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Battle Royale II: Requim




"This time it's war!"


Rating: 8 out of 10 *'s

***SPOILER FILLED REVIEW / SYNOPSIS / RANT***
If you do not want to know anything about this movie, then don't read this. However, you may not be able to cop a DVD of those movie til late 2004 the earliest, if not 2005.

Last Chance!

Brief Synopsis:
It's time for BR again. However, they're not going to kill each other, this time the participants must hunt down Nanahara (Shuya from BR 1) and his terrorist group, Wild Seven.

Review (i.e. My Rant):
First off, I won't make it any secret but I didn't like the first BR at all. And I still don't know why you people flip over it like it's tight @#%$. But I'll leave it at that. A lot of this is the same @#%$ form the BR site, so you can go there and read this as well. This movie however definitely gets the (thumbs up). It's nothing like the first one at all, even though it was made by the same people. [Yes, I know Kenji Fukasaku died and his son (Kenji) took over, but Kenji more or less just did everything from storyboard they worked on before he died. And he is responsible for the script as well, just like BR 1]. Like I said, nothing like the first one. But as the tag line states. It's a full-on war movie. If you're expecting a re-hash of the first one, you're in for disappointment. But you will still like this one. The cinematagraphy is great, action / fighting just over all violence is more graphic and "cleaner", and the film is just 100 times smarter than the first one but with tons of plot holes and side stories that are never really developed or exploresd. Well, it' more political this time. The movie it self is clearly ANTI-American in many regards. It opens up with the Shinjuku Towers (2 famous twin buildings here in Japan) being destroyed a la 9-11. Talk about shocking openings. You get to witness this 2 more times later on. However, what is the purpose is of the Wild Seven is not really clear. Wild Seven is basically a quasi-Al-Queda who have destoy many government buildings in Japan who stay holed up in the very same island from BR1. It's hard to empathize with W7 because we don't know who they are really. They were formed when Shuya and Noriko (from BR1 as well) travelled to the Afghnaastain / middle east of all places. And we see lots of shots of them there with the children hhe was concerned with and the conditons of the middle east / Asia in general. Hence his terrorist roots. At one point, Shuya gives a web broadcast speech around the world telling children everywhere in repressed countries that they will fight for them and he empathtizes with their pain, only to be interrupted by bombs. Where the bombs come from, you guessed it: America, but only referred to as "that country". On a side this is one thing that always pissed me off about Japanese people in general, they can never just flat out say what the @#%$ they mean or want to say, they elude to it without ever saying it. To further back this up, the new teacher, played by Riku Takeuchi, first opens the movie by writing countries on the blackboard saying "This is all the countries America has bombed". Or back in the base, when Riku asks where did those bombs come from. THe Japanese Minister says "that country & also "We live in a world where 'that country' rules us all." Now I don't have a problem with anti-American films, but at least thave the @#%$ balls to say who you're referring to. But it's hard to sorta empathize with Wild Seven because we don't know who they are really. They were formed when Shuya and Noriko (from BR1 as well) travelled to the Afghanastain / middle east of all places. And we see lots of shots of them there with the children he was concerned with and the conditons of the middle east / Asia in general. Hence, his terrorist roots. I could on about this but let's move along.

The new lead, Takuma, is a terrible actor. Aside from that, he is totally bitchmade with his mood swings and yelling. He seems to have some chip on his shoulder for his mother leaving him at a boarding school or something. And the kids themselves are for the most part in line with how many Japanese teens are today: spoiled ass and moody. But again, we don't really get to know many of them, so during some of the weepy drwan out death seen; you're wondring who the @#%$ is s/he and not sadness. But they sure did learn how to aim & use those guns quickly?!?! Kitano's daughter (a reall bad ass actually) joins the game to confornt Shuya, but again this avenue is never touched on other than a few ice girlls and verbal jars. The real star or stars of this movie is Shuya. They did a good job of turning him into a somewhat decent guy and not a bitch from BR1. But he doesn't pull off the "troubled" leader role to well but he has truned into a good fighter. I really enjoyed Riku Takeuchi as the new teacher, he may lose people with many people for his over-acting. But again, he is never really explained other than he lost his daughter in the BR I think or his wife in a W7 attack, I couldn't understand. But he sports a necklace as well this time. Why? We don't know, his last scene will throw you for a lopp as well. Speaking of the necklaces. Damn, they @#%$ go off left and right in this movie. The catch is: the necklaces are in pairs. So if you 2 get separated too far, Boom. Or if youre not moving / attacking, then (I think) someone is randomly chosen to die. Anyway: td to Sonny Chiba's little sreen time. The newsreporter lady is back form the first BR1 and so is the little girl who won the first game in BR1. Even with my shitty Japanese, I like the script better this time, even though Kenji, in typical Japanese manner, never really gives a clear stand on what he or his father were trying to say, esp. with W7. And that's fine, but at least give me more substantial material to make my own conclusions.

The cinematography is good. But it rips off a lot from other wars movies. As I'm sure you read, it almost plays a little too close to "Saving Private Ryan" and there's even an accident shoot-out scene similar to the one in "The Rock". But there's more blood, necklace explosions, shootouts galore. It's almost over-bearing. But I like how the film keeps a constant pace. It never got boring. Just when you think the tone of the movie was beginning to get too sappy or slow, BOOM! You're given a quick reminder: THIS IS WAR!

Overall, I enjoyed this film. I know many BR fans will have twisted feeling about this for reasons stated earlier, but I'm sure you all will enjoy it. Based on the websites I have been to though; I am the only person who's liked it better than the first one. But the main reason many people don't like it seems to be because it's not like the first. If you do decide to DL this and watch, you can do a lot of inferring to follow the movie since it follows the same format in the beginning. I might go see it again. I personally think kenji should make a BR 0, recounting the steps that lead up to BR and possibly about the first BR game itself.