Before I get into the details of this one, I need to explain that there’s two different ways of looking at this movie. You can either view it as a standalone piece, or you can compare and contrast it to the anime. Throughout this I’ll try to use both perspectives, one at a time. I actually finished the anime about a week before the movie came out. Good timing I suppose.

Anyhow, let me start with a bit of background for those who might be interested or don’t know anything about Death Note. Originally starting as a manga (comic series) in Japan, Death Note rose in popularity due to its unique premise and the now famous mind games that its main characters participate in. In Japan, the series was spun off into an anime, a live-action TV show, and various feature length movies. Over time the manga and anime grew in popularity stateside. Everything else, save for a small theatrical releases of the live action films in 2008, seemed to stay in Japan. That is, until Netflix announced that they were making a new English live-action Death Note.
With the manga selling more than 30 million copies worldwide, there was an obvious market for the film. And people were EXCITED! The unique characters and genius level mind games of this beloved series combined with Willem Dafoe as Ryuk? In English? Even I was a bit excited at the possibilities! …Then the movie came out.
Now I can’t go much further without explaining the basic story of Death Note so SPOILERS AHEAD! Death Note (the anime/manga series) is about a high schooler named Light Yagami who comes across a book called the ‘death note’ that claims it can kill anyone whose name is written in the book. There are some rules that go along with the book as well, and the book’s keeper (a demon-like creature named Ryuk) appears soon after Light makes his first kill using the book. Ryuk lets Light hang on to the book, mainly because he’s bored and Light’s use of the book only helps him. With the book and his intellect, Light takes on the persona of ‘Kira’ and kills criminals while simultaneously dodging capture from authorities worldwide who fear his unknown power. Continue reading “Looking at Netflix’s Death Note” →