Finish Him!

One class, two transfers, three days and a giant fight to the death.   This is the basic idea behind the Japanese film Battle Royale.  I recently watched Battle Royale to see what all of the commotion was about.  I do not see why there is so much hype behind the film but I enjoyed it all the same.

Once again, I do not like to overanalyze the plot of films so I’m just going to discuss a few of the things within the film that I liked.  If you want a synopsis find some other way to get it because you aren’t going to get a play by play here.

Not trying to be racist in what I say here but I do like the physicality of oriental actors.  From the martial arts to the small little things, I appreciate how they move so much in film and keep everything flowing.  The hiding and falling in this movie seemed very well done in terms of the actors’ abilities to move quickly while making every motion count.  It intensified the fear that you are supposed to feel for certain characters while also intensifying the insanity of others.  Even just rolling beneath tables made everything better.  This may be because they showed slightly longer shots than Hollywood films.  They weren’t shying away from movement like the big budget action fests that we get now.

One of the highlights of the film was that there were intelligent characters.  In most horror/action films where people are being picked off, such as any slasher film or action movies like The Condemned, which takes a lot from this movie, the majority of the characters are dumber than that guy who screams at the movie screen that the killer is behind you.  In this film there were a few groups that actually had plans to get away that were feasible.  Sure, most didn’t work out, but they were good ideas while they lasted.

The only real downside to Battle Royale was the characters themselves.  Sure, they were on an island and left to kill one another but they all just seemed to be caricatures of people.  The guy with experience, the crazy guy, the hero, the protector, the loser.  I don’t think any character actually had substance.  Nobody really grew other than learning to kill other people. 

I will recommend this movie, but be warned, there is a lot of murder.  It is ranked 177 on my Flickchart right now.  Above it is True Grit from 2010, and below it is Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.  That actually seems like it could be about right for this film.