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CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK

‘Battle Royale’ hasn’t lost any of its impact

Cult classic from Japan has ties to ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Hunger Games’

By Wesley Morris

 |  Globe Staff  

  February 24, 2012

“Battle Royale’’ debuted 12 years ago and became a classic in Japan and a cult classic just about everywhere else. Forty-two high-school kids are shipped to an island and given three days to kill each other as part of a government-sanctioned massacre. Only one can win. It’s a surreal movie: a farce of state-control and adolescence that never apologizes for its high energy, cynical smirk, and mandatory underage body count.

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