20-seiki shônen: Dai 2 shô - Saigo no kibô

The second film in the 20th Century Boys series is just as exciting, gripping and delightfully entertaining as the first film. I had a ball watching the story unfold as the old prophecies, written by Kenji as a child, are replaced with a book of NEW prophecies written by the mysterious Friend as a child. Who is Friend? Why is he so obsessed with Kenji, his club of friends and the book of prophecies? I really do love these films and I can't wait for the third film, coming toward the end of 2009. The production values are fantastic, the acting solid, the direction tight and the story itself is complicated enough to intrigued adults yet easy enough for kids to follow. While I certainly wouldn't call the 20th Century Boys films "kiddie flicks," they are based on Manga and safe for the entire family.

20th Century Boys 2 was really exciting, I enjoyed every single minute of it just as much as the first film despite the lack of giant robots. Hey, I can always hope for more giant rampaging robots in part three, right? Seriously though, I cannot recommend these films enough. The copy I watched looked to be ripped straight from the original film source so there were reel breaks and all sorts of things but it was still a privilege. If you were able to attend the Philly Film Festival and check this out, I'm sure you're just as excited about this film series as I am. When these films hit stateside, check 'em out!

It is a sequel to the first one and this is not a sequel that stands alone, you need to watch part one in order to understand the characters. It is quite a good sequel following up. The pace is fast and intense. With the third movie as a conclusion, the characters race against time to stop Friend's plot to destroy mankind and unravel his identity. I can't say which one I like best as both of the movies have their own plot. I enjoyed both of them and cannot wait for part 3.

The story: It starts off where part one ends. Kanna is a grown-up teenager in 2015. Friend is still planning on destroying mankind and has made almost everyone respect him as god. Kanna races to fight off Friend' evil plot and finds dark secrets. I can't spoil much as there are quite a lot of twists. With an expensive budget, you can see some huge realistic sets never feature in Japanese movies. Part one has the expensive sets. Part two, the sets are not as big as part one, is more about the drama and dark secrets. So those expecting bigger sets may be disappointed

Overall: It is still good. Those who watch part one and enjoy it, you are suggested to watch this too. Those who want to know about friend's identity, you will have to wait for part three. It has thrill, suspense and maybe drama. But there is no action, and there is no action. This is only for thrills and suspense.

The story continues now set many years down the line with Kenji's neice Kanna now a teenager and kicking the ass of anyone that stands in her way!

Chapter 2 is very much all about her story, with the main focus being the infiltration of the Friends Society and reconnecting with her uncles schoolmates on her journey. But it isn't as simple as it sounds with more twists and mystery coming to light revealing a much darker film than its predecessor with plenty more action, time travel and revelations.

Again, I don't want to give too much away as there is so much going that could disrupt viewing of both chapter 1 and 3, but it is a lot of fun with some great moments and plenty of surprises!

Overall: With top performances from all cast members and huge production values, Chapter 2 takes the story to new places and doesn't disappoint!

Whereas the first movie was very faithful to the Manga series, the plot in this part is quite different. This is not a bad thing per se, but I was a bit disappointed that Manjome and dream navigator Tagasuki were represented as 1-dimensional characters who are aware of all of friend's plans. Also, there a scene where Maniome basically says what is going to happen next that totally spoils the movie's climax. I believe a lot of people who are not familiar with the Manga series will either not fully understand what is going on or find the movie boring.

My friends and I agree that three movies are simply not enough to retell the complex story of the Manga series. A TV show would probably have been a better approach.

Overall, I still give this movie 5 stars, because it is entertaining and the few more exciting scenes are well executed.

It's been a relatively long wait for the sequel to 20th Century Boys, and a word of warning to those who intend to catch The Last Hope. Either you have to be a thorough fan boy of the first film to have a photographic memory of what developed, or you'd have just recently watched it on DVD, in order to be able to dive right into this film's proceedings. Being a fan of the manga series probably wouldn't help as much since the story would depart from the established mythos, and it's sad to say there isn't so much of a recap of key events and characters from the first film. You have been warned, and newbies better stay away.

Otherwise, save for the film starting off with a flashback scene into the 70s, the film is set some 15 years after the climax of its predecessor, where the group of friends are now termed terrorists, and "Friend" is the recognized saviour of the world, having become leader of Japan, and well-respected leader to the world. After all, history is written by the victor, and "Friend" has ensured that the students in school are inculcated into his version of the truth.

Kanna Endo (Airi Taira), the niece of Kenji Endo (who doesn't feature in this installment), takes over the mantle as The Chosen One. Just what she's chosen for is quite vague, other than her lineage and what could be deemed as super-powers in her fighting ability, which doesn't get exploited much, leaving a lot of room for interpretation just what her value is to the plot. She suffers from weak characterization, and got bogged down with protecting two transsexuals, searching for her mom, infiltrating "Friend"'s cult camp, and learning some back-story of her uncle and his friends.

The other characters of course were the older versions of some of Kenji's gang, from Occho (Etsushi Toyokawa) to Yukiji (Takako Tokiwa), lending again some bewildered moments as they get caught up trying to learn of "Friend"'s identity, and his next scheme. Unfortunately, the narrative's played out in rather straightforward fashion, and before the mid-way mark is reached, you'll expect what that would just be, thanks to a careless slip where you see the initial seeds of the plan being worked on, since the childhood days. There's also a New Book of Prophecy, and rather than come up with some earth-shattering self-fulfilling prophecies like the first installment, it has, wait for it... one prophecy to develop in the whole 2.5 hours.

New characters were also introduced, and here's yet another negative point that the film chalked up effortlessly. Many of the new faces just turn up with little background, and you've to swallow it as is. Some are added for (poor) comedic effect, like Kanna's klutzy schoolmate Kyoko Koizumi (Haruka Kinami) and honest, bullied cop Detective Chono (Naohito Fujiki), but a lot of characters were just there for the numbers, such as the Thai and Chinese Mafioso, and well-connected priest Father Nitani (Naomasa Rokudaira). I guess we would only know their extent of relevance come the third film, if they do get an opportunity to show something worth their salt.

The only plus point which does get tired after a while, is how fanatical any cult follower can be, in complete obedience to their appointed leader. In this film "Friend"'s aims to cement his reputation, and has his own inner circle of members inducted through specially designed camps. One can just laugh at the proceedings, and especially at the camp leaders in their extremely artificial show of sincerity toward all new recruits whom they want to win over. It's quite scary how uniform they all behave, and their conformity to one another just seem all the more fake especially when someone breaks ranks, and doesn't exhibit approved behaviour.

20th Century Boys 2 suffered from your classic middle-movie syndrome, being sandwiched as part of a planned trilogy. Not every middle film can stand alone and make sense without too much reference to its predecessor, and I guess the acid test is whether a new viewer would be able to watch this film as the starting point. The fact is it can't, and with the expectation that this film will definitely come without a real ending, it probably will just frustrate you until the third and final chapter come rolling along. So all you can do for this one, is to sit back after the end credits roll for the trailer of the final film, and trust me, that short clip is equally baffling as this film.

I only hope that this series would be worthwhile investing time in when seen as a whole trilogy.