Review of Death Note (2017) by Sammy Z — 25 Aug 2017

Death Note is a beautiful manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. Both the anime and manga, exemplify the sense of justice and how man playing god can corrupt and poison one's mind. Light is shown as someone who is a very intellectual and popular student, however, is bored with how simple everything in his life is. The story ventures a path that battles what is right and just. The series shifts our sympathies between characters which is an art in itself. This movie however, discards it all and just uses the character names and the concept of a Death Note.

The movie is whitewashed and Light is portrayed as a typical American movie style High School nerd who is not really noticed by anyone. In the anime/manga, Light is very popular and does not scream or swear as much as shown in the movie. Light's intellectual side is not really portrayed in the movie and his sense of justice or humanity and shifting monstrosity is lightly explored. L's intellectual capability is shown lightly but his character and nature is not very well explored nor shown thus our sympathies does not shift. In the movie Ryuk is given little screen time and is always shown as the Death God (Shinigami) in the background. His personality is not really shown and he is always in a way antagonistic towards Light. In the series, he is shown a lot more often and plays a significant role. He is shown as an observer of it all but helps Light at times and communicates in a less antagonistic way although he in his own way the enemy. His obsession of apples is only shown a light although apples work like cigarettes for the Death Gods in this universe.

The Shinigami realm is not explored in the movie which is quite sad and many rules are changed and modified as well as some of them being gone against. For example, if the cause of death is not specified then the person will just die of a heart attack. In the movie, Watari's death is not specified yet he is shot to death. Another example is the fact that only Light can see Ryuk. The rules state that anyone who touches the Death Note can see the Shinigami. Another rule that is disobeyed is the fact that Ryuk in his own way helps Mia's (This movie's version of Misa) death as well as others. I, myself, am not entirely sure if he helped or not but a Death God cannot do that. Another rule in the movie is that only one page can be torn and burned to deactivate the effects of the note. In the series, if the name is written, they shall die and every page no matter what. The death note specifically states that "once the victim's name has been written, the individual's death can never be avoided". The only way to stop and reverse death is the use of the death eraser which was never introduced in the main series but could have been introduced in the movie (refer to pilot chapter). Another rule is that every page torn will have the full effects of the death note. The movie never mentions the idea of a human possessing Shinigami eyes nor the fact that the Death Note is not Ryuk's but Shindoh's or the fact that Ryuk owns two Death Notes.

Most of this probably could have not been included as it is only just one movie based off an entire series. However, some parts could have been changed and it could have spanned over a few movies. The movie itself seemed rushed and the movie's idea of gore and Light's idea of making out with Mia whilst kissing makes no sense as it leaves Light with little or no morals and his godlike complex is not really explored. The idea of Kira is also lightly shown and how the people worship Kira is also not shown.

The movie was good in some parts and there were some good quotes. It is good they avoided the Near/Mellow arc and L's death as it was not really a good part of the series. The movie could have included L's famous theme which was written in alternating 7/8 and 3/4 time to indicate L's unusualness and difference from everyone. However, the sound effects and music was good at creating suspense and confusion and suited the moods of each scene (except Mia's death but that's fine- also sidenote- I love how Mia fell into a bunch of flowers and died, makes me remember of something? "Why do the best people die? When you pick flowers, which ones do you pick? The most beautiful ones :) " ANYWAYSSSSS). The movie should be watched as if it is a completely different thing from the series and I guess people who have never watched or read Death Note may like it.

To sum it up, the movie had a lot of terrible things and portrayed each character quite badly especially by making Light weak and apparently unable to handle the Death Note and making him swear almost every minute. It is alright that the movie did not include everything and the ethnicity of the characters did not concern me. However, portrayal of major themes or characters or involvement of characters could be improved and as well as many other things. The ending was fitting for the movie and made sense but how did L know how the Death Note worked? And why was Light so careless about killing? Other than this it was okay but not good enough. Too much crammed into one movie and too much white washing and predictability even though the movie was different from the series (I predicted how Mia's death would happen and I was close). Ryuk should have had more involvement in the movie. The movie should have explained and shown more into the Death God concept and should have explored further into what is justice and who is right. If it did this then our sympathies would shift. The series did this. Shakespeare did this as well especially in the Merchant of Venice. The concept of human boundaries and man playing god should have been explored as well. The series did this. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley did this. I base most of my writings and many of my things off Death Note. I named one of my beloved chickens Kira as I was obsessed and loved the series. This movie... Shame on it... Should have done better. I am sorry to say but it is not one I will revisit again.