 |
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
|
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
For a set-up to this movie, please refer to my review to Battle
Royale (2000) !
To come to terms with the death of her father (Takeshi Kitano) in the
previous movie, Shiori (Ai Maeda) decides to enlist in the Battle Royale
program herself - but this time the rules have been altered: it's no longer
everybody for himself, this time the kids are sent to the island where Shuya
(Tatsuya Fujiwara) - by now an international terrorist - is hiding with his
gang, the Wild Seven, & their directive is to eliminate Shuya or die
trying, & to keep them in control, they again wear radiocontrolled
necklaces that will blow up should they step out of line, or their respective
partner is killed (the kids are now sent in in pairs), & to show them
just how serious the government is about the game, their instructor Riki
Takeuchi (Riki Takeuchi) even kills one of them in front of all the others,
making his partners necklace explode.
But to take out Shuya might sound easier than it is, as even when attempting
to enter the island by boat, 12 of the kids are killed off by Shuya &
company, with 6 more when the kids are trying to to get their ammo. Most of the
kids panic, even want to give up (which ultimately means dying), only Shiori
stays focussed, & drags them all forward.
Then though, they walk into a trap & are surrounded by Shuya's men, who
are much better trained in guerilla warfare. But instead of having them killed,
Shuya - upon seeing their necklaces & being reminded of himself - decides
to show mercy, & he blocks the computers that control the necklaces, to
free the kids of the things. The kids, especially their leader Taku (Shugo
Oshinari) & his girlfriend, the agelic Nao (Ayana Sakai), soon find out how
much they have in common with Shuya, much more than with those who want him
dead, & even Shiori, whose only initial motivation was to kill Shuya, has a
change of heart.
But then Riki Takeuchi sends in the troops to take out Shuya for good, &
soon it's an all out battle on the island, with Shuya sending the kids away
through a secret tunnle so they will have the future he won't, but courage
& loyalty make Taku, Shiori &2 other kids come back & help Shuya
out in gunning down the troops - & then the government even uses missiles
to eliminate Shuya - problem is, the island is not in Japanese waters, &
the country that the island bwelongs to does not take a missile attack too
lightly - which doesn't faze the government in the slightest though, only
Takeuchi now realizes who he's fighting for, but is revealed to be nothing but
a government puppet after all, wearing an explosive necklace just like the kids
did ...
Back on the island meanwhile, Shuya's resistance force is down to 3,
himself, Taku & Shiori, & they seem to be fighting their last stand,
when Takeuchi arrives to help them out, & he uses his exploding necklace to
fend of the troops after them, giving them a new lease of life - even if Shiosi
dies escaping ...
Later, a different part of the world (most probably Afghanistan, though it's
never actually made clear). Those who had saved themselves - among them of
course Nao - by escaping through the tunnle have set up camp here - &
one day, Taku & Shuya arrive for a schmaltzy reunion ... & what do you
know, even Noriko (Aki Maeda), Shuya's girfriend from part 1, is here !
To make a sequel to the highly original Battle
Royale was a stupid if somewhat courageous idea in the first place,
& to the movie's credit it has to be admitted that the concept is given a
new spin, taking the story into a different direction. However, soon all good
intentions of making another political statements are thrown out the window
& the emphasis is put on neatly choreographed action scenes, blatant heroic
deeds & dialogues and a simple story of good versus evil. Furthermore the
movie lacks a central (or even interesting) character, with Shuya elevated to
status of a holy man, Shiori (the only character that is allowed development)
relegated to supporting status during much of the movie, & Taku & Nao
as the romantic couple doing little more than playing along old clichés.
Even Riki Takeuchi as the lead main villain only does a camp baddie, no match
to Takeshi Kitano's wickedly funny performance in part one (Kitano by the way
is only seen in a brief & unnecessary flashback, as is Sonny Chiba), &
his change of heart in the end comes across utterly unconvincing. The schmaltzy
ending & the total predictability of who's gonna survive, who's gonna die
further thrash the movie's impact.
The actress who plays Shiori - Ai Maeda - is actually the sister of Aki
Maeda, who played the female lead Noriko in the first movie & in the ending
of this one - the 2 of them don't actually have any scenes together though.
|
Flix.com
amazon.com
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
find Battle Royale II at adultvideouniverse.com
