GANTZ 2: PERFECT ANSWER (2011)

In Japanese with English & Chinese Subtitles
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Cast: Kazuanari Ninomiya, Kenichi Matsuyama, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Kanata Hongo, Ayumi Ito, Tomorowo Taguchi, Takayuki Yamada
RunTime: 2 hrs 25 mins
Released By: Encore Films & GV
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Official Website: http://www.encorefilms.com/gantz2movie

Opening Day: 18 August 2011

Synopsis: Kato's death changes Kurono's view of life completely. He decides to keep fighting until he earns 100 points so that he can bring back Kato.GANTZ calls back Ayukawa (Ayumi Ito) and other GANTZ alumni who'd left once after scoring 100 points. In the meantime Kurono works on getting 100 points. But before Kurono succeeds in resurrecting Kato, Kato unexpectedly turns up. 

Another strange man (Takayuki Yamada) appears and he appears to be investigating GANTZ and the fighters while the fighters take on the most terrible enemy (Go Ayano). To complicate the situation, GANTZ starts acting up. GANTZ chooses the next target... this time it's not an alien but a human girl, Tae, who is in love with Kurono.

Some GANTZ members go after Tae to score points while Kurono tries to protect her.  In turn,  Tae tries to protect Kurono who fights for her. A love story between their characters blossoms and Kurono must stop his teammates from getting to Tae.

Each teammate has a different motive for fighting, whether to protect a loved one or to do what they think is right. Whatever their cause, they end up sacrificing something important...

Movie Review:

The first ‘Gantz’ was an intriguing setup for its sci-fi premise- through the perspective of university student Kurono (Ninomaya Kazunari), we learn of an alternate universe where recently deceased people are transported to by a giant black sphere to kill aliens. If they die on a mission, they die for real; but if they survive, they earn points depending on their effort in completing the mission. Once they reach 100 points, they have the choice of either returning home with their memory erased or resurrecting a fallen comrade.

For the benefit of those who did not catch the first movie, this sequel recaps the rules of the game as well as the events of its predecessor- and you should also know that while Kurono survived a particularly tenuous kill at the end, his childhood buddy Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama) wasn’t as fortunate. If we could have accepted the ambiguity of the first movie, that was because we were looking forward to its sequel to offer answers to the many riddles within. Unfortunately, despite having a title like ‘Perfect Answer’, this sequel is hollow, pointless and utterly disappointing.

Beginning proper five months after, it brings us back to a guilt-stricken Kurono who has made it his goal to collect 100 points so he can bring back Kato. In the meantime, Kurono and his university gal-pal Tae (Yoshitaka Yuriko) take turns looking after Kato’s younger brother. Besides these returning characters, screenwriter Yusuke Watanabe (20^th Century Boys) also introduces two other significant others- the pop idol Eriko Ayukawa (Ito Ayumi) who receives a small black orb in a mysterious package one day in her mailbox; and detective Masamitsu Shigeta (Takayuki Yamada) who has been investigating the string of mysterious incidents.

Ambition is one thing, and then there’s foolish ambition- which is what Watanabe and director Shinsuke Sato demonstrate here. It was going to be a feat offering their viewers satisfactory answers to the questions raised in the first film even without the hefty plot additions, but Watanabe goes ahead anyway- not least with another group of alien enemies who assume human form, including the slain Kato- and stumbles dreadfully. Who is Gantz? Some alien object apparently. Who are these aliens he sends Kurono and the rest on assassination missions to? His enemies obviously. What do they want with him now? Revenge.

The origins of Gantz are never explained, nor the source of its deep enmity with the enemies it sends his human subjects out to slay. Worse still is its subjects’ blind devotion to its orders, especially with the twist in the middle of the story when its target becomes someone close to Kurono. And Watanabe’s attempt at trying to make deeper sense of the mayhem by going into the ‘violence begets violence’ rhetoric is tired and laughable. Because there is so little meaning or significance in what unfolds (death is after all so easily reset as if in a computer game), even scenes that are supposed to be emotional end up raising chuckles.

To its credit, Sato does stage a thrilling lengthy action sequence set on a packed subway commuter train which brings together the ‘Gantz’ soldiers with their pistols, the alien enemies with ‘katana’ swords, Eriko and Masamitsu all after the same target. The extended set piece comes midway into the film, and marks the height of the film which the clumsy finale never manages to top- especially not when Watanabe insists on having Kurono and the two Katos go at each other for longer than necessary.

But what truly takes the cake is the final showdown between ‘Gantz’ and the other aliens, which has eight ‘Gantz’ players up against more than twice or thrice that number of aliens with both sides just firing at each other. The sheer implausibility of that and the subsequent denouement of Kato and Kurono recalls Neo’s ‘revolutionary’ battle with Agent Smiths in the last ‘Matrix’ movie- but at least that took place in the context of a video game. And just as how the ‘Matrix’ sequels fizzled out one after another, so does this sequel from the suspense built up so expertly in the first film.

So what if this live-action adaptation is probably one of the goriest action movies you’ll ever from Japan to be in line with its source material? Executed without flair and devoid of meaning, ‘Perfect Answer’ is a tepid end to the much-touted franchise. Don’t come in looking for any perfect answer to the questions at the end of its predecessor- there are none, and the ones that you will find will ultimately leave you wanting for much more.  

Movie Rating:

(Devoid of meaning, significance and logic, this is one pointless sequel that is far far from perfect)

Review by Gabriel Chong