An obvious Battle Royale ripoff, this a) cheerfully admits it, and b) puts enough spin on the idea to become thoroughly enjoyable regardless. Set in a futuristic neo-Tokyo, eleven people with questionable histories wake up in a warehouse, and are told they are now playing a game. They have to reach a specific location in eleven hours, while being hunted by machine-gun toting men. The winner gets 300 million yen and the chance to start their life over again; the losers die. But as the title suggests, not everyone is quite what they seem.
While hugely predictable - Chris called the deaths and other twists with scary precision - it scores over BR in its smaller number of characters, allowing you to get to know and like them...usually just before they die. They're quick caricatures (man-hating assassin, transvestite, hacker kid, etc.) but endearing, and the pace is lighting-fast; it's only 70 minutes, and 20 are spent on the intro and rules, using the same kind of hyper-happy girl seen in BR. There's no portentous social message at all, and if it lacks the brutal impact of big brother, it makes up for this in tongue-in-cheek excess. Any film where "Mr. Big" is seen stroking a ceramic 'lucky cat', and with a pair of Chinese twins called Jasmine and Oolong, deserves a sly smile at the very least.
B
Feb 2004
