Battle Royale

I remember a bunch of jokes flying around during the release of “The Hunger Games” revolving around “I loved this when it was called “Battle Royale””, but the similarities fade once you get past the setup, undercooked political allegories, and (sorta) focus on a single protagonist. “Royale” isn’t committed to developing its characters as much as “Games” is, preferring to get right to comic gore above all else, including making the protagonist an active participant in much of the story. “Battle Royale” shines when it tries to be funny and falls apart when it tries to do most anything else.

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