Forum - View topicREVIEW: Death Note (2017)
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Catseyetiger
Posts: 779 |
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I liked the anime this sounds awaful in the extreme! So I will skip it, heck I thought ghost in the shell remake while destroying the world and resting reality of the characters and oddly the tone was at least entertaining to watch as a stand alone film.
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MajorZero
Posts: 359 |
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BWAHAHA! Whoever thinks that Death Note is "a sharp thriller" probably haven't seen many thrillers or good cinema in general. I mean, if you like writers to create a convenient plot device every time Yagami had anything resembling troubles which he couldn't handle with his set of powers, or if you like undercooked characters like Near, or storytelling full of usual shounen trappings I can see why you like the series, but a sharp thriller? Come on. Haven't seen the film yet, but if they actually managed to squeeze some fun from this less than mediocre property I'll give a standing ovation to Wingard. |
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NBlaze53
Posts: 27 |
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What a junk review. No mention of any character aside from Light, no mention of the films quite good cinematography, no mention of the casting aside from Light, no mention of the script aside from Light. This felt less like a review and more like a long winded version of saying "Netflix Death Note is different to the manga". No mention of the films good or bad parts at all aside from the plot and Light.
I'm also annoyed people STILL think Death Note is about Light v L. A Battle which is only 1/3 of the anime and 2 of the 4 Japanese live action movies. Death Note is the story of how the notebook corrupts the world, that's the only thing that stands in the manga, anime and now 6 live action releases. As for my OWN thoughts on the film, it's not good but it's REALLY enjoyable. Light is awful until the final 10 minute where I actually felt him become Light Yagami. L wasn't like L, but in reality was L's intelligence, Near's deductive skills and Mello's rage all in one character and I personally loved that twist on the usual L, especially since L is a title and not a character who cares what they change. Mia was more important then Light was and is sorta spoiler[the films REAL Kira] The cinematorgaphy was great with it some pans and shots standing out to me. Ryuk is just perfect, whenever he was on screen the film lit up with energy and Willem Dafoe was perfect, I just wish he was in the film more. I feel Wingard had a great vision for this film and he mostly delivered. But the script, the plot, the pacing and some casting choices hold the movie back from being legit good. Despite L, Ryuk the cinematography and the films final act all being quite good. I do hope it gets a sequel though based on the ending. The worst part of the film is how Light wrote down spoiler[Watari's name without knowing his last name though. Like HOW!?] |
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
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To quote from the review: " Wildly entertaining and briskly paced, great casting for its more lurid take on the material, strong direction and cinematography will elevate the bad writing for fans of schlocky cinema" Jake talked in detail about quite a bit of the film and made it clear he wasn't upset just because things were changed. I have no idea how you could possibly come to that conclusion, regardless of whether you disagree with the review. |
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12skippy21
 Posts: 785 Location: York, England |
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After just watching the movie I would say the review is a fair one. It is an interesting movie, significantly simplier than its source material, but one I think may succeed. The main aspect of the source material is that a lot of the characters were far too smart and the movie characterisation simplifies them to be more relatable (though this does have the impact of making the movie much more basic in its themes). This alteration only affects L badly, as (thanks to the subpar writing) he does come across as not deserving of his 'greatest dectective' badge. Due to the Americanisation of the plot it is easier to distance from the manga and anime (ques which the GITS movie should have took rather than copying the original), which is why I think it is better than the GITS remake.
In terms of the movie overall, the only true negative is the bad writing (as a scene towards the end with an oddly placed song in slo-mo was simply laugh inducing and stupid). Up to this point I was actually interested in how they were going to end it, the film though ends poorly, while it has a hook for a sequel, the logic for how spoiler[Light got his Death Note back] was akin to the original, but not something which was believeable given everything that had transpired (aka Light did not come across as being terribly smart). I agree though, if you like the original you should at least give it a try, like GITS before it, it is not a terrible movie, it simply suffers from bad writing and a simplication of the core themes but I feel Death Note is better because it is not a copy paste job. Well done film industry, that is two passable manga/anime inspired movies on the trot, given it another decade and you may make one which is truly great. 
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ARC-1300
 Posts: 360 |
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The movie wasn't without its strongpoints,despite ho very few of them their are. And I don't think i like the idea of a sequel,but to each their own. And lol at people calling it DB evolution bad,nothing can be that bad,although shamalans airbender movie comes real close.
I'm guessing the mind game and cat and mouse cons pets of the show were thrown out the window. Sigh,the movie isn't really terrible,but it fails at being anything more than a whimper. So while I don't really hate it,I don't really love it either. So for lack of a better word....meh |
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Nonaka Machine Gun B
 Posts: 819 |
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It moved too fast is the first thing I noticed. Nothing is given enough time to resonate, they just want to hurry up and get to the killing. Left me wishing it was a limited mini-series of at least 6 episodes.
