My attempts to convince you of Battle Royale’s greatness only pale in comparison to those of its lacklustre sequel, which truly demonstrates the brilliance of its predecessor by essentially remaking it without any of the political intelligence, character depth, or filmmaking prowess. Fukasaku sadly died in the very early stages of production, leaving his son Kenta—who penned the original—to take up the reins. That the sole scene shot by the elder Fukasaku is perhaps its only really decent one says a lot about his directorial talents, and leaves the rest of this second outing a remarkably stale effort. Changes in the rules of the game itself only lead to plot holes aplenty, and in an effort to top the first film’s shock value this one trades in incessant violence with little character or drama to support it. It is to Battle Royale what Aliens was to Alien, only poorly directed and supported by woeful effects to boot.