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What I Thought:
Okay. When I'm watching the movie, I take mental notes to what to put when I review it. Watchin Battle Royale II, I couldn't
do this, since my opinion towards virtually everything changes with ever plot turn. Is it as good as the original which, quickly
became a top 5 entry for me? I will make it simple. No. Is the movie to blame? No. Comparing this movie to the original masterpiece
is hard. As good as it may be, it cannot be as great.
To start off, I must say this: the story for "Battle Royale II" is great, phenomenal, no doubt about it. I always appreciate
when a story that is seemingly explored at 100% in the first is turned around completely for a competent sequel premise. This
is the case. The film at all times tried to avoid re-hashing the first and -bare with me here- succeeded. If you watch the
first 10 or so minutes, you'll be seeing the exact same thing you saw originally. A group of students in a bus (cue 'entering
tunnel' shot), they all black out, they wake up somewhere else with collars. Stop. Now, it's time for the spice to kick in.
The BR act here is absolutely different. I already explained the goal (which isn't killing each other off), but let me go
into some (not all, I won't spoil) of the new rules that added spice. First off, this is all about collaborative work. You
have a teammate of the opposite sex. If s/he is more than 50 feet away: boom. If s/he dies . . . I'm sorry, you too. ISN'T
THAT HOT?! You guessed it, there is a lot more collar neck explosions. Unfortunately, because of this new rules, the BR act
and the movie itself has lost it's edge. Read on.
What I loved the most about the first "Battle Royale" was it's amazing emotional impact. When I watch a movie, I want my emotions
to be played with like silly putty. This movie failed to do that 90% of the time and the thing that is to blame is, without
a doubt, the characters. Watching the first, I was always lump-throated due to the great "loss of innocence" impact, "Would
you kill your best friend?". There, right there, that's what made the first so emotionally hard to watch. Now, we lost that
sharp edge. The characters in the sequel aren't developed at all. Yes, the returning characters are but that's it. The new
40 kids didn't have personalities, and 25-ish are killed literally 5 or so minutes after the game starts. Sure, it's shocking
because there are still kids getting their necks blown up but I wouldn't shed a tear (I did in the first *hangs head*) for
them. The ones that are left start showing potential for good characters but never are. Tease. There was maybe two or three
heart wrenching deaths (while the first had . . . fortysomething) and I will admit those were sad to watch (nothing compared
to those in the first, goes without saying).
You may have noticed that I never mentioned acting. That's simply because, it's downright perfect from everyone involved.
These kids look scared and desperate (pretty much like the first), their emotions are delivered on a silver tray. Damn, those
japanese CAN scream. And scream good.
Like the first, the direction is great. Fluid shots, some crazy camera angles (love that flowing shot in the bus) and the
director has balls again. Too bad he decided not to do flashbacks (there are 2 or one if I'm not wrong), that could have added
character. No discrimination towards boys or girls, they can all die horrible deaths and they do. The editing made the movie
chaff halfway through (it's 2:20 hours long so I didn't expect to be entertained 100% of the time . . . which . . . the first
did . . . strange [I will stop pimping my love for the first now]) and that made it boring at times. I loved that it stayed
true to the first in it's first half hour of the game itself (fans of the first will rejoice) but then, the plot thickened,
the violence was toned down, and so was the pacing. Can't blame it, it's trying to do something different and I welcome that.
Once again, the soundtrack is, simply, brilliant. Wow, amazing. The message is, I guess, against terrorism (those towers that
are destroyed in the beggining are curiously reminiscent to 9/11. To say the truth, I'm not too much into "socio-political"
messages in my movies so I disrefarded the message, which, in my opinion, was clear but poorly done.
Gore:
The kills aren't variated, at all. People only die in two ways: either their neck collars explode, or they get shot to shreds.
That, plus someone getting stabbed with a pipe (loved the blood coming out of the other side). The violence is brutal and
you'll see lots of blood.
Overall:
I'd say 8/10, the first being a solid 10/10. One problem (characters), had a repercussion and made the other (the lost emotional
impact). But "Battle Royale II" has a tight story, great direction, a brilliant soundtrack and the welcome return of the survivor/s
of the first. This doesn't embarass it's brilliant predecessor but doesn't come close to being as good.
review by Leon Sakau
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