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BATTLE
ROYALE II
AKA:
Battle Royale 2 - Requiem ||
BR II
Year:
2003 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
The
original 'Battle
Royale' will probably be remembered as a landmark film due
to it's unique premise that forced audiences worldwide to sit
up and take notice of Japanese cinema. With the
announcement of a sequel though, there were many instantaneous
obstacles to overcome ranging from the lack of returning cast
members (due to their untimely deaths in the original) to the
threat of re-treading the same ground by placing the
characters in identical circumstances. Luckily for us,
this is one sequel that doesn't just go through the motions.
When
Shuya (Fujiwara) emerged victorious 3 years ago in the
original game of Battle Royale, he went renegade and formed a
small army of children to help him combat the adults.
His hideout, located on a small island, is heavily fortified
and has been a source of much distress for the adults as they
continually try to suppress him. However, they have
finally emerged with what they consider to be a foolproof plan
in which a new class of children will be pitted against Shuya
so that no more adult lives need to be wasted. In order
to do this the children have been fitted with neck braces
which will explode if they don't stay close to each other or
approach a danger zone on the island. Dropped into a
strange environment and armed with minimal weaponry, the class
of what has become known as 'Battle Royale 2' must now decide
whether to take out Shuya as instructed or run the risk of
being killed by the neck braces. Which side will win out
in this new game of Battle Royale?
It's
interesting to see that 'Battle Royale II' avoids the pitfalls
of instigating a higher classed remake of it's predecessor,
opting instead to continue the story from a wider perspective
that questions the overall morality of war and the causalities
it causes. This outlook is created by placing the new
group of children into a situation where they are forced to
fight as a group, creating a whole new set of moral dilemmas
as they try to decide which side is the right one. All
of these ideas are well laid out by the combined directing
talent (due to Kinji Fukasaku passing on) with good pacing
throughout and impressive cinematography that gives this
violent and destructive world a very bleak appearance.
What struck me as kind of ironic though was that with a series
that generated it's success from the use of gory death
sequences, its amusing that the overall message seems to be
that war and bloodshed are so utterly wrong.
Much
like the story, the action for this follow-up also takes a
huge step away from the original. Whereas the first film
gave it's cast the opportunity to cut loose and turn on each
other in a "kill or be killed" scenario, this film
breeds camaraderie within the group as they are all given a
common goal. Of course, this approach instantly removes
the numerous ingenious cat-fights and replaces them with large
scale shoot-outs that have two very distinct sides battling it
out for victory. This departure may disappoint some
viewers who were hoping for more of the same but the combat is
still presented stylishly, with the focus on the unpleasant
side of death rather than the heroism of the killers (very
similar to 'Saving Private Ryan' in many ways). Director
Fukasaku achieves this by utilising handheld cameras that are
placed into the thick of the action allowing the sequences to
be very fast moving whilst still allowing for the special
effects guys to make heavy use of the blood bags.
Arguably
one of the most disappointing elements that emerges from
'Battle Royale II' for me, is the lack of quality in the
leading performances. With the exception of the
returning Fujiwara, the majority of the new cast members seem
to believe that to induce panic or realism they must scream or
shout incessantly but the only effect this has it to remove
the necessary tension. It also gives you the distinct
feeling that these kids are forcefully trying to act rather
than present lifelike emotions in their nightmarish situation.
Worst of all though is the performance from Takeuchi
(effectively Kitano's replacement as the teacher), who spends
the duration of the movie producing extremely stereotypical
villainous expressions that are highly amusing but once again,
remove the seriousness that would have probably been
preferable.
'Battle
Royale II' clearly had a lot to live up to when following such
as a class act but it does still emerge with a substantial
amount of credibility. The core concept remains
relatively fresh thanks to several new ideas and the switch in
style to more of a war-like epic works in the film's favour
but cracks do begin to appear thanks to the
"holier-than-thou" moral stance and over-the-top
performances. Fans of the original are still advised to
seek this one out though but let's just hope this is where the
series ends as another would certainly be a case of too many
cooks.
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