What can I say about Battle Royale? It's the type of movie that American censorship cringes at the thought of, and yet I cannot remember the last time I was so drawn into an action movie. The film is dark, brutal, and the very premise of the film is enough to make the average movie goer uncomfortable. Battle Royale is essentially Running Man with children. It takes place in the near future Japan. In this dystopian future, the younger generations are growing up with little respect for their elders and little desire to conform to social norms in Japan (a phenomenon that is all to real in Japan today). As a result the government orders a group of high school students to compete in a very deadly competition known as Battle Royale.
Thinking they are being taken on a field trip, the students get on a bus and arrive on an abandoned island. Each is given basic supplies and a random weapon with witch they are to kill their fellow classmates. If they refuse to do so, or if there is not a winner by the end of their time on the island, then they will all be killed by exploding collars attached to their necks.
This is obviously a very dark film, but it is not simple mindless blood shed. The film plays on the emotional and psychological terror of the situation very well, and most of the kids in the film have very different personalities so you learn quickly to love or hate each one of them. Seeing how the characters react to the situation is one of the most intense parts of the film. Some play along with the game and are prepared to kill in order to win, some try to hide and find a way to escape without killing, and a few even go so far as to kill themselves so that they won't have to play this twisted game (a metaphor for the high suicide rate in Japan from the pressure to succeed).
The entire film is a metaphor for the cut throat competition that teenagers and college age students go through in real life Japan, as well as the culture clash that exists between the rebellious young generations and the traditional elder generations in modern Japan. The competition is fierce and is meant to represent the competition and stress put on so manly Japanese youth.
The acting is good about 90% of the time, with a few awkward lines here and there. It is hard to tell if this is because of the actors themselves, the dialogue they were given, or the fact that Japanese doesn't always translate well into English.
Takeshi Kitano plays the teacher who instructs the students in the rules of Battle Royale and monitors them to make sure that they all play the game. I have loved every character that Kitano has ever portrayed and this is no exception. The instructor was a middle school teacher until one day he was stabbed by as student. Having lost faith in the youth of today, he was promoted by the government to head the Battle Royale program. I simply love ho nonchalant this guy is about the game and watching young teenagers brutally murder each other.
Shuya, Noriko, and Kawada make up our protagonists in this film. They are likable enough to follow, but in all honesty I found Shuya and Noriko to be the most boring characters in the movie. I don't want to blame the actors for this, because their characters were written to be normal and mild mannered, which makes them pretty boring compared to the other students.
Kawada on the other hand kept me on the edge of my seat most of the time he was on the screen. His character was one of two competitors that were added to the game later for reasons unknown. He is very good at the game, but shows a lot of sympathy for Shuya and Noriko. It also seems that while he is not reluctant to kill, he takes no pleasure in it. Part of the fun of this character is that you simply have no idea what his motive is until the very end of the film.
Now I couldn't talk about Battle Royale without mentioning Kazuo Kiriyama, played by Masanobu Ando . This is by far one of my all time favorite movie villains. He is a quiet killer, who enjoys the game way to much, and is far better at it than anyone should be. Kiriyama is the seacond player to be added on to the game, but unlike Kawada he seems to get a sick pleasure out of killing. I don't want to give anything away, but this is one twisted psychopath you don't want to cross.
There is one scene in this movie when Kiriyama is cornered by a gang of rival students wielding guns. Because of bad luck Kiriyama was given a paper fan as his weapon, but you quickly see how resourceful and dangerous this character is. Just looking at him (see image left) gives you the feeling that he is not all there in the head. I have no problem putting him very high on my list of all time favorite movie villains.
Essentially that is what makes Battle Royale such a good film. It is pretty much a love letter to villains everywhere. You have your evil masterminds like Kitano, your murderous psychopaths like Kiriyama, and your average Joe and Jane fighting to keep their inner killer at bay, while still trying to survive. I think it is obvious that I love this film and I recommend it highly for anyone who wants a psychological thriller with plenty of blood shed. I would definitely not recommend this for everyone, so please use caution when deciding to watch.
Final Grade: -A
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