Review of Death Note (2017) by Jpatric — 01 Sep 2017
The protagonist couldn't be further from the source material. In the original show, Light Yagami is depicted as a brilliant and popular student whose goal evolves to encompass ridding the world of evil. His environment encourages a God Complex, and he comes to believe his vision over reality.
In the Netflix version, the protagonist is Light Turner and plays on stereotypes of what a "nerd" is to America. His relationship with the female lead abruptly grows over the duration of a few minutes, and, boom, they're now in love despite Turner presenting himself as the most unlikable character in the show. The actor playing Light Turner genuinely sucks at the role and brings the viewer out of what is meant to be Death Note's immersive experience.
Furthermore, although William Dafoe would've been perfect as Riuk, whoever designed his costume completely butchered the original look. The jump scares involving him aren't effective and fall flat to the point of being completely unnecessary. The way gore is presented leaves this Death Note feeling like a cheesy attempt to portray a story with dark themes, and the world's characters themselves act like complete morons.
No. Don't watch this; watch the original version, and wait for someone to make a better adaptation that doesn't hit every trope possible.
This review of Death Note (2017) was written by Jpatric on 01 Sep 2017.
Death Note has generally received negative reviews.
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