Overrated

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

'Mr Morino committed suicide' is what the opaque opening sequence is about. Hopefully this will resolve. Early on, Morino is just a sixth grade teacher. Also, part of a university lecture is shown discussing 'urban legends' about the bullied getting retribution against the former bullies. The stage is set at 10 minutes in. The question is, who is going to be thrust into the meat grinder?Hideaki is an obvious jerk, and would be my lead candidate. Why his girlfriend, Rikako, puts up with him is hard to see. One finds out toward the end of the movie.Takeshi and Tetsuya were leaders in the stylized bullying done in the sixth grade, and they get to join the festivities. Chie Koizumi was also a contributor.After a bit more stage setting to justify vigilantism, these four wake up in a locked room. They are compelled by two large hooded people with powerful electric shock weapons to play the X game, as explained on tape by the dead Mr. Morino. There are 13 levels of punishment. At each turn, a victim and a perpetrator have to be picked. If the punishment is completed in under 3 minutes, the game goes to the next turn. If not, the loser gets to be branded with a large X, about four inches in diameter; the spokes close to an inch across.This game was played in the sixth grade by the bullies; the main victim was a girl named Mariko Kaburagi. By one means or another, all the contestants are made to remember that fact. One of the final points of the film was made by the character Tadashi Ishimatu: the bullies all forgot about him, but he still has PTSD from the bullying. Not one of the four bullies even remembers him, much less what they did to him.So, this is the vigilante justice mentioned academically in the beginning of the film.How far does the vigilante justice succeed?-------Scores--------Cinematography: 9/10 Excellent in the well-lit scenes; reasonable in the dark ones.Sound: 10/10 OK; fairly good on creepiness.Acting: 7/10 Hirofumi Araki was rather good at being almost clueless to scared out of his wits. Some of the other performances were a bit wooden.Screenplay: 8/10 Had a beginning, middle, and an end. The exposition of motivations was good.------PS--------Probably the saddest thing I saw about this film was the tone of the comments made on Netflix. About half of them had the same attitudes as the bullies mentioned above: that was ages ago, have you not forgotten? We were just having fun; what's wrong with you?

Like the other reviewer mentioned, don't get "X Game" confused with "Death Tube" because they are completely different movies. Also, "Death Tube" sucked while "X Game" was good. Four young people are kidnapped and forced to torture one another. This is definitely a step above the typical torture film because it has properly developed characters, an engaging storyline that incorporates the theme of bullying, and also some good suspense. Even the torture game itself is interesting to watch because it's unpredictable and uses a variety of exaggerated bullying tactics. The script is fairly ambitious with a lot of ground to cover in its three-part structure. The final section is very twisty, but the twists make sense and maintain one's interest despite dragging the film out a bit. There are also a few creepy moments to enjoy.

The other reviews on this page are for Deathtube, a different film by the same company. I watched X-Game on Netflix where it was actually labeled Deathtube.I enjoyed the heavy anti-bullying message of X-Game. Hideaki is our "hero" through much of the movie, yet his character proves to be more complex in the last third of the film, as do the roles of all the "bad guys." The characters are well-developed and their stories are told from multiple viewpoints. Some of the special effects are cheesy but it can be forgiven as the film works hardest to establish the roles and responsibilities of its many characters. The gore is gory, standard horror fare. Truly horrific is the bullying using the X-Game box to deliver red paper penalties, for both the children and the adults.There are no heroes when the bullied strive for revenge ... there are only new bullies. Where will it stop? Not at the end of this film. You learn in flashbacks and late reveals of the forces behind this chain of revenge. It may cause you to change your mind about the characters several times during the film.

I don't think it's actually the 2010 Japanese movie Death Tube. The title X-Game itself has no any significance to the movie. But I noticed that the release date was September 2010, that is the same as the release of Death Tube 2. But, again, X-Game is inappropriate.I wiki'd it then: "Four young people find themselves in a classroom and forced to participate in the "X Game". Games include "Thumbtack on a chair," "Pencil Guillotine," "Clip," "School Lunch," "Slap," and the "Death Penalty". Who is behind the games? Will these young people make it out alive? ". Don't be confused. The Death Tube movies don't have anything to do with X-Game. They have obvious similarities if you watch these, though.