Battle Royale - The Japanese Hunger Games

Last night, I watched a movie called "Battle Royale". And to be honest, from the moment I saw the first few kills of this movie, I knew this was gonna be the craziest movie I've seen yet. That's why I decided to write a review of it all while watching the entire thing. I know it's impractical to do so, but I like to roll my own way, hehe.

The Review

"Battle Royale" is a 2001 Japanese action/thriller movie that is about a group of students gathered on an uninhabited island after the Japanese government enacted an act to curb the country's juvenile delinquent populace. There, the students are tasked to kill each other in a last-man-standing deathmatch within 3 days if they ever wanted to escape the island.

The movie stars Tatsuya Fujiwara (who is known for playing Rikiya Shimabukuro and Yuta Usami in the "Yakuza" series), Takeshi Kitano (known by his stage name, Beat Takeshi, and known for being the host of the Japanese game show, "Takeshi's Castle", and his role as Toru Hirose in "Yakuza 6: The Song of Life"), Aki Maeda, and Taro Yamamoto.

The movie received tons of positive acclaim and became a cultural phenomenon thanks to its unique concept that helped create the genre named after the movie, the "battle royale" genre. Movies such as "The Hunger Games series", "The Purge series", and "The Hunt (2020)" and videogames such as "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (2017)", "Fortnite (2017)", "Danganronpa (2010)", "Apex Legends (2019)", "Call of Duty: Warzone (2020)", and "Fall Guys (2020)" fall under this category.

Now, my thoughts on this? Not only is this movie spectacular, but it's absolutely crazy. The level of violence featured in this flick makes me want to scream. And the way how the students fight or defend themselves feels just like how a real person would probably do it.

I also like how the subplots featured in this movie not only separates us briefly from the main storyline but it also adds depth to the story and makes it more interesting. They also give us an in-depth view of the characters so we could see how they acted and why they became what they were. 

The movie also presents a huge ensemble of characters, each presenting unique traits. You got Kitano (played by Takeshi Kitano), a ruthless, yet charismatic teacher and gamemaster. And then you got Mitsuko (played by Kou Shibasaki), a psychotic teenage girl who psychologically baits other people into falling prey for her.

My rating? I give this an overall 10/10. The movie is just so damn great, I'd give it a peek again.

That's all for now! See you next entry! - JJ