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The soul of Battle Royale has been retained in this sequel. But the heart has been lost. True, it contains all the mindless children slaughter we've come to expect since the first movie, but gone are the touches that made that movie truly likeable. Character development is nonexistent. To be fair, BR1 only had a half dozen or so memerable characters, but that allowed for enough captivating death scenes to make a full movie. All the danger posed in this movie comes from external hostile forces. It was much more effective when the deranged murderer is one that the viewer has followed the whole film. Most of the basic characters are bland stereotypes, but they are dealt with soon enough in the usual way. These are basic storytelling issues. One character I did like however, was the general in charge of this movie's Battle Royale "game". His pill popping antics amused and horrified me quite consistently. While still well done in BR2, the violent content also suffers. The crushing setbacks of the first movie are replaced with over-the-top mayhem and copious and cheesy blood. Also the movie frequently parodies other notoriously violent movies, Saving Private Ryan in particular. These serve no real purpose except to keep the bodies piling up. Also, there seems to be some message about America and Afghanistan. What is the point? Are people who see this movie supposed to carry away a meaningful geopolitical message? Perhaps BR1 accomplished this to some extent, but there's no chance of that here. Again due to the lack of character, the movie seems overly long, clocking in at well over 2hrs. That is not to say that this is a bad movie, it is simply an underwhelming and slap-dash effort to follow up BR1, which is simply a good slasher/gore movie. Such movies need not be scrutinized so carefully: You watch, react while watching, and move on. As a slasher movie: 4/5 As a sequel to Battle Royal: 2/5
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Oct 6, 2004 03:03
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 05:44 |
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