Title: Chinmoku no Parade / 沈黙のパレード
Rating: 6 / 10
Recommended for:
Those who are fans of the Galileo series and want to see the lead trio back in action but don't mind a somewhat underwhelming suspense story
Liked:
- If you are a fan of the Galileo series and would like to see the leads Fukuyama Masaharu, Shibasaki Kou and Kitamura Kazuki back in action again, you should be satisfied with this movie which retained the usual formula in past installments to a certain extent.
- Since it had been some years from the first Galileo drama series, it was natural to see some progression and development in the characters from then to now. As such, there were notably more emotional scenes this time especially for Kitamura. While I was surprised to see such a vulnerable side to Kusanagi (Kitamura) in the movie, I was also impressed by the subtlety in Kitamura's acting as he didn't go too overboard when conveying the outpouring feelings of his character. Shibasaki's character Utsumi also showed a newfound stability and maturity as she no longer "hovered" around Yukawa (Fukuyama) cluelessly and could hold her own as a more experienced police officer now compared to when she first started out. Even Yukawa who used to be quite "emotionally detached" and a tad harsh at times, had a softer feel and felt much more "human-like" than before.
Disliked:
- Despite my point above about this movie being quite standard Galileo fare, there were still some adjustments such as the famous scene when Yukawa always had to scribble lots of mathematical calculations on any surface for his deductions - this was omitted. Perhaps it was because the characters had "grown" over the entire series of dramas and movies so that kind of "dramatic scene" no longer fitted the current vibe in this movie. While I don't mind this kind of change to fit the characters' current state of mind and/or situations, these missing elements might not go down so well with longtime fans who enjoy watching them.
Likewise, because Yukawa is no longer emotionless, Utsumi has become so mellow and mature while Kusanagi is not cheeky and frivolous this time, it can be a bit of a turnoff for existing fans of the series if they are watching this for some nostalgia from the good old days. To be honest, the fun interactions between the three of them was something I used to enjoy but the atmosphere this time was a bit too heavy for that.
- The story or rather the truth behind the case was easy to guess from the start. If you have watched enough suspense/mystery stories to date and saw how the build-up to the murder was done, it would have been an obvious giveaway on what to expect. As such, I didn't enjoy the suspense element because I knew what was coming and that was very anti-climatic as a suspense story.
* NOTE: Do watch the credits till the end for the footage from past installments in the Galileo series. Great for a nostalgic walk down memory lane!
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