GENRE: Japanese Distopia Action Film

SUMMARY: In a not to distant future where adults fear the youth of Japan during the financial collapse of the nation, high school classes are randomly selected for a special mission. They must compete with one another on a deserted island in a battle royale to the death!

REVIEW: Well after hearing so many people tell me that the Hunger Games was a rip off of Battle Royale I'm unconvinced. I can see the similarities mind you, but the underlying direction seemed very different to me. Both had children fighting to the death in an arena with sections that turned into "danger zones" and announcements of competitor deaths over a island sound system with a love story throughout the fight. The difference is in what the movie was trying to accomplish. While I felt that Hunger Games was a commentary on the schism between rich and poor, the dissociation of the powerful with reality, and the jaded nature of the modern media/consumer culture; Battle Royale was more about the cruelties of war, adults use of children to accomplish political/national goals, and a schism between the fearful adult population of Japan and the disillusioned youth (a theme I notice a lot in anime and other Japanese media). It was good and enjoyable, but I did like Hunger Games more (granted I have actually read the Hunger Games book and the production value seemed to be WAY higher for Hunger Games). The effects were okay (not bad enough to hold the story back but not good enough to add to it), but a lot of the mind games where the director was trying to give insight into human nature felt very forced and unnatural. Some of the characters felt way too manga/anime for me, but then again it could just be that I more easily recognize and relate to western media archetypes instead of Japanese ones. Overall a fun movie to watch, but expect something along the lines of a good 80s movie quality despite the fact that it's from 2000.

STORY/WRITING 7/10
ACTING 4/10
DIRECTING 7/10
OVERALL 6/10