Title: 20th Century Boys 2 aka 20 Seiki Shounen Dai 2 Shō Saigo no Kibō
Genre: Drama
Director: Tsutsumi Yukihiko
Format: Movie; 140 minutes.
Date: 31 Jan 2009

Synopsis: The year is 2015 and a vicious gunfight in the dark alleys of Chinatown shatters the silence of the night. Bad blood exists between the Thai and Chinese mobs and it threatens the lives of those living in the vicinity. In the midst of the flying bullets and fierce ricochets, a feisty and bold girl emerges and successfully becomes the mediator to end the enmity between them and earn respect among their kingpins. Her name is Endō Kanna and she is the grown-up niece of Kenji who is nowhere to be found and has been labeled as the “world’s most wanted terrorist” by society under the hypnotic influence of the enigmatic “Friend”.

The Highlights
Expectations: Plot twists and climatic moments galore.
Loose ends: Neatly tied up, and then introduces a few new ones.
Endō Kanna: A more befitting and charismatic protagonist than her uncle.
Characters: Delightful old idiosyncrasies remain; some issues regarding the new characters.
Focus: Protagonist and those around her ironically get more attention than antagonist “Friend”; the transvestites are hilarious to watch.
Final instalment: Bring it on!

Sequels are becoming a trend nowadays, especially when their prequels do very well in the box office. 20th Century Boys cost a whopping 6 billion yen to produce and its trilogy is slated to be one of the biggest undertakings in the Japanese movie industry. Naturally, a sequel is set on its way soon after, and 20th Century Boys 2 wastes no time to cut to the chase and start where its predecessor left off. Despite having its own problems, 20th Century Boys 2 does justice to its prequel by tying up all its loose ends, planting the story with more plot twists, and incorporating more climatic moments to render every minute riveting from start to finish.

Like the prequel, 20th Century Boys 2 is lengthy, with a total run-time of more than 2 hours. Fortunately, every minute is riveting as the unpredictable plot development keeps the audience wondering what will happen next, and then smashes their anticipations through carefully-thought plot twists. Furthermore, these plot twists not only make it more engrossing to watch, they also solve a number of loose ends left in the prequel and then add shocking revelations on top of them. Best of all, the revelations work like a “domino effect” where they thicken the plot right to the end, and continue to do so leading into the final installment. Unfortunately though, while old loose ends are done with, new ones crop up and depending on how the story progresses in the next film, they may backfire on the entire story by eventually becoming plot holes. Speaking of plot holes, they also come in the form of new characters introduced in the movie. One of them is revealed to be a key figure in the plot development, and yet seemingly gets wiped out of the movie just when his character is about to be given the spotlight he deserves.

It’s inevitable that some characters get more attention than others, particularly when the characters include the protagonist and antagonist themselves. The intriguing enigma, Friend, automatically gets a lot of focus in the prequel as the main antagonist, and though his role remains pivotal this time, his spotlight is shifted more towards protagonist Endō Kanna and all those around her. It’s not a pressing issue per se, but seeing him at the curb until the end is pretty jarring for a movie that centers around his influence.

Nevertheless, the characters remain the main driving force of the movie, spearheaded by the spunky Endō Kanna. Her charismatic personality and unwavering pursuit for the truth about Kenji’s whereabouts and Friend’s true identity makes her a protagonist far more interesting than her uncle, and it shows how their touching past interactions have influenced her to become who she is today. The same goes for those around her, as their roles have changed over the 15 years following the prequel’s climax. Although they naturally age with time, they are still colourful through their unchanged idiosyncrasies. What’s more, the batch of new characters include a pair of transvestites who, despite having little screen time, light up the screen with their lively demeanor.

20th Century Boys 2 eventually evades the common trap of crappy sequels and addresses the prime factor that afflicts the prequel: the lingering sense of underwhelming dissatisfaction. Furthermore, it does better by having a female lead with a fiery temperament and an admirable tenacity to match. Most importantly, it meticulously blends all the necessary ingredients to set up a thrilling grand finale. All the efforts on characterization, suspense and plot development are well-spent and more can be expected when the story ends in the next movie. The first instalment is good, the second is great and as the matter of course, the last one should be marvelous; at least the preview right at the end of the credits makes it out to be.

The Rating: 8

Reviewed by: AC