Death Note Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: An idealistic genius finds a supernatural notebook that causes anyone whose name is written in it to die.

Review: You may recall me touching on this franchise briefly in my top 10 TV show episodes review. Based off the incredible manga, "Death Note" is one of my all-time favorite franchises out there! From the moment I read the first chapter in the Shonen Jump magazine I was intrigued, but it was the anime that had me addicted. While the movies are good, I do want to point out that the anime gives a more complete story while exploring the characters significantly more thoroughly. The story was/is so original and creative that it captivates and enthralls the audience in such a way that you await more entries with enthusiastic anticipation.

For those unfamiliar with this fantastic series, the plot is that a brilliant high schooler (he starts in college for the films), named Light, played by my favorite Japanese actor Tatsuya Fujiwara, discovers the Death Note: a supernatural notebook that will kill anyone whose name is written in it. Also, the Death Note has various rules in order to use it properly which contributes to aspects of the story through its limitations and powers like needing to know a person's name and face; the Death Notes actually belong to beings called Shinigamis which are like Grim Reapers to westerners. Once Light discovers the authenticity of the notebook's power, he takes it upon himself to rid the world of evil as he sees it. Light is accompanied on his journey by the notebook's shinigami, Ryuk, whom is invisible to anyone except those who touch the notebook. Ryuk makes for a great foil to Light often giving him a false sense of security and offering moral insight on Light's decisions. As Light's body count skyrockets he catches the attention of the public who suspect someone is out there doing all of this, thus creating the alter ego: Kira. Likewise, the police around the world suspect that all these deaths are more than a coincidence which leads to the introduction of L, the world's greatest detective, played perfectly by Kenichi Matsuyama. L is a mysterious genius who uses his vast intellect and adeptness for logic to determine that Kira is in Japan. In an awesome display of bravado, L stages a television broadcast in the Kanto region of Japan pretending it is broadcasting worldwide in order to challenge Kira to unknowingly kill a body double who was a prisoner scheduled for execution. Confirming L's suspicions, Kira must be someone living in that portion of Japan which narrows down the list of suspects considerably. This is one of the highlights of the whole franchise as it establishes how great L is while setting the stage for the cat and mouse game between Light and L as Light tries to kill L and L gets closer to uncovering the true identity of Kira. The head of the task force to investigate Kira is, in fact, Light's father which leads to L's next clue, because he has concluded that whoever Kira may be has access to police records a regular citizen would not. So while L and the task force work together, L quietly has enlisted the FBI to investigate those in the Kanto region with access to police files and their families. With some aid from Ryuk, Light realizes he's being monitored by the FBI as he hatches a plan to eliminate all the FBI agents. I never understood why Light was so hasty to get rid of the FBI agents, but I guess he assumed they'd catch on or he hoped he'd kill L in the process or something. Through an elaborate scenario, Light discovers the identity of the agent following him only to prepare his next scheme to use this agent, named Raye, to unwittingly write the names of the other agents on paper from the Death Note. Unbeknownst to Light was that Raye's fiance, Naomi Misora, had been following Raye suspecting his strange behavior because she too was a former FBI agent. Misora suspects that Kira must have been one of the people Raye was following and quickly determines that individual to be Light. At the same time, L discovers that the timetable in which Kira kills fits that of a college kid's schedule. L also suspects Light because he was the only individual being investigated by the FBI that fits the personality of Kira. This leads to surveillance cameras being installed in Light's house as Misora confronts Light revealing she believes he's Kira. Using an infamous bag of potato chips to hide a TV to supply him with names of criminals to kill, Light manages to throw off L while he devises a plan to uncover Misora's real name and eliminate her. The film comes to a climax as Light uses the Death Note to heartlessly sacrifice his girlfriend, Shiori, in an attempt to clear his name and to force Misora to kill herself. Since few would believe someone could be so evil, and because none of the investigators know how Kira is able to kill so easily, they believe Light and even want his help on the investigation. However, L remains skeptical and suspects the potato chip ruse. We finally see that a character lurking in the background receives her own Death Note as the film ends with L and Light about to square off in the ultimate battle of intellect.

Now, while I enjoy the films for their own merits, there were aspects to the story and production that I feel are weaker that the anime/manga that is worth mentioning. Eh, I can see why they chose to make Ryuk in CGI since his character would have been hard to create as a costume and makeup, but the CGI could have been better and looks too cartoony. Although Mr. Fujiwara does a great job playing such an interesting character, it is sometimes hard to overlook that ridiculous hairdo he has in the two films! The film plays up the angle that Light feels the justice system has failed and that only through him can a just world be created. I prefer the anime's implication that Light could not accept that he was a murderer like the people he hated so he reconciled this fact by convincing himself that his murders were acceptable because he was the "god of the new world." In fact, much of Light's arrogance and megalomaniac tendencies were toned down, and when major scenes from the manga/anime arose, his change in personality felt out of place. However, since the film's tried to create their own image of Light, I can understand their approach to make him more widely sympathetic rather than tragic. Obviously Misora's character is all messed up and exaggerated since they needed to create some kind of breaking point to split the films up. It just sucks because Misora's death is one of the darkest moments in the series and gave us a glimpse with how far Light had already fallen by that point. The addition of Shiori was weak and unnecessary since we don't need her to explain to the audience that Light's actions are bad. Besides the fact that Ryuk and L cover this aspect, Light's morality and actions are meant to be studied by the audience to determine how you feel personally; we don't need someone constantly saying what he's doing is wrong.

Setting aside my complaints, this film stands alone strongly, able to touch on the major plot elements from the earlier parts of the manga/anime. Its changes are acceptable and can give audiences more of a reason to follow the different mediums of Death Note since they each have different paths and aspects they emphasize more than the others. The acting is solid as the beloved characters are brought to life splendidly, but some of the extras do overact when dying of the heart attacks. The pacing does feel rushed at times, but they have a lot of material to cover and even then the film is two hours long which you will not even notice.  But of course, the main highlight of the film is the compelling story, edge of your seat thrills, creativity and originality. I highly recommend watching these films, but I would say start with the manga or anime first since they will give you better insight in regards to every facet of the story.

Notable Moment: When the detectives first meet with L and see his quirkiness first hand.

Final Rating: 8/10