2019]

Takuya Kimura is still one of the most captivating Asian male lead ever, his sheer presence is often enough to elevate a movie. But Masquerade Hotel has a TV series vibe to it, as the entire storyline feels very loose. The main story lacks intrigue and the ending isn't entirely unpredictable, not a lot of effort seems to be put in to make the murder cases more interesting. The film as a whole lacks conflict and character development. Corny dialogue and scenes are also common in the film, and especially that scene with his teacher seems entirely avoidable. Moments like these makes the film at least 15-20 minutes too long in length.

Perfect!

[kkenwwong · 10/10 · 7 June 2021]

My family and i watched this movie 5 times and we still loved the Kimura's performance. We have loved most of his movies and drama.

This story is a bit different from what Kimura played in the past. But overall, we enjoyed it.

Male lead looks young at 46

[madbird-61243 · 8/10 · 10 September 2019]

The movie itself is not very captivating, given that the story just develops within a hotel. The female lead is ok. But with the evergreen male lead the whole movie is lightened.