A special review – this film, released in Japanese theaters earlier this year, was shown with English subtitles on my recent All Nippon Airways flight to Tokyo.

What’s It About? Haunted by a classmate’s mysterious death and dissatisfied with the police investigation, Ryoko Fujino decides to hold a trial at her school to find out if one of her fellow students is a murderer.

STRAIGHT UP: Like a two-hour trailer for a different, better movie. 1.5/5

What I Liked

Ryoko Fujino as Ryoko Fujino – The character and the actress share a name. Fujino’s got some acting chops, though it doesn’t really show for the first half of the film. She finishes on such a tear, though, that I’ll forgive her.

Mizuki Itagaki as Kazuhiko Kanbara – Probably the most intense and interesting character in the story, even if Kanbara’s actions sometimes seem a bit contrived.

Fumiyo Kohinata as Principal Tsuzaki – From a foreigner’s perspective, this character’s struggles are quite interesting. He tries, and ultimately fails, to protect his students and his school’s image while operating within the complex social rules of Japan.

Fast-paced final act – Once the trial preparations actually get underway, this turns into a completely different movie. It’s just a shame it takes so long to get to this point.

What I Disliked

Lazy first act – It takes a long time for the characters’ motivations and relationships with each other to become clear, and even longer before the main plot comes into focus. If I hadn’t been stuck on a plane, I might have bailed on this film in its early stages.

Needs more Juri – Despite being one of the film’s most intriguing characters (and a major suspect in the murder case), Juri is absent for a long stretch in the middle of the story. Whether this is an issue with the screenplay adaptation or just a symptom of having such a large cast of characters is unclear.

Matsuko Asai – I can’t figure out the point of this character or her story arc. Her scenes should’ve been cut in order to further develop the rest of the cast.

Sub-par production values – Most Japanese live-action filmmaking just isn’t up to Hollywood standards, and this one is no exception. It’s got the look and feel of a daytime TV show rather than a cinematic release.

Awkward scene transitions – The film cuts to flashback scenes occasionally without providing any audience cues, leading to some narrative confusion that doesn’t get sorted out until later. The camera occasionally lingers too long on still shots before moving to the next scene, which is uncomfortable and shockingly amateur-grade.

Terrible cliffhanger – Solomon no Gishou was planned as a two-parter from the start, but this first film isn’t even interesting in providing even a fleeting sense of closure before the credits roll. It just cuts out in the middle of a climactic moment, and not a single one of the many sub-plots is resolved.

CLOSING THOUGHT: In general, this is the kind of movie I dislike the most – one that makes no effort to be enjoyable as a standalone, that relies desperately on the promise of a better, more exciting Part 2 to rescue it. (For a contemporary American example, refer to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.) That said, without even a scrap of plot resolution to show for my efforts so far, I feel like I can’t properly pass judgment on Solomon no Gishou without seeing the second film – and the hints of what’s to come are just interesting enough to make me think it won’t be a waste of time. It might be somewhat difficult for me to track down the sequel (entitled Solomon no Gishou: Kouhen) here in the United States, though, so if anyone knows where I can find it, tell me in the comments.