I saw Battle Royale 2-Requiem last night as part of the London Film Festival.

I must say that I was bitterly disappointed with it, especially seeeing as I enjoyed the first one so much.

Anyway I have written a review, please bear in mind that I'm in no way, shape or form a film critic and that I don't care if you don't agree with me.

I'm putting the review in spoiler-text.

WARNING: the review does contain a small amount of spoiler material.



Battle Royale 2 picks up three years after it's predecessor and Nanahara now leads a terrorist group call the 'Wild Seven' as the film opens they perpertrate an act of mass terrorism leveling numerous tower blocks in what I presume was down town tokyo and declaring war on all adults. So now the Battle Royale Act has been changed and another class is kidnapped and fitted with those charming explosive necklaces and is given the mission of killing Shuya Nanahara.

Once the film proper starts you should be in familiar territory (kids screaming, shouting and getting there heads blown off) and for the next hour the films shows promise of living up to it's forebearer. The films bears a striking resemblence to Saving Private Ryan with a beach landing and assualt that takes up the most-part of the aforementioned great first hour. Unfortuantely, it all goes down hill from here the next hour sees the characters (especially Nanahara) moralising, debating over the futility of life etc and the propoganda against the west's 'The War On Terrorism' is subtle like a sledgehammer to the skull. The sections of action left are plagued in the same way Black Hawk Down was and that is that all the characters are dressed similar and wear helmets etc therefore making it very diffucult to tell who is getting killed and you get to a point where you don't care. The film also has more flash-backs than the Back to the Future Trilogy and add to that a logic defying ending that is a copy/homage/rip-off from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid EXCEPT THEY SURVIVE and a scene that felt tacked on the end that sees the surviving protagonists settling down in Afghanistan.

The film's misses Beat Takeshi presence (the classes' teacher from BR1) and although his replacement fares well his facial expressions are so extreme that he is a genuine contender for the world gurning championships next year.

Overall, Battle Royale 2 has it's great moments but they are fewer than before and mainly in the first hour, but anyone expecting the similar to the first one will, like me, be sorely disappointed.