Battle Royale II: Requiem

I just finished watching BATTLE ROYALE II and was really impressed. A great sequel that lives up to the first, because it adds enough new stuff to keep things fresh. I loved the idea that the students are now forced to become a strike force, and that their collars are now tied together (one dies, so does their partner).

The battles are brutal, although I'm a little iffy on the politics. Anyway, it's a fun, beautifully shot movie that shouldn't disappoint fans of Battle Royale. Definitely adding this one to my collection.

As with most people who know anything about films, or just those with a sick and morbid sense of humour, I loved the original Battle Royale. It is my favourite film of all time, and I expect will be till the day I die. Never before had such an obscure concept on paper, transfer into such cinematic gold. So, as you can imagine, if you go in expecting the same of BR2 then you're going to be disappointed.

The first thing to note when seeing BR2, is don't get your hopes up. Good sequels are often looked down upon merely because they pale in comparison to the original. That said, BR2 is a good film, but it's not the original Battle Royale, and don't expect as much. What made the original great was 3 things: Originality, an intense amount of dark humoured violence, and Beat 'Kitano' Tekashi. BR2 has none of these (well a little Beat Tekashi).

What first strikes you odd about BR2 is exactly what they were thinking for the replacement they hired for Beat Kitano. Personally I'd have a preferred a "we cloned him so here he is" storyline line just so they could recast the master that is Beat Tekashi, than the low grade actor they got for this film. Whereas Kitano managed to pull off the role effortlessly with a sense of depression and casual disregard for life which excellently portrayed what his character was going through, the Kitano replacement left little to no explanation to what he was doing there. What adds to the confusion is when we find out he is there against his will, and we are left hints that he might have been one of the first BR survivors (yet nothing is fully revealed, nor ever will be). Although it is hard for any man to fill Tekashi's shoes, this person just does an awful job, and towards the end I just got confused to what his motivation and purpose was in the film.

What has also gone in this sequel, is the dark humour present in the random and senseless killings. Instead, this has been replaced with a very involved and heavy storyline, which makes the deaths much less enjoyable to watch (although there are still a few whoppers in there). What annoyed me most about this film however, was the extremeness of the anti American and pro terrorist underlying plot. Being from the UK it is all to refreshing to see a movie in which America is finally made to answer for it's injustices to the majority of the world, and a message which communicates that not all terrorists are evil and that many are just fighting for a cause the only way they know how...but BR2 took it too far even for me. Americans tend to hold the belief that all terrorists are evil, while BR2 holds the belief that all terrorists are freedom fighters, if you look somewhere in the middle then you'll find the truth in the way the world works.

Unfortunately, the deaths in this film are almost entirely from being shot at long distance, and hence removes the entertainment of the numerous different types of killings that was present in the first film. Following on from a film where a decapitated head had a grenade stuffed in it's mouth and was thrown through a window...I was expecting a little more gratuity than we are given. Towards the end of the film one is left feeling that they sacrificed everything that BR was about, in favour of making a heavily political anti American film.

Don't go into this movie expecting the lighthearted nature of the first film, this sequel is very much darker and deeper. And if you can get past the lameness of the Kitano replacement, the fact that Kawada and Korijima aren't in it, and can overlook the blatant anti American underlying tone, then you'll at least find this film entertaining. I would give this film 7/10, and would recommend you at least watch it. Just keep in mind that it's not as good as BR1, and nothing ever will be, and you may yet walk out the cinema with a smile.

I saw the first BR movie a while ago and I remember how quick the pace was. People would die one after the other and it was just about killing. There was barely any insight on the characters, making it a little dull, but i enjoyed it nonetheless because the special bond between Noriko and Kitano was added.

I expected the same with the second movie, but instead I got the opposite. The plot in this movie is really really lame. They go to the BR place, everyone's acting super crazy, and the main character's best friend dies, just like Nobu. Then everyone dies within the first 30 minutes or so. I also didn't like it how everyone had a partner and if your partner died, you'd die too. They had the important mission of killing a terrorist to complete here, but they just played around.

Though this movie lacked the plot, it made up for it in the meaning. For example,questions are raised. If teens and adults are so different, how do teens eventually become adults? Is it because they eventually realize they can't achieve their goal? And to prevent this disappointment, do the adults need to force this reality on them with violence? This is a very anti-communist movie so i can see why it's controvertial in countries.

Though i think the main message it's trying to send out is that life isn't just black and white. It's alright to be in-between.

So...this is an excellent movie that I would recommend seeing, you will get a lot out of it. And don't worry, the blood is so fake, it's funny. XD

This film is basically guts and gunfire entertainment from Japan.

(WARNING!- A BASIC PLOT OVERVIEW NOW FOLLOWS:) Picking up where "Battle Royale" left off, a new class of schoolchildren are forced to enter the BR 2 program in order to eliminate Nanahara Shuya, survivor of "Battle Royale", and now leader of a group of child terrorists comprised of survivors of the "Battle Royale" program, who have decided to wage war on the adult society that has rejected them.

Firstly, it should be noted that although this film may lead you to ponder topics such as:

The global circumstances that give rise to Terrorism. The traumatic effect of combat on children. The foreign policies of the United States. The breakdown of parent/child relationships within Japanese society.

These things are incidental and not what this film is for.

This film is about the good old "bang,bang you're dead", "No I'm not! you missed me!" playground antics we used to get up to as children, only here it's adults only entertainment. Put any kids you might have lying around the house to bed, hang up your film critic hat and hold onto your seat, because this film is about teen bloodshed and bodycount and there'll almost certainly be tears before bedtime! Yes there's a plot, but if you are going to try to take this film seriously you will come to a major hurdle in the first act, as soon as the class's teacher enters the arena to lay down the rules!

Kids - CHECK, Guns - CHECK,

LET BATTLE COMMENCE!....

After loving the first battle royale, I was extremely disappointed in this and struggled to make it through the whole movie.

Most of the faults have already been pointed out. The acting (not really a feature of even the first film) is laughable. Fujiwara, who was well cast as the naive Shuya in the first film, looks totally out of place as a hard bitten terrorist/freedom fighter.

The rugby coach was one of the worst actors I have ever seen, hardly a suitable replacement for Kitano.

The direction is full of choppy cuts, meant to convey a sense of fast paced action but effectively just turns the movie into a bloody mess.

Obviously the movie wasn't helped by the untimely demise of the director. Avoid this one and watch the first instead.