What a way to ruin one of the best mangas of all time. What a mess.The first film was decent although a bit boring, roughly followed the manga.. dragged on some scenes and unnecessarily skipped other important ones, but it is understandable due to limited time. Ending was changed a lot but still recoverable from this error in judgment.This time however very very little went according to the excellent story in the manga. There was so much potential, but wasted.. the last invasion arc would have made an excellent film, but this was too early for that of course. .but even just some of the finer missions would have been fine. I can think of at least 3 of similar caliber to the ending of the first film.. not exactly sure at which part the plot was in 2011 but still.Acting was fine, action pretty cool, but the plot was a mess and pure wasted potential. Just read the manga.. and weep.

I'm really going to give a review here for both Gantz and Gantz: Perfect Answer because it's not so much a sequel but part 2.I really don't think you could watch Gantz and leave it at that. Unless you really hated the movie, after the end of Gantz you will feel the urge to watch the second part to see how it turns out.Now I do also understand that the anime would be better than the movie, even though I have not seen it. I also understand that the manga would also be better than the anime. This review is only about the movie.The first movie is more of an introduction to the situation whereas Gantz: Perfect Answer offers a lot more substance. I found it well worth the watch. I enjoyed also when certain aspects of the plot made me realize other certain, undisclosed aspects of the plot. I really enjoy that sublime element and the slow dawning realization. Two points that annoyed me a little.1/ The aliens were always saying "This is revenge" or "You started this" and I was hoping for some kind of explanation but there was none. The mention of this untold background seemed as a tease to my curiosity. (I don't doubt the explanation is in the anime)2/ I found the ending a little obvious. I knew what was going to happen and then it happened. I was desperately hoping for some kind of last minute twist, a reprieve from the inevitable.Other than that I really liked this two part movie, especially the second part.

This is a lot better than I expected, although I wish I'd known Gantz 2 was actually a sequel that was better than the original, or at least a vital part of what should have been a multi-episode mini-series. If I had watched both together I would have enjoyed much much more. I assumed it would be a light fun sci-fi popcorn movie, but it has much more depth than that in the end which makes it truly satisfying. It suffers from a dialogue issue I find with a lot of Asian import films, whereas the humor or exposition doesn't quite translate to English, but that's not really a fault so much as to be expected. It was a wise decision to use Asian actors to do the English overdubs , and the cast do an excellent job of mimicking to the tracks although clearly not speaking the vocal. The director has a clear and concise vision here, and is completely successful in finessing the photography although he really shines in Gantz 2. The action and fight scenes are a joy, with the wire-acrobatics and choreography you'd expect. Against the alien mutants in Gantz-1 they are great to watch, but against the more human aliens in Gantz-2 they're much more appreciated. Gantz-1 has more of a humorous undertone to it than Gantz-2 (although that turns out to be a mistake when dealing with the robot mutant, he's a badass), where Gantz-2 is much more sinister and dark. There are no glaring plot holes (save one in G-2 that I assume just got left on the editing room floor) in either piece. Plot is fluid and not plodding. The production budget is greatly increased in G-2 and it shows. The ending of Gantz/Gantz-2 as a set piece is perfect, with very little room for any attempt of a "Gantz-3 : Resurrection!!", and that makes it even more satisfying. Cast is capable and believable, even past the leads. Don't watch one without the other, you'll benefit.

Okay so i'll outline the fact that my rating of the film is bias based on my opinion of the manga. Having said that i do give credit where credit is due.Well i was slightly skeptical of the film before i watched it, since i wondered how it could compare to the manga. The next few arcs in the manga (after what the first film detailed) is where it actually kicks off and gets really engulfing with the characters, the relationships and the aliens. To my surprise though this film doesn't actually continue along the manga's story and instead tries to make up a new story of it's own. The problem with this is that the film needs to work out what it's trying to say in the story. Unfortunately we are left with more questions than answers and a pretty shaky story to hold it all on.Now moving onto some good points, the cinematography was good, the action scenes started well, but dragged slightly towards the end of the film. The acting was okay... as good as any other live-action Japanese film. i think that might actually be it.My conclusion is the film might be very slightly better than my rating for anyone who has only seen the first film and not read the manga. Their is a lot of scenes and actions in the film that happen and are unexplained or have no relevance as far as i can see. Beyond the poor makeshift story the film still tries to convey the depth of human actions and emotions. But for me it was too little in a film that didn't seem to have enough attention paid to it.P.S Just remembered - this doesn't even have the third option when getting 100 points. i guess it keeps it from opening the story up to the fact that their are more Gantz teams all over the world. intrigued? thought so.