Genre Research: Death Note (2017)

     Death Note (2017) is based on the manga and anime (2006) of the same name. It follows the story of Light Turner who finds a book labeled the "death note" and proceeds to kill people who he feels justified to do so using the book. He meets Ryuk, the death god who owns the book, Mia, who he convinces to join him, and L, who is out to get them. With that simple synopsis, this movie does sound interesting at the surface level. Death Note has a fantasy/thriller aspect to it. The idea of a book that can kill anyone with just the name is a fantastical (as in fantasy, not amazing) thought on its own. An equally fantastical idea, which is a whole death god that owns a death notebook. These are the fantasy aspects of the movie.

    I liked the fact that it brought Death Note to the western world. Many people don't find anime and mangas interesting, so this adaptation was definitely an attempt at bringing it here. I liked the whole fantasy aspect of the movie. The way that it just magically appeared at Light's disposal when he needed it and that a death god who enjoys apples is there to watch the terror he's bringing. It's also interesting to see this fantasy that's unraveling in Light's head, where he thinks that what he is doing is morally right and should be generally accepted. You see both sides in both this movie and the anime of compelling and contrasting forces, with each character having their own fantasies and what morals they think are right. So all in all considering surface level, this movie could've been great.

    However, that did not appear to be the fact. Death Note (2017) is a complete insult to its original manga and anime. The characters did not seem to have any development. Mia, in the original, was Misa, was what you would consider a "dumb blonde" doesn't have the depth to her character that she had originally, but rather, she's now a devious and manipulative brunette. L is now portrayed as a maniac and spews threats rather than a savant and quiet detective. Light who used to be a cunning and charismatic character is now a crybaby when he doesn't have his way. Probably the only thing I really liked about this movie was the Willem Dafoe was in it.

    Apart from the huge insult to the original that this movie gave, if I hadn't watched the original I think I would've thought it was an okay movie. The acting wasn't all too good, and the character development and plot were rushed. I liked the fantasy aspect of it very much. You get to see, as mentioned earlier, these fantasies unravel in the character's heads. It's cool to see where a death notebook and death god can lead all these characters to in my opinion. Now realizing that I could've written an IMDb review for this movie, I'd give it a 3/10 respectfully.