Review of Death Note (2017) by Mr-Yin — 24 Aug 2017

I personally do not have an issue with director's choice of choosing a different story to follow since the Death Note may be owned by almost anyone in the world. The acting in the film is not a major issue, but L's actor and Light's father are sometimes too stiff when interacting with the other characters in the film.

My major gripe with the film was the pacing, however. We are expected to believe that Watari and L have a deep relationship with each other from youth, and that Mia and Light are young lovers following her seeing the Death Note, but something about it seems wrong.

Watari deserved more screen-time with L, and I feel that Mia's motives for wanting the Death Note are too extreme when compared to Light's own desires. The ending was slightly predictable in that Light would likely control what happens, but seeing it unravel was still enjoyable.

There seems to be a lot of freedom concerning how deaths are controlled in this Death Note adaptation, much to the point that the characters' actions in the film seem unfair. In the ending, Light essentially cheated his death by controlling the paper his girlfriend, Mia, had previously written his name on by causing the paper to burn in a nearby fire.

It was an enjoyable movie overall. The movie is not terribly bad as most people make it out to be, but it is no masterpiece either. If you are hell-bent on seeing an adaptation of the manga/anime, do not raise your hopes.

The movie disappointingly falls short in engaging the audience as the anime/manga have done by opting for a more action-driven narrative. I am interested to see what a possible sequel might hold since the film ends on a cliff-hanger, but I do hope that characters in the film aside from Light are fleshed out more.