Post by BloodyMonkeyZ on Sept 19, 2017 19:37:44 GMT -6
I have always known about the Anime series Death Note, and in spite of being told repeatedly that I should watch it, I never have. And then came a live action version of it, so I watched it! Just to be clear at the start here, I have nothing against anime or subtitled movies. So an English live action one wasn’t exactly something I had been waiting for. It was more just a matter of timing being right.
Our story starts off with an oddly named character, Light Turner, finding a note book that literally falls from the sky. The words DEATH NOTE emblazoned on the front cover. Just before this happened he was preoccupied with selling homework to other students near the sports field. A sudden storm sends all the kids scampering for cover. But Light encounters a bully picking on first a guy and then a girl. He jumps in when the girl is shoved and promptly gets knocked out. Sorry, but I can never see someone get knocked out without seeing Chris Tucker in my head staring down at them yelling “Man, you got knocked the fuck out!” And while I waited for Chris Tucker to make an appearance, instead I got a scene of light getting busted for selling homework in a school that doesn’t care about assault.
His attempt at chivalry lands him in detention and he meets Ryuk (voiced by Willem Dafoe) for the first time. The nature of the notebook is explained and Light is encouraged to put the name of the bully down with decapitation as the manner of death. Light and Ryuk then watch as a scene straight out of Final Destination unfolds. An old lady carrying groceries on the sidewalk has her bag split open sending canned goods everywhere, a boy dribbling a basketball has his ball careen wildly off a can into the street, as he lunges after the ball a truck with a ladder on the roof swerves to avoid running him over, and the truck crashes into a parked car causing the ladder to fly through the air and decapitate the bully.
And there we have our first death at the hands of Light as he discovers that the pen is mightier than the sword. Sorta. Everything about that screams out to me that this movie is a sort of alternate “reverse” Final Destination movie. I liked the Final Destination movies, so I was digging the idea at this point. When Light gets home, we discover that he has family issues. His mother was killed by a mafia type who got off even though Light’s dad is a cop. Sensing an opportunity, Light uses the “rules” to add the man who killed his mother to the Death Note. And he promptly dies.
Light gets a girlfriend, Mia, because he shows off the Death Note to her and the two of them go on a spree killing bad guys while using the codename “Kira.” Light sees the Death Note as a way to rid the world of criminals but things quickly get out of hand since Mia doesn’t think Light will go far enough. They have much of society enthralled as they are making the world a better place, and even some of the police see it as a benefit. But things escalate with the arrival of the FBI and a mystery man named L. L is the world’s greatest detective and is intent on ending the killing spree of Kira in the name of justice. L keeps his face hidden and his true name unknown from the world. Which is a peculiar thing to do, but turns out to be a perfect plan in hindsight when someone is capable of killing anyone as long as he knows their name and what they look like, as per the rules of the Death Note. L is incredibly quirky in ways that I can only assume are being copied from the Anime, but I have to say that they didn’t come across well in a live action movie. It is hard to describe how peculiar he is, but if you watch this movie you will know exactly what I am talking about.
When the FBI start trying to figure out who Kira is, things get pretty crazy. And Ryuk is a wild card in all this. He seems to be guiding Light, but at the same time not. Ryuk is a bit like Heath Ledger’s Joker and just wants things to get crazy.
The movie is getting a pretty harsh review from pretty much anyone who knows about Death Note. If you saw the Anime then it is natural for you to compare the two. But that is unfair to the movie. You can’t turn a 37 episode series into a 2 hour movie and have it remain faithful. Liberties have surely been taken!
Based purely on seeing this movie without the Anime, I give this a nice middle of the road rating. 2.5 stars. It wasn’t great, and I won’t likely watch it a second time, but I am glad I watched it. Willem Dafoe certainly steals the show with his performance.
Our story starts off with an oddly named character, Light Turner, finding a note book that literally falls from the sky. The words DEATH NOTE emblazoned on the front cover. Just before this happened he was preoccupied with selling homework to other students near the sports field. A sudden storm sends all the kids scampering for cover. But Light encounters a bully picking on first a guy and then a girl. He jumps in when the girl is shoved and promptly gets knocked out. Sorry, but I can never see someone get knocked out without seeing Chris Tucker in my head staring down at them yelling “Man, you got knocked the fuck out!” And while I waited for Chris Tucker to make an appearance, instead I got a scene of light getting busted for selling homework in a school that doesn’t care about assault.
His attempt at chivalry lands him in detention and he meets Ryuk (voiced by Willem Dafoe) for the first time. The nature of the notebook is explained and Light is encouraged to put the name of the bully down with decapitation as the manner of death. Light and Ryuk then watch as a scene straight out of Final Destination unfolds. An old lady carrying groceries on the sidewalk has her bag split open sending canned goods everywhere, a boy dribbling a basketball has his ball careen wildly off a can into the street, as he lunges after the ball a truck with a ladder on the roof swerves to avoid running him over, and the truck crashes into a parked car causing the ladder to fly through the air and decapitate the bully.
And there we have our first death at the hands of Light as he discovers that the pen is mightier than the sword. Sorta. Everything about that screams out to me that this movie is a sort of alternate “reverse” Final Destination movie. I liked the Final Destination movies, so I was digging the idea at this point. When Light gets home, we discover that he has family issues. His mother was killed by a mafia type who got off even though Light’s dad is a cop. Sensing an opportunity, Light uses the “rules” to add the man who killed his mother to the Death Note. And he promptly dies.
Light gets a girlfriend, Mia, because he shows off the Death Note to her and the two of them go on a spree killing bad guys while using the codename “Kira.” Light sees the Death Note as a way to rid the world of criminals but things quickly get out of hand since Mia doesn’t think Light will go far enough. They have much of society enthralled as they are making the world a better place, and even some of the police see it as a benefit. But things escalate with the arrival of the FBI and a mystery man named L. L is the world’s greatest detective and is intent on ending the killing spree of Kira in the name of justice. L keeps his face hidden and his true name unknown from the world. Which is a peculiar thing to do, but turns out to be a perfect plan in hindsight when someone is capable of killing anyone as long as he knows their name and what they look like, as per the rules of the Death Note. L is incredibly quirky in ways that I can only assume are being copied from the Anime, but I have to say that they didn’t come across well in a live action movie. It is hard to describe how peculiar he is, but if you watch this movie you will know exactly what I am talking about.
When the FBI start trying to figure out who Kira is, things get pretty crazy. And Ryuk is a wild card in all this. He seems to be guiding Light, but at the same time not. Ryuk is a bit like Heath Ledger’s Joker and just wants things to get crazy.
The movie is getting a pretty harsh review from pretty much anyone who knows about Death Note. If you saw the Anime then it is natural for you to compare the two. But that is unfair to the movie. You can’t turn a 37 episode series into a 2 hour movie and have it remain faithful. Liberties have surely been taken!
Based purely on seeing this movie without the Anime, I give this a nice middle of the road rating. 2.5 stars. It wasn’t great, and I won’t likely watch it a second time, but I am glad I watched it. Willem Dafoe certainly steals the show with his performance.
