Warning! Minor spoilers ahead!
It is really difficult to be objective when looking at any kind of remake, particularly if you are a huge fan of the source material. It is a problem that Netflix’s Death Note has in spades judging by the negative reviews online. A quick scan of user ratings on IMDB shows one and two star reviews. Sadly it seems that online reviewers tend not to have any real critical chops and often use only two ratings; ten out of ten or one out of ten. But is it really that bad? I might not have the answers as I am trying to decide that for myself.
For those that aren’t aware, Death Note was an anime series from 2006 that has gained a huge following worldwide. To date, there have been four Japanese live action films released, although only two of them follow the original series premise. The first two of which are quite entertaining, but suffer from trying to cram 37 episodes worth of content into two movies. It was viewing them which made me watch the series as I have never been able to enjoy anime/ Manga, despite trying on many occasions.
There IS a spoiler warning, just to cover my own back. I’m going to try not to reveal too many details, but it is inevitable that some will emerge.
My initial problem with the film started in the first couple of seconds, showing Light, the protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your perspective) as a loner in high school, doing other people’s homework for money. Light as a character has to have a firm morality, it is that morality that sends him spiralling down the events that follow. In the anime, Light was popular AND studious, it was important that he was able to appear perfectly normal to outside eyes. I had to really struggle to get past this detail continuing with my viewing and kept repeating to myself, “It is its own movie, it is its own movie”.
So we have a loner who is morally flexible, with frequent outbursts of rage established, due largely to the death of his mother, which the criminal got away with. He receives the titular Death Note in a rainstorm, which inexplicably made people scream in panic. Does that happen? I mean, I’ve been in a typhoon, people just tend to get wet and look pissed off. They don’t scream. I’m off on a tangent now, it was literally a five second segment, but it bothered me.
Light reads the Death Note in detention (which he receives for helping people cheat) and then squeals like an infant when we are introduced to Ryuk, the Shinigami (God of Death). Again, a massive departure in character for both Light and Ryuk. The former being stoic in the original series, even when terrified and the latter having a respect for him because of it. Two major characters and their dynamic is off-kilter from the beginning.
So Light begins to use the Death Note, as one would expect, then inexplicably decides to show Mia, a girl he barely knows and has yet to establish a firm rapport with in the narrative, the Death Note and what it is capable of. As opening gambits go for a relationship, trying to impress a girl with murder is a bold one, if not entirely wise. She decides she likes murder, so it seems Light knew something the audience didn’t. We are then treated to the briefest of montages to establish that Light, under the name ‘Kira’ (to throw people off the scent by making himself out to be Japanese) has become the god of a cult, worshiping someone who they see as saving them from criminals. It is literally never mentioned again until a Deus Ex Machina moment in the climax.
The killings draw the attention of L, a hugely popular character from the series. His quirks and intellect in the original make him extremely engaging and the perfect foil for fellow genius Light. What we have is an emotional, animated and impetuous version of the character, played as a cross between Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory) and Abed Nadir (Community). In the film’s defence, without the inner monologues of the characters, it is significantly harder to express their thought processes without an accusation of over-exposition. Unfortunately, the battle of wits between two great minds that made the franchise so compelling is completely missing thanks to this. Light actually comes across as a fairly bland mind and makes a lot of very stupid decisions throughout.
There is clearly a sequel planned and I’ve no doubt I will watch it, although I feel that due to the huge faux pas that is the adaptation of the L character and the fact that he has no doubts about the identity of Kira, that it will feel just as flat. It might well be a good idea to kill him off and replace him with N early to fix that particular problem.
There are good points to the film too. Willem Defoe is absolutely excellent voicing Ryuk, a character which escapes relatively unscathed, the only real change is that he comes across as less mischievous and more evil. But he is the most intriguing part of this beginning of their telling of the story and one I am most looking forward to them exploring in the future. The unexpected action sequences are quite thrilling too and despite it being out of character, L pursuing Light was a high point.
In conclusion, was it worth watching? Are the piss-poor reviews accurate? It is worth watching, definitely. There are high production values and I would imagine if this was a person’s introduction to Death Note, then they would thoroughly enjoy it. The poor reviews don’t reflect this and as you can see, most of my criticism too comes from a comparison to what came before. Still, I watched it through without getting bored and that is important. It is different and familiar at the same time. It is perfectly possible that the sequel will tighten up and make this instalment seem better to my eyes in retrospect. My educated guess is that it won’t, but I live in hope.
Tokyo Cowboy 