If you are interested in becoming a maniacal world leader of a deadly cult and want to find the "How To" handbook (like me), I would recommend that you spend a few hours of your time becoming familiar with 20th Century Boys.  I know that I now have several "Book of Prophecies" completed and that in just a matter of time I will put one of them into action and begin my meteoric rise.  So, be ready!

15 years have passed since Bloody New Year's Eve.  Friend has settled into the role of a world leader and has the praise of other world leaders such as the American President and the Pope.  Kanna, Kenji's niece, has found a job working in a little dive restaurant and is finishing up high school.  She is an angry young woman who has to relive the lies about her uncle every day.  Without trying very hard, she finds herself in the middle of a new phase of Friend's plot to destroy the world. 

The band of heros that managed to survive Bloody New Year's Eve have secretly been doing their part in working against Friend.  Otcho has been helping in prison and manages to escape along with a geeky manga writer.  He finds some old friends that have good ears and they begin to get him solid information about what is currently happening. The discovery of the "New Book of Prophecy" leads to the chain of events that will elevate Friend to the level of God status.  Now all the players begin to close in on this event and once again find themselves banding together to try and save the world.

Overall:

With this being the middle film of the trilogy for this epic story, I was a little apprehensive that it would be a major letdown.  I was also somewhat concerned that the adaptation from the manga to film would be too dramatic to keep the essence of the story on track.  The first film was very dynamic and overcame the changes with great success.  The first 20 minutes left me wondering what story was I watching.  There were some real changes that gave me pause, but it did not take long for me to put all the pieces together and get back into the story.  I am not saying that this was any weaker than the original; on the contrary, I found this version to be as exciting and engaging as the manga. 

The acting was two different worlds again.  There are the very western role-playing and method-acting performances by the main characters and the almost Kabuki-style acting performed by many of the side characters.  This lent itself to some rather comical moments but also detracted from some of the dramatic moments that could have used a milder hand.  This is a technique that I have seen over and over again in high budget Japanese films, and I have begun to see it as part of the cultural experience with these films.  Many westerners would dismiss this as foolish, but I see it as another layer of depth not seen in the West and have begun to enjoy it very much.

20th Century Boys, Part 2: The Last Hope was not a letdown, but in fact I found it to be a worthy installment to this trilogy.  Although there were some dramatic differences from the original story, this version gave me just as much of a thrill as the original.  The plot changes and story twists were  valid and even strengthened the live action in unexpected ways.

VIZ will be releasing this on to DVD Feb. 16th 2010, but on Tuesday Feb. 9th 2010 VIZ Pictures will have a special Theatrical Screening at VIZ Cinema in San Francisco at 7:30.  So if you are in the Bay area and don't want to miss something very special, you should check this out, it should be a blast.

ComicsOnline gives 20th Century Boys, Part 2: The Last Hope 4.5 out of 5 kids in 1960s Japanese Robot masks.