Batoru rowaiaru II: Rekuiemu (2003)
Also known as "Battle Royale II, Battle Royale II: Requiem"
This time it's war.
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ai Maeda, Shugo Oshinari, Ayana Sakai, Haruka Suenaga, Yuma Ishigaki, Miyuki Kanbe, Masaya Kikiwada, Yoko Maki, Yuuki Ito, Natsuki Kato, Aki Maeda, Riki Takeuchi
Director: Kinji Fukasaku, Kenta Fukasaku
Running Time: 134 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 18
Action, Drama, Thriller
On DVD The original 'Battle Royale', about a throng of kiddy-winks dumped on an island and forced to bludgeon each other to death, didn't make a great deal of sense - but at least it was fairly entertaining. This ill-advised follow-up lasts too long, tries far too hard to recreate its predecessor, and suffers from a nasty case of horrendous over-acting.
It's three years later, and previous BR champ Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) has vowed never to forgive Japan's adult population for what they did to him and his classmates. A resourceful sort of fellow, he's declared war on all oldies, set up his own kiddies' terrorist group called "Wild Seven", and set up a base camp on a remote island. Of course, you'd think the easiest way for the Japanese Government to deal with this little problem would be to wait until this gang of fresh-faced rebels have gone to the tuck shop and then either bomb them or send in the army. But no, it can never be that simple - so they decide to fight tots with tots and send in a classload of their fellow schoolies to take them out.
The opening 20 minutes or so are practically identical to the original, with the school kids being taken to a dimly-lit room where they're forced by a barking-mad teacher to either take part in the plan or die. From then on, though, it's a tedious pitched battle, first between the two sets of ankle-biters and then between the newly-united kids' alliance and the disgruntled national authorities. When it's not showing scene after scene of poorly-filmed fighting, it's getting bogged down with political high-horsing about America and its slight tendency to blow up anyone with a difference of opinion.
Most of the acting is so bad that it's a bit like watching an exceptionally bad panto. The guy who really sticks in my memory is the near-rabid teacher, whose unintentionally hilarious performance culminates in him dressing up in full PE kit and indulging in a one-man game of "Death Rugby". Sorry, but there's no other word for that than silly.
'Battle Royale II' is the last film to be made by revered Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku, who died midway through production. His son, Kenta, took over its completion, but sadly the result is a damp squid that doesn't do any justice to its helmsman's incredible back catalogue of credits. My advice to anyone interested in sampling the man's work would be to look at anything other than this one.
DVD Extras: Director biography, notes and filmography, along with a reel of trailers.
It's Got: A kid with a wacky Carlos Valderrama hairdo.
It Needs: To explain what happens when the totsy terrorists grow into adults themselves - do they just switch allegiances??
Alternatives: Battle Royale, Lord of the Flies
Summary: An inferior sequel-cum-remake of a film that wasn't particularly great in the first place.
Review by Gary Panton
Review Date: 22nd October 2004
External Links
Official Web Site
Batoru rowaiaru II: Rekuiemu at the IMDB
Comments2 Comments |
| do yu have any pics on yuuki ito? ED - no, we struggled to find what we have got |
| Comment by:- charlotte | | 12 November 2004 | ip: logged |
| psshh...yes brII sucked compared to the first one, but this guy should be given no credit. How can u NOT like the first Battle Royale! Jeez..so much meaning in that one and this guy can't figure it out. |
| Comment by:- jonel | | 26 December 2004 | ip: logged |
