Fargo...

So a little snow hits the UK and everything shuts down. Stupid me was out in Watford when about 2 inches of snow just fell out of the sky. Like everyone else I decided it’d be a good thing to try and get home before it got any worse. Took me four hours to do a thirty-minute journey. Joy!

My GF and I watched ‘Battle Royale II’ last night. I love the first movie (so does she). One of my fav films of all time (and one of hers). I’d heard the second one was not as good – but nothing could prepare me for just how awful this movie is.

Okay – so the first movie needed a little leap of faith with regards to the premise, but it was so well executed that any reservations dissipate. Unfortunately the second movie is so ridiculously stupid that no amount of love for the first movie could help you get through it.

Basically the hero from the first movie is now an international terrorist (for some reason) who, along with his trusty band of rebels, has taken over a small island off of Japan. He vows to kill any adult that comes after him. So – the ‘government’ decided to send in a load of high school students.

Now, the ‘government’ want this guy dead – so why them do they add the ‘rule’ that if your partner is killed (the kids are grouped into twos) then your neck collar explodes.

Anyway – after the kids reach the island, and we’re treated to a poor-mans ‘Saving Private Ryan’ moment, things get worse. The story then flip-flops between dull ‘action’ sequences where a bunch of people who are pretty much all dressed the same are shooting at each other, to overly long sequences of melodrama.

I cared for the kids in the first movie. I couldn’t have cared less for the kids in this movie. It seems to want to say something about global terrorism, 9/11, and America’s history of bombing countries over the last 60 years. If there was an even halfway coherent message threaded into the movie – it was totally lost on me.

So, if you loved ‘Battle Royale’ – do yourself a favour and never let this movie cross your vision. Hey – the last 20 minutes might have been excellent, but I couldn’t be bothered to finish the movie. I ended up watching ‘I’m a Celebrity – get me out of here!’ instead. Hmmmm. Now adding ‘Battle Royale’ elements to that. I think I’m on to something...

Nic.

posted by Nic @ 10:43 AM 0 comments