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RichardTheLionhearted
Reviews
Terry Tate, Office Linebacker: Sensitivity Training (2004)
Still great
I happen to love the whole Terry Tate, Office Linebacker series, and I was happy about this new sequel. However, it wasn't quite up to par with the other ones. The only reason I really watch these is to see Terry bring down the Pain Train on some unsuspecting worker. In this one, there were not very many hits from Triple T. Still it's free online, and worth a look, if not for the hot sensitivity trainer.
Batoru rowaiaru II: Chinkonka (2003)
BR:BRII::Alien:Aliens
Once again, "This Time It's War."
The second Battle Royale is much different than its predecessor. It's a war movie, through and through. When before BR was only about some kids on an island, and was a commentary on society, BRII is much different. BRII's main objective is to comment on the place of America and how we go about pushing other countries around and get them to do our bidding. It shows how even though we're run by adults, they're usually the ones who are the most childish.
Returning from the last BR are Tatsuya Fujiwara as Nanahara, Aki Maeda as Noriko, and my personal favorite Beat Takeshi in a flashback reprising his role of Kitano. Noriko is MIA for most of the movie, but Fujiwara does a fine job reprising his role of Shuya Nanahara, as the character is no longer a useless load (as he was in the first one) but a killing machine and leader of a terrorist group.
The action of BRII is very similar to the first one, with plenty of neck brace explosions and shots being fired. Don't come into BRII expecting "She's All That" or "Teen Wolf." The action from the first because in this, everyone is a trained killer, which I feel hurts the film. Half the fun of the last BR was the fact that everyone was a novice and had no idea what was happening and were scared. Even the people actually competing in the BRII were perfect shots. It didn't really help the realism.
Overall, it's a great sequel that is only a little worse than the original. At least it's better than American crap like "Bad Boys II."
*** out of ****