I was really busy today working on reading chapters for my new master class that starts this week and finishing pages of the yearbook. I decided to really test my attention skills today and watch a foreign film while working. Battle Royale has an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently available to stream on Netflix.
The film depicts a futuristic Japan where the youth has turned violent and rebellious so the Battle Royale Act is passed forcing the ninth grade students of random schools to fight to the death.
The film has been compared to the Hunger Games for obvious reasons: young people fighting to the death, an island with traps, and a dystopian future. There are definitely some similarities in the beats, but Battle Royale is much more brutal than any of the deaths the tributes experience.
I’ll admit, I missed a lot of dialogue in the film, but I managed to catch most of the action. There are a lot more people to kill than in the hunger games and the movie does a good job of letting us know who died and how many more were left to die. The action was interesting, but I wasn’t particularly attached to any of the characters. Again, I wasn’t keeping up with the subtitles so it’s probably more my fault than the films.
I’d say Battle Royale felt like a Decent Watch, but it’s probably more likely a Solid Movie. This film just wasn’t able to pull me away from my work, but I definitely saw some good qualities in it.
Berkreviews.com 