In the aftermath of the nuclear bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the movie Emperor follows the allied forces, who are in the process of trying of rebuilding the country of Japan and prosecuting war criminals. One general, Bonner Fellers, has been given the task of deciding whether Japan’s emperor is responsible for the decision to wage war.

Matthew Fox, who you know best as playing Jack on ABC’s Lost, plays Fellers, and is joined by veteran actor Tommy Lee Jones as playing Douglas MacArthur. Jones is in charge of the cleanup and continues to insist that Fox get him information of the emperor’s guilt/innocence in only 10 days. Though this may seem like a short time, the film never achieves this sense of urgency, and right from the get-go you know that Fox will face a few bumps, but at the end succeed in his mission. This is the second time in the last few years that Tommy Lee Jones has played a World War II military man, and his performance in Captain America: the First Avenger was much more enjoyable than this performance. He’s great in the movie as he is any other, but a lack of screen time and poor characterization lead to him being a shallow façade to Douglas MacArthur.

At the same time, Fox is searching for his college sweetheart, Aya Shimada, because he knows she was teaching school in one of the bombed cities. The two have little to no chemistry and their relationship seems forced. When Fox is around her, he seems more like an older brother than a boyfriend.

Another problem I have with this film is that the cinematography is incredibly bland. Stuart Dryburgh, whose other work as cinematographer include The Piano and Bridget Jones’ Diary, has been charged with recreating a ruined Japanese society, and what he gets is, at best, a place where you’d say “they must have had a really big flood,” but not “that really looks like the aftermath of a city that had a bomb dropped on it.”

Though Emperor has an abysmal first half, the second is much more interesting and exciting as the conflict resolves and you see the social control that the emperor has over the Japanese people. However, the film suffers from many problems, including a poor script, bland cinematography and a clichéd love story. It’s because of these elements that I can’t say this is a film to rush out and see. Or see at all.