** 1/2 out of ****
Battle Royale presents one of the most engrossing and utterly terrifying premises I've ever heard. Take a large class of teenage Japanese students, place them on an island, and force them to kill each other for three straight days until only one student is left standing. Simultaneously, I also realized such a premise would indeed result in an outlandish film that probably couldn't excel as anything other than a relentless thriller or over-the-top satire. Battle Royale aims for both and hits its marks fairly well, for the most part.
To elaborate a bit further on the plot, there are about a total of forty Japanese students on this island. Each has an explosive collar around his or her neck, their incentive to stay in a certain vicinity. They have also been randomly given duffel bags packed with survival items. Some have guns, some have knives, others get binoculars and pot pans, etc. The movie's main focus is on Shuya and Noriko (boy and girl), two close schoolmates who firmly decide not to kill anyone, but must find a way off the island.
The reasons for why the students are forced to participate are a bit murky. Apparently, this is part of a new bill that was passed by the Japanese government, the reasons being the decay of the school systems and the rising juvenile delinquency. The question you have to ask yourself before you watch the film is whether or not you believe circumstances could get so out of hand as to lawfully force teens to kill one another.
Personally, I view it as an over-the-top, but intriguing premise. There are lots of movies that defy "reality," but if the film paints its portrait compellingly, I see no reason why I shouldn't go along for the ride. Primarily, it appears Battle Royale wants to work as a thriller, which it does. The pacing is akin to a roller-coaster, packed with non-stop bursts of bloody violence with well-staged shootouts and fight scenes. While the film's momentum flags here and there, the suspense does build to a crescendo; this is one movie where we truly wonder how it's going to end.
And because it works as a thriller, I give it a moderate recommendation. But it works as little else. Even for this premise, the plot is a bit contrived, with each character having a soap opera-ish background that conveniently lays the groundwork for the violence to reign supreme. Aside from the leads (especially Taro Yamamoto as an older and enigmatic "competitor"), virtually everyone else is a nobody, either clichéd or stereotypical in presentation.
The film's attempts at dark humor are what I found most irksome. As we witness our protagonists struggling for survival, the filmmakers then cut to headmaster Kitano (playing a jaded and psychotic schoolteacher), whose nonchalant behavior will either result in chuckles or baffling expressions. Count me as part of the latter. I enjoy gallows humor, but it doesn't feel appropriate here, no matter how ridiculous the situation may be, and most importantly because the rest of the film is taken very damn seriously.
Equal parts disturbing and viscerally thrilling, Battle Royale doesn't offer anything in the way of good, clean fun. But exploitation buffs and action fans (with stronger constitutions) will get a kick out of it. The film's growing cult status is unsurprising, and in its own way, actually fairly well deserved.
