The most impressive and fun thing about Battle Royale is how it manages to wring real emotion out of it’s outrageous and outlandish subject. Genre films that dwell in exploding heads and machine gun wielding teenagers don’t usually mix it with the grace and drama of a oscar hopeful. Brisk,bloody and rich with memorable characterizations thanks to it’s in depth source material. Battle Royale stands at the top of the class for both bloody thrills and satire.

Those who wanna be overly critical need to point out a better comic book movie about teenagers with potentially exploding heads killing each other on an island. That or enjoy it on it’s own intended terms.