3 out of 5

Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku

How I felt about BR I, in summary: not really as impactful as I was led to believe; rather wandering over-all; punctuating moments of excellent shots and contemplative dialogue.

How I feel about BR II, in summary: not nearly as bad as I was led to believe; rather wandering over-all; punctuating moments of amazing action choreography and contemplative dialogue.

If director Kinji Fukasaku’s goal was to make his father’s film – Kenta Fukasaku, who’d started the filming of BR II, the sequel to his own Battle Royale, before succumbing to cancer – then the above summaries suggests that he, at least in spirit, achieved that goal.

I do understand the comparative negativity the sequel receives in comparison to the original: it goes for more gore and thus equates more to shock tactics, and by having to re-justify the original’s conceit – forcing bad kids to duke it out – without absolutely repeating it, it stumbles across an interesting setup but ultimately completely fumbled application of it that makes less and less sense as things go on.  But if the first film sort of straddled over the line of making a point and not making a point – which is where I’d stand firm against the original’s supporters as some stalwart accomplishment, as I don’t think it amounted to much actual depth – BR II very much does the same, but manages to at least challenge itself at point by acknowledging that these anti-adult chitlins… will become adults themselves some day.

Now does it do anything what?  No, absolutely not.  And it gets in its own way with its overlong battle scenes, uncertain if it’s glorifying violence satirically or actually being cool about it, and the lingering shots of VO while someone stares into the distance or at rubble or a blood smear is about as worthwhile as the classical-music vignettes in BR I, i.e. I’m tapping my toe in impatience, though appreciating the artistry.

One of the general criticisms I would disagree with is that the expendability of the cast is a detriment.  From the get-go – when this class of naughty highschoolers is waylaid into BATTLE ROYALE II, meta-led by Riki Takeuchi, playing himself, in typically (and hilariously) overwrought fashion – Fukasaku is in overdrive, exploding heads, shaking the camera, splashing blood yeabouts and having people scream about it.  The kids are dumped on an island, where BR I winner Shuya Nanahara has holed up with a team of rebels post a terrorist attack on the mainland (interestingly aping September 11th…), and told that they have X amount of time to kill Nanahara to “win the game,” lest their own heads go explodey; BR II and Fukasaku then systematically shoot and explode and tick off the bodycount, and the very fact that so many people are expendable, but that we’re made to keep track of how many are dying due to on-screen statistics – and a BR II wrinkle where boys and girls are paired by electronic collars; your partner goes pop and so do you – makes the weird blend of facelessness and procedurally handled killing effective.

Of course, when things slow down and we have time to wonder about the logistics of this enterprise – especially when America gets involved later, spurring the adults to more direct action – the plot completely unravels, making the fireworks of the impressively hectic action scenes feel rather humdrum while we’re waiting to see which side of the Violence, Yay, Rebel! / This Is Pointless! line we’re supposed to fall on.

So it’s definitely overlong, and it’s definitely rather hollow, and it’s certainly a mess, plot-wise, but I sincerely wouldn’t say that the original wasn’t without variations of those flaws, and I appreciated how the sequel picked up the torch and ran with it in its own direction, even if it stumbled many a’times along the way.