Masquerade Night is a splendid sequel which showcases the great chemistry between KimuTaku and Masami Nagasawa.

 

After thoroughly enjoying Masquerade Hotel, I had high hopes for the sequel. Having recently sat down to watch the 2021 movie, I can honestly say that it was a very entertaining watch. As far as sequels go, Masquerade Night is an example of how to execute one appropriately. 

Once again, Masquerade Night is based on a novel by Keigo Higashino, much like its predecessor, Masquerade Hotel. 

Also like its predcessor, Masquerade Night takes place at the Hotel Cortesia Tokyo. Unlike in Hotel, the police are actually led to the hotel thanks to an anonymous tip via letter. It sort of looks like a fax. The tip indicates that a murderer whom has just recently committed a crime in Nerima, will appear at the aforementioned hotel for the New Year's Eve countdown party known as Masquerade Night. In the midst of attempting to enjoy some time off, detective Nitta is called in to help the investigation, much to his chagrin. Once he arrives, he swiftly reunites with hotel staff member, Yamagishi. Things start off rather similar in the relationship as in the previous movie with the two often bickering over Nitta's determination to catch the criminal and Yamagishi's duty to provide the best service possible to hotel guests. Unfortunately for the duo, as well as the entirety of the police force, the hotel is housing a large number of guests, most of whom have prepared costumes for attending the countdown party. Naturally, Nitta and Yamagishi work together even when at odds with one another, to find the culprit. Yamagishi also has a personal mission this time as there's an opportunity for her to become a hotelier in Los Angeles. The role is up for grabs between her and co-worker, Ujihara. 

What I loved about Masquerade Night is the beautiful cinematography. Almost every frame in the movie is picturesque. Shoji Ehara's work deserves recognition and his partnership with director Masayuki Suzuki is a joy to behold. There's a wide array of dynamic shots, from lovely pans that show the scale of the setting and set the tone of scenes to the wide angles used in dialogue, to subtle close up reaction shots to help to convey the emotions on display. A particular favourite shot of mine happens within the first few minutes of the movie. It's an exquisite panning shot from the lobby to the entrance that passes through the front doors. It's a really clever, dynamic shot that elevates the production of the movie tenfold. Things change once the countdown party is in full swing as the camera work does a great job at capturing the claustrophobic nature of the event and the desperation of the police as they search frantically in an effort to locate and apprehend the murderer. 

Complimenting Shoji Ehara's artistry and Masayuki Suzuki's competent direction is the glorious use of vivid colours. Things such as the red Masquerade mask decoration and the red dress of the statue really stand out. Add to that the excellent costumes such as the dapper hotel staff uniforms and the elegant party costumes. The production value puts a lot of Hollyweird movies to shame, especially in regard to detail. 

One thing that also stood out is the frenetic pacing. This could have been detrimental, instead however, it actually really benefits the movie as it manages to really sell the audience on just how desperate the police are in their search for the killer with only an anonymous tip to work with. It also really helps to highlight the frantic nature of working at such a high class hotel, as there are a rather huge amount of guests often moving around in both the foreground and background in various scenes. 

What really makes Masquerade Night work, much like its predecessor, is the central relationship between Nitta and Yamagishi. Takuya Kimura and Masami Nagasawa have tremendous on-screen chemistry and its this that really makes both Masquerade movies work. It's incredibly fun to see them work together even whilst constantly bickering due to their respective positions and occupations. Their different approaches to their situation adds another layer to the movie on top of the whodunnit mystery aspect. Both actors as well as the writer, Michitaka Okada and director Masayuki Suzuki deserve a ton of credit as a lot of detail went into fleshing out the characters. Both have distinct appearances, demeanours, and nuances. 

Also returning are most of the stellar supporting cast from Hotel. Ryo Ishibashi is wonderful in his role as hotel manager Fujiki and makes the most of his limited screen time. Atsuro Watabe gives a solid, refined performance in his return as police chief Inagaki. Shingo Tsurumi keeps things short and sweet in his brief moments as Takura. Fumiyo Kohinata is delightful as Nose, the old detective and former partner of Nitta. Zen Kajihara makes some tremendous facial expressions and honestly made me laugh quite a few times as Motomiya. Everyone old and new committed to their roles and gave solid all around performances and I wish I could go through each and every single cast member, alas, I'd be typing forever! 

The plot is solid and is quite the neat mystery. I do have to state that it didn't take me too long to figure out which hotel guests were suspicious enough to be involved in the actual attempted crime. I managed to piece things together as far as who was going to play a part and who were merely red herrings, but it was still an extremely entertaining watch. An aspect that I really appreciated is how the ending of Night mirrored that of Hotel albeit with certain roles being reversed, it felt fitting and was a nice send off.

All in all, I'd heartily recommend both Masquerade Night and its predecessor to those who love a good mystery movie. I'd also recommend it for those who are fans of KimuTaku or the classic will they, won't they relationship dynamic.