Once Upon a Crime is a charming murder-mystery with a slice of comedy.

 

It's once again time that I covered something different. After scouring through movies that I may have missed from last year, I came across one that sounded rather fun. A neat little murder mystery tale with a slice of comedy that also made use of fairy tale characters. I am of course referring to Once Upon a Crime, based upon the novel written by Aito Aoyagi. The movie was directed by Yuichi Fukuda, the man behind the Gintama live-action adaptations and as such I had high hopes. It didn't disappoint. 

Little Red Riding Hood is on a life-enhancing journey through some forest-like hills when she cuts her feet on some thorns. She encounters a witch that is obsessed with being fashionable named Barbara who offers to help her gain some better shoes as Little Red's current pair aren't slick enough apparently. Unfortunately, Barbara's magic does not work well with shoes and she muddies poor Little Red Riding Hood's shoes to the point were she has to wash them in the nearby stream. Following a little argument with Barbara, the shoes float down the stream as Little Red gives chase. She encounters Cinderella, whom had just seemingly buried her pet pigeon and had put on the shoes. After Cinderella tells Little Red about the upcoming ball were the handsome Prince Gilbert is to choose a spouse and the abuse she gets from her step sisters, the pair once again encounter Barbara. Barbara manages to work some magic by changing their outfits into beautiful gowns, before her sister Tekla transforms their shoes into glass slippers. They also transform a pumpkin into a carriage and a mouse into a mouse man to drive it. However, along the way to the ball, the carriage runs over the King's hairstylist, Hans, and the trio hide the body due to not wanting to be held responsible for the death.

Once at the ball, things start off great for Cinderella with the Prince taking interest in her and offering her a dance, which she accepts. This doesn't last very long as the royal guard discovers the body of Hans, which turns the ball into an investigation were the who-dunnit mystery unravels. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the murder mystery spin on the classic fairy-tales. Little Red Riding Hood was certainly an interesting choice for the role of mystery solver. She's very smart and incredibly adept at deduction, much like a Sherlock Holmes type of character. I liked how she had little flashes as it was a good way to visualise her deductions in a manner in which was clear for the audience. 

The actual murder mystery was also pretty well done. If you pay close enough attention, there are subtle hints and clues as to who the actual culprit is scattered throughout the movie. I did have my suspicions due to some of the changes made from the original fairy tale, which turned out to be correct. Despite that, it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment.  

One of the movie's best elements and a key part of my enjoyment is the beautiful cinematography. Yuichi Fukuda did some great work on the Gintama live-action movies and he didn't disappoint with Once Upon a Crime. A dynamic array of a various shot types, angles and movements were used throughout the movie. There's the typical reaction shots, close-ups that highlight the characters expressions and emotions, mid-range shots that establish distance, showcase difference in characters and sometimes sets the scene and long-range shots that showcase the setting. There is some good camera movement used throughout the movie, such as in a dramatic scene in which the Prince reacts to certain information were the camera pans around in co-operation with a frantic musical score which gives the scene much more tension. There's tracking shots that follow the characters along their paths and a scene shot in POV that follows Cinderella's sister, Margot. My favourite shots were the night-time tracking shots that followed the carriage along the road to the ball. I thought that the shots were beautifully framed, the carriage looked good and the splash of CGI magic didn't look too bad either. 

Kanna Hashimoto was delightful as Little Red Riding Hood. I thought that she did a great job of playing the role of detective, being convincing when it came to the deductions and had some great comedic timing when necessary as well. I had known her from her roles in Gintama and Kingdom and as such it was nice to see her in a mostly serious role and she handled it well. Although, she did sneak in some of her comedic facial expressions and line delivery. She also looked really pretty in both of her costumes, so that helped! 

I have to mention Natsuna Watanabe. She was a highlight of the movie for me. As Anne, one of Cinderella's sisters, I was expecting to hate her, but I grew to love her as the movie progressed. Her attempts at wooing the Prince, including emphasising her chest at all times was strangely endearing to me, even if it may have come across as desperate to anyone in the ball room. She looked gorgeous with short hair and I thought she looked prettier than Cinderella, although that's just personal preference. I loved her back and forth with the step-mother. 

Takanori Iwata did a fine job as the Prince. He did the best he could with what he was given, which wasn't an awful lot. He did however, deliver one of the best lines of the movie, "You are really... disappointing." With context, it's a glorious line even if I saw it coming at the time. 

All in all, Once Upon a Crime is a charming twist on the Fairy Tales. It's a neat murder mystery that plays out well over the course of the movie, it has a talented cast whom all put in solid performances and has some great costumes and set design, which makes it quite endearing. I would recommend it to those who enjoy a good detective story or just want a movie to relax to.