I can understand the notion behind "angst-ridden teenagers find the Death Note" and as the film unfolds Light and Mia do everything you expect teenagers to do, but the sacrifice to what made the original interesting is too great. By making Light dumber, everyone hunting him, including L(who's handled fairly well), looks dumber by proxy. Watching the kids argue how to use the notebook is an infuriating exercise in patience. The movie is like being stuck in an elevator with two loud, obnoxious brats. I liken it to this: the two kids represents both sides of the original Light: Mia is Kira and Light Turner is the guy Light Yagami pretends to be to keep up appearances. This is almost basically missing the point of the whole series, as the appealing thing about Light as a character(definitely not as a person, he's a shitboy) is his pomposity and lack of remorse. By splitting the character in two, and introducing a truly earnest notekeeper, you wander into the lame, tired territory of sympathizing with Light. Light was wrong, deal with it. This general demeanor bleeds into L, who transforms into an impulsive, sniveling ball of rampaging revenge by the third act/chase scene. Nobody is outsmarting anyone here. I'm not caught up on all the notebook rules, and I hadn't seen Death Note in full since the first time I watched it in high school a decade ago, but the most glaringly weird change to me was other people not being able to see Ryuk even if they touch the notebook. It doesn't really add anything; if anything, wouldn't it make Mia's desire to be the notekeeper stronger if she could see Ryuk? |
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AiddonValentine
Posts: 2204 |
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The thing about DN is looking back at it, I realized its structure has more to do with stuff like Detective Conan or Kindaichi Case Files but lacks the charm or flair of either one. In fact, most moments people remember from the series are the ones that are hilariously awkward due to how seriously the series takes itself. Monster, Pluto, and Billy Bat this series is not. |
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Dfens
Posts: 459 |
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So I stayed up late last night watching it and if you go into the movie and try to sit through it, not comparing it scene for scene to the source material then it's not a bad film.
But even though it was a ok film, I too like Jacob have no desire to watch it again. It's not a good film or a bad film instead it was a decent or ok film overall. If I never read the original manga or watched the anime would I have thought this movie was so mind blowing that I have to go and seek out more of the franchise or get others to check it out. Then to answer that question would be a glaring no. It had it's various cliches, campi-ness gore, and suspension of belief and serval plot hole moments to add it to the list of movies to watch and forget. As others have said it would have greatly benefited from having a mini-series format rather than being a hour and 40 minute film. Maybe if they had more time to properly flesh it out and fix some of it's problems it could have been not only a better film but even a bigger hit. Not once when I was I watching was I thinking in the back of my mind oh they white washed the charcters or any of the other controversy plaguing the film. But it lacked a lot of what made the original such a good series. In this version Light was not L's equal in terms of wits and intelligence, their was no cat and mouse game determing who will come out on top. Light didn't have the resolve like he did in the original to do what it takes to create the world that he thought was the right path. After watching this take on the franchise their was so many plot holes in the film, one coming to my mind at the very top Light trying to kill L. He didn't know his real name so he couldn't use the notebook just like the original that's a given but their was one chance of opportunity that came up and he didn't take it. The manga/anime version would have did it even if it meant he had to get his hands dirty. Their was other ways as well but the film was too stupid to explore them. Of course they had to end it with the possibility of sequel but at this point I don't think I could sit through another one. Maybe Japanese media will never become a mainstream hit at the movies and I'm perfectly ok with that. This film won't set the world on fire getting more franchises westernized but at least it wasn't so bad that it added another nail into the coffin. Last edited by Dfens on Sun Aug 27, 2017 5:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Kamagor
 Posts: 32 |
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I went in not really remembering a ton about Death Note. I remember moments, some general aspects of it, so I wasn't really going in to watch a faithful adaptation, but the movie doesn't work on its own either. The awful soundtrack, the terrible pacing and tone, the bad writing, how only L and Ryuk seem tolerable, and that entire ending sequence is a mess.
What I remember about Death Note was sharp and intense, a very striking show with a great style to it (I'm actually going back to rewatch it this week to try and properly remember it all). This movie just feels like a dull, half-assed, YA novel adaptation. It's definitely not the worst adaptation for anime/manga though. For all of it's many faults, it's structurally all here and it isn't trying to just straight up copy scenes from the original like with GITS (Though I'd watch GITS again over this) and it's not a travesty like DB Evolution. It's not good, it's like a low C to me, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, especially if they were a fan of the manga/anime. |
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SkerllyFC07
Posts: 108 |
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You mean that it´s bad that they change ratings in adaptations to appeal to a wide audience, because the original audience in the US won´t handle it? |
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revolutionotaku
Posts: 886 |
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How will it make it's $40 million budget back if it's only streaming on Netflix instead of being released in theaters?
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ninjamitsuki
 Posts: 590 Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology) |
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So... It's exactly what I feared.
None of the cat-and-mouse games that Death Note is actually about, just a generic "thriller". |
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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revolutionotaku: See my response in the second thread here.
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I like how you say this and then go on to explain myriad reasons why this film is actually bad... 
I was going to mention that, even if, like me, you don't give two sh*ts about the faithfulness of the adaptation, this movie is still actually pretty bad, but you did that in your own comment. Making me wonder how you think this film is "not a bad film" if not compared directly to the source material. Sure it was entertaining, but it was mostly entertaining because of its dumbness. |
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