To say that Hunger Games was a rip-off of Battle Royale is an understatement. No, this is a lobotomy of BR, removing the key elements of what makes the film what it is, instead of actually recreating it in a new way to understand it better. Even the ending is stolen for the HG. Seriously, watch this movie and at the end, if you say "hmm, ya know what, this seems strikingly similar to the ending of the HG", ask yourself why you think that and the answer will come.
Ranting aside, what's the story; actually set in the present day, China is suffering from a high level of unemployment, student drop-out rates are through the roof and juvenile delinquency has reached the extremes of theft, assault and murder. To combat this, the government and a majority of the parents of China vote and pass the BR Act. Classes are chosen by random selection, transported to a uninhabited island and are forced to fight to the death. They each get a set of supplies and a weapon that can be as deadly as an Uzi are as useless as a pot lid (I shit you not, the main character gets a pot lid as a weapon). Alliances are made and broken very early, as many succumb to depression and suicide in light of these changes, while others survive through lies and sheer blood-lust. The set time of three days must be met or the surplus of one victor will be killed via explosive neck brace (I thought they were shock collars the first time I saw of them, but damn!)
Of course based on the Lord of the Flies novel by William Golding, the story of human succumbing to survival instincts in order to preserve their life at the cost of their morality is a decent plot on it's own, add to that competition, technology and outside interference and we got ourselves one of the most brutal, gritty, disturbing, yet thought provoking films of all time. The film is actually an adaption of the novel and manga Battle Royale from Koushun Takami and like most films adapted from novels, there's not a lot of time to put everything in. At two hours, it allows for decent character development, great action, relative amounts of exposition, but little back story. We are given blank slates, with no knowledge of who or what they are or if we should trust them and that is a great idea. Some say less is more and that works to the films advantage. The film presents us with characters we know very little about and thus we develop our opinions on how we choose to see them. Are they the hero, the everyman, the support or the human eyes that we watch through, that allows us to see this carnivorous and brutal world. I believe that themes of fear and independence are addressed here. The fear of death, of reputation, of the unknown, of the control you have both lost and gained of your life. They gain the one thing most teens fight all their teenage years for, independence and what do you know, they don't want it any more. Well, if there is one thing this film clearly wants to get across: Shit happens.
To tell the truth, I have very little problems with the movie. I have however narrowed down to what really irritated me. One is the villain, not that it was short on good villains, but it had a missed opportunity to use one of the most ruthless and craziest female villains of all time. Mitsuko had decent exposure throughout, with a gruesome weapon, a flip-flop personality and little motivation other than survival. Her use of feminine wiles and her ability to succumb to her predatory instincts at such a fast rate makes for one creepy and memorable villain. However, the main antagonist, Kazuo, was none of that. He has no back story, no motivation and little to no speaking part. This gives him little to no character and I don't feel he was best represented in this film adaption of the novel. I wish Mitsoku was the main opposition to Shuya and Noriko (that's the name of the main characters by the way). Also, I wish some of the other characters got more screen time, so that we could therefore fell sorry for their deaths. Not to say that they weren't hard to watch, but some of the deaths I just didn't care about. For example, one couple actually jump top their death rather than take part and that is very effective. But in a few scenes latter, we see another couple has committed a double suicide by hanging and as I haven't even seen much of their actions, they're just another statistic. And at the beginning, we are thrown a red herring in seeing a whole bunch of reporters interview the winner of the BR. I don't know why this is and also, they are interviewing her for television, doesn't that mean the students should have heard about BR before they arrived, realize where they are and suddenly be filled with absolute dread for their position.
I do find the child actors are actually very good, giving very convincing performances of fear, mania, sympathy and remorse. Since they are totally invested in the performance, we feel as though the events we are seeing are really happening and this provides a unsettling and gritty atmosphere.Unlike Hunger Games, we see the deaths and the characters (who are not used to death and fighting and weapons) reactions to these various unsettling images. The fight scenes are especially memorable and well choreographed, as well as extremely vivid and bloody. The lighthouse scene will leave you using the most over-used meme ever,
Also, it's more focused on the battle than the society it's part of. But the fact the BR Act exists and this type of brutality is approved reflects the society that has created these children (this forms a chicken or the egg paradox in that; was it the society that created juvenile delinquents and high unemployment or was the high unemployment and pressure from society too much for the juvenile delinquents). It's also more effective when the children are forced without a moments notice to give up their basic human rights and hunt, as opposed to told, trained and prepared for the worst. I especially love the scene when they show a presentation for the BR in typical Japanese fashion. But the ending is brilliant and just perfect for the film. Fitting the tone and message of the film, it makes for a much better romance than Hunger Games, even though it wasn't the focus of the movie or even much of a sub-plot. It developed and flourished naturally and they embark for an even greater journey. I liked the characters, their development, the action and the themes. The acting was very good coming from a majority teenage cast and the mains I really liked. It as brutal, gritty, depressing and tense. This is a damn good film, in fact it's better than HG, in so many ways.
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