I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed Joker Game. I was glued to my seat. I tried to get up and wound up sitting on the edge of my seat, riveted. D Company, an organization under the purview of the Japanese Military but acts separately for the most part, is assigned a mission to recover secret documents, the Black Note, from what appears to be Hong Kong (the name is never mentioned). The movie follows a spy called Kato (played by Kazuya Kamenashi) as he attempts to acquire the Black Note and send it to Japan. It's one of several attempts by Japanese writers to put another spin on WWII. Unlike in most of the other stories, they are not against the German or Germanesque villains, this time they are up against the Brits, who are quite villainous. If a fanciful retelling or a different view point of history bothers you, then don't watch it. They're spies from the 1930s/40s attempting to avoid WWII would be idiotic.

I've always been of the mind that the Japanese were master storytellers, but aside from a few outstanding exceptions (like Kurosawa and Miike), poor movie makers. If they ever got it into their minds to actually allot the amount of money into production costs that's needed, their movies would be more popular. Their movies almost always look sepia toned or dull, which is ridiculous when you think of the technology in Japan. That being said it looks like they put more money toward JG. Although the coloring was a bit drab and dull it fit the surrounding and story. The director's use of shadow in many scenes really stood out and made some scenes beautiful. One in particular tricks you into thinking you're watching black & white. When I think back on it, I keep seeing Kamenashi in b & w which he wasn't. I have never read the novel nor watched the anime (just added it to my list) on which the movie is based, but I'm ok with that. I liked it regardless.

The cast led by Kazuya Kamenashi were entertaining. It was odd seeing Yusuke Iseya in such a small role. Colonel Yuki is a pivotal character and Iseya was very good. I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Yuki and Kaminaga (his secretary??) played by Yukiyoshi Ozawa. They seemed to have a budding bromance. Kamenashi, Keisuke Koide, Hiroshi Yamamoto, and 1 other, did fine jobs as the spies on the mission. I wish we had seen more of them as a team. Kamenashi was well suited for the soft hearted Kato. Unfortunately, we barely get to know the other spies. Mores the pity. They were fun to watch in the few scenes they were in.

The music was really good (not counting the ED which was out of place). It was a big component in making scenes exciting. They missed their mark with the ED by using a KAT-TUN song instead of jazz or something that promoted feelings of the time.

I love mysteries. I love thrillers. This was both. However, I doubt I would re-watch it unless they did a part 2 (it needs a part 2). Don't get me wrong. It's a good movie, but it's not spectacular. It's not flawless. I think if I rewatched it, I'd only pick it apart and not enjoy it the way I just did. I rarely rewatch anything so I never consider this value in my factoring my overall score.

Again, Joker Game was enjoyable. It was almost 2 hours, but you wouldn't know it. The time flies by. Rarely do movies fully tell the source material the way a reader wants. I've learned to separate the 2 and judge a movie adaptation on it's own merits. What matters to me is if it's a good movie, and in my opinion Joker Game is a good movie. If you're looking for an in depth character study and/or character development that you can sink your teeth into, then click on by, this is not your movie. However, if you're looking for a bit of "actiony" fun with spies and big boys with guns, then click play.