Batoru Rowaiaru / Battle Royale (2000) - An Essay to Disprove Exaggerated Popular Acclaim - 8/10

As a big fan of contemporary Eastern Asian cinema, this film was introduced to me as a classic and when it finally saw its North American uncut release, I didn't hesitate to try this film out just to realize that this movie isn't as good as its reputation. The film revolves around a dystopian Japanese dictatorship that sends delinquent students onto an isolated island where they are supposed to murder one another until only one person survives.

The general idea of an isolated island that becomes the exotic location of a killing spree is nothing new but the competition factor between the students could have been rather gripping with a few intriguing characters. Sadly, most of the characters happen to be as thin and exchangeable as the simple story line turns out to be. Only the exchange students and the most pitiless female student as well as the weird conflicted antagonistic teacher happen to be intriguing enough to carry this film. The characters that have been chosen as the leads are though not very profound and one isn't really concerned about their fates in the end.

The movie starts with a lot of tension and explains an interesting short background story. In fact, this flick is filled with a few flashbacks but it would have needed more of this to gain some depth. After a while, the story gets predictable and redundant. One surely gets a few spectacular but also introspective killing scenes. However, most characters die quite quickly and in rather similar conditions after the introductary phase. It would have been more interesting to include less characters in this film to focus on their character development and to invent more diversified killing scenes as well.

Another letdown is the end of the movie. It has a little twist that isn't that exciting but what disturbs me the most is that one of the evil characters that is shot to death suddenly gets up again, speaks a few senseless lines and finally dies in peace. In fact, many scenes in this movie feel somewhat exaggerated and surreal and keep this movie from being brutally intense. These moments simply lack credibility and don't fit with the rest of the movie that desperately tries to appear as realistic as possible.

Nevertheless, the film is entertaining despite its flaws and it clearly has inspired books and flicks such as The Hunger Games more recently. For die-hard fans of Japanese flicks as myself, this movie is worth out a try but apart of that there are way better contemporary Japanese movies than this one here.

Batoru Rowaiaru II: Chinkonka / Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003) - An Essay to Disprove Exaggerated Popular Backlash - 8/10

While the original movie Battle Royale is considered a classic that I happen to find slightly overrated, its sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem is actually quite the opposite since it has been heavily criticized by fans and experts alike but turns out to be a very decent to great film. The story takes place three years after the original film when the survivors of the previous deadly tournament have formed a terroristic group aiming to overthrow Japan's dystopian dictatorship. The group calls itself Wild Seven, is led by Nanahara Shuya, the male protagonist of the first movie, and has found refuge on an isolated island. A new group of forty-two dangerous and difficult students is kidnapped by the restrictive government and forced to attack the island's hideout with the goal to murder Nanahara Shuya. As the students get to communicate with the charismatic leader, they however rather decide to support the rebels and overthrow the decadent government. The Japanese government then sends in the military to destroy the hideout and kill every single teenager, child and baby on the island. In addition to this, the United States of America menace Japan to intervene in order to annihilate the terroristic group for once and for all.

This movie has convinced me on numerous occasions. The introduction creates a swift connection between the first film and its sequel that doesn't bore viewers with any unnecessary lengths. It's even possible to enjoy this movie without having watched the first film at all as the few important events from the first film are shown in poignant and short flashbacks.

The opening scenes recall many elements from the first film and should therefore excite franchise and genre fans very much. The kidnapping of the students is mysterious, their arrival in the security area is gloomy and the speech by their teacher is intensely delivered by brilliant veteran actor Takeuchi Riki who has been among the cast of films such as Dead or Alive. This villainous character remains intriguing throughout the movie as viewers slowly discover his tragical background, his mental issues and his progressive change of mind.

The first battle of this movie convinces on a most brutal note reminding of several excellent war films such as Saving Private Ryan. The realism of these scenes is quite astonishing and half of the students die gruesome deaths in the first third of the film. From this perspective, this movie is even more brutal, intense and pitiless than its controversial prequel. This film certainly isn't for faint-hearted audiences to say the least.

Once the main location of the isolated island is reached, this movie shows some great battle scenes reminding of guerilla warfare. The students attempt to take cover, advance stealthily and infiltrate the hideout while the members of Wild Seven try to locate, slow down and assassinate their unexpected opponents.

The middle section of this film is also its emotional heart piece. The surviving students meet the surviving rebels and talk things out. After initial confrontation, frustration and hesitation, the two sides ultimately discover that they have more things in common than they would have thought. They decide to unite their forces to challenge their dictatorial government. In the process, the characters that are introduced rather quickly in the introduction get more depth. This includes antagonistic characters like the villainous teacher or Japan's Prime Minister but also protagonists like transfer student Kitano Shiori played by an outstanding Maeda Ai and rebel leader Nanahara Shuya.

The movie's ending certainly offers a few surprises and features some social commentary that was on the pulse of time at the time of its release. Imperialistic invasions, abject poverty and childhood traumas are themes brought up time and again throughout the movie and lead to an unexpected climax in the closing shots. This surprising, experimental and controversial ending certainly leaves room for discussions and thought.

However, this movie isn't without its flaws to be fair. One of the most promising female characters, both stylistically and socially, the leader of the delinquent girls called Fukuda Kazumi who is played by charismatic actress Aja, is killed before the first battle even starts which aborts some truly promising development right from the start. Up next, several characters are poorly fleshed out from the start. Several students who behave intriguingly in the school yard, on the bus or in the military facility are killed before viewers can even empathize with them. The developmental passages occur only midway through the movie and severely lack in the introduction.

One element that is often mentioned as flaw but should be analyzed in the context of its release is the anti-American sentiment presented throughout the movie. What might seem to be exaggerated, hostile and even slightly racist had a different intention upon release. The United States of America had just declared the exaggerated witch hunt of the War on Terrorism and had started its invasion of Iraq without any specific evidence for the existence of weapons of mass destruction. Both decisions were heavily criticized around the world and led to much political commentary. Some of the comments made throughout the movie are inspired by those circumstances and can at least be understood with this historic background information.

At the end of the day, Battle Royale II: Requiem is a very good dystopian action-thriller with twisted plot, intriguing characters and wonderful action scenes that is much better than its negative reputation and deserves to be revisited. In my opinion, this film chooses an interesting different approach from the first movie, completes it wonderfully and stands its ground as a creation that equals the original release. For anyone who hasn't watched this movie yet because of the numerous negative reviews, don't hesitate to give this film an open-minded try on a rainy evening as you will almost certainly not feel like your time will have been wasted and might even be in for a very positive surprise.