Review of Death Note (2017) by Targayrean — 25 Aug 2017

There’s really no reason for this movie- there’s almost nothing other than the actual note book and a death god that makes it death note. It would of been much better if they scrapped it and simply made a movie based on Death Note.

Light is completely different, Mikasa is Mia and she is completely different. It’s just not Death Note in any sense of the story. With that established on to the review. The tone is a mess. It starts out with a very “high school” tone and this diminishes the dialectic of the movie’s discussion of justice.

Then it goes over to the tone of a cheap sci-fi movie where we learn a bunch of random rules that aren’t that useful in the end. Light gains sympathy as a character through his mistakes and his “average white kid”-ness which is quite the opposite of the Japanese Light who gains respect by being a genius.

There are moments when Mia and Light are screaming in a hallway at school about the book and it is just cringe high school bull **** Ryuk looks like a 90s Power Rangers villain and is generally flat. The best performance is and the best written character is L by far because, like the anime, he gets your respect with his thoughts and actions.

But there is huge problem with his character. Here is yet another issue the movie is entirely too emotional and does not even try to scratch your brain. Death Note should not be about chase sequences and should not be an action movie.

It works for You’re Next and the Guest (other movies directed by Adam Wingard) but it does not work for Death Note.