Battle Royale 2 – Requiem (2003)

Battle Royale 2 – Requiem (2003)

I’d been told it was rubbish. Only one person told me it was good. So I went ahead with the film anyway. I think people expect a sequel to be relatively the same and even a bit better. But this is a relatively different film from the first. Here, there’s the notion of sharing, of unity, of solidarity, of the team. And there’s the notion of real rebellion against the system that created Battle Royale.

On the other hand, this time it’s definitely a war film. A Japanese-style war film! Yes, because it’s sometimes very difficult to understand their culture and mentality. I don’t think I really know much about Japan. But based on this film, I’d say it’s impressive: you can see them motionless for long minutes, then you see them extremely, even exaggeratedly energetic. Then most of the people are shouting or screaming and moving around frantically. There’s a lot of discipline, speed and efficiency… but there are also things that can seem totally absurd and I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Everyone’s calm and then in a split second everyone’s agitated. Or one person gets agitated, followed by another. It really looks like manga with real actors. Yes, it looks like the film is a cartoon. What’s more, just like in those cartoons, they manage to jump two or three metres and land on the ground without any problem.

In short!

It’s another world, that’s for sure! There’s even a dialogue where the guy says: “I love you, I’ve always been in love with you! And the girl replies: “Then go and join them!”, meaning “Go and fight in the war!!!”

For me, this film isn’t rubbish. It’s just not good. What’s more, it’s long (over two hours) and there are too many messy scenes where everyone’s fighting, but in those moments you don’t really know who’s who, who’s on which side, etc. It also feels like you’re watching a war video game, which isn’t necessarily exciting for everyone. You might also think you’re watching a war video game, which isn’t necessarily exciting for everyone.

It’s worth noting that “battle royale” is a video game genre that incorporates elements of a survival game with an eliminatory deathmatch mechanic. It was the first film and the novel on which it was based that gave birth to a video game genre that combines survival games and shooters, based on the “last man standing” mechanic.

Just for your information!

The film is entertaining. It’s also relatively dark, with the sun only shining at the end and messages of hope such as “As long as we let our dreams carry us, the future is ours”. In fact, there are quite a few pretty phrases throughout the film… but they’re accompanied by a lot of spurting blood. Now you have all the information you need to decide whether or not you want to watch it