Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
0.5/4
Yojimbo - wrote on 09/21/2012
Completed by his son after the death of director Kinji Fukasaku, Battle Royale II takes a nice idea and wrings every drop of wit and subtlety out of it. I felt like I was watching a cheap video game in places; the scene inter cut with Iraqi children is one of the most laughable attempts at manipulation I've ever seen. Pretentious and stupid.
Rating of
2/4
Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/17/2012
Nothing like the original - you just don't get any development of any of the characters - it's all and "us vs. them" thing with an amorphous teenage group fighting the adults. It's supposed to be dramatic and meaningful, but just feels silly. It starts off decent then devolves from there. The teacher is pretty amazing, though.
Rating of
2/4
Unknown - wrote on 04/27/2010
Starts out the same as the first: group of selected teens are given the rules and then sent out for battle. But this time their mission is to take out the survivors of the first film and their followers. A giant bloody mess of a fight ensues (reminiscent of the opening battle in Saving Private Ryan). Afterwards, the fun stops and the movie boils down to characters whining about the whole parents vs. kids mess that started the Battle Royale in the first place. From here on it gets slightly boring, only to end with a reluctant bang. The only consistently entertaining bit of the film is the new 'teacher' and his comedic performance.
