Review of Battle Royale (2000) by Cameron H — 12 Aug 2014

I don't need live football when I can watch Battle Royale instead. For those who actually read my reviews, I won't bore you with comparisons to The Hunger Games. They are different stories with very similar premises: dystopian society where young kids are forced to kill each other, as part of a tournament, until one remains.

There are 42 kids. The culmination of the weapons, the reasons for killing, and the moments before make up some addicting cinema. The first half hour is near flawless, as the premise is established and the unsuspecting kids lose their sanity before their innocence.

With 42 kids, I lost track of many names and accompanying faces. Is that really my fault? Battle Royale does its best to remind us of who is who, with flashbacks, last words, and list of deaths at the end of each scene.

I love the style, but I didn't care about the characters. Except the psychos. The most psychotic one joined for fun, revealed by a single line of exposition. That's much better than the 2-3 minutes of exposition I had to endure before that character was whacked.

The acting is passable, but I laughed at a few deaths. Those last words I mentioned were spoken so clearly before AAAAAH.... DEATH TOOK ITS TOLL. But not to worry! I loved the action. Most of the kids did not become warriors.

Mostly just paranoid survivors. Anyone who let their guard down -- old friends, peacemakers -- were among the first to die. One of my favourite scenes recalled the climax of Reservoir Dogs, highlighting how you only have yourself when your life is at stake.

See, I ended this on a positive note! In a certain light, Battle Royale did too. Don't mistake this for a political satire. This is simply a bloody gem of Japanese horror.