The original “Battle Royale” was a very cheesy but very enjoyable Japanese action flick that followed the same basic premise as “The Running Man”. Most people seemed to like the first film but not many seem to care for its sequel. I must be in the minority because I actually enjoyed this one more.

The survivors have the first movie have formed a terrorist organisation and are waging war against all adults. The politicians decide to pass a new law that leads to a new class of school students being sent on a perilous mission to hunt down and kill the terrorist leaders.

Some people seem to dislike the controversial political statements by having the children become terrorists to fight against the state and there are several occasions when characters espouse anti-American views. I do not get why everybody takes the politics of this one so seriously and was happy to ignore the fact that the first film showed a Japanese government that would order children to kill one another. Riki Takeuchi plays the role of the teacher and he is just as good if not better than Takeshi Kitano was in the first movie. The teens in the film are not the most interesting but this one certainly features some layers of depth that the first movie was missing.

The first “Battle Royale” was an over the top action film but this one is almost like an over the top war movie. There are some terrific action sequences that are filled with explosions and it’s all very exciting. Once the action starts, it’s pretty much non-stop, just like the original. One early action scene sees the teens having to storm a beach and it’s almost like a parody of the opening of “Saving Private Ryan”. Don’t think too much about the politics and just enjoy the crazy experience that is “Battle Royale II: Requiem”.