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REVIEW: Death Note (2017)


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Dfens



Joined: 08 Feb 2013
Posts: 459
PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 11:20 pm Reply with quote
Sorry if I wasn't clear I don't regret watching the film, but I have no desire to watch it ever again, and the likely hood if their is a sequel that I would watch it is really low.

I went into the film with low expectations and it didn't disappoint, based on the previews I saw before hand.

The film had all kinds of problems and if it was a short mini series might have stood a better chance of being a bigger success. But after sleeping on it and going over in my head the original source material vs this new film of course the film is going to be inferior. But I gave it a chance going in with a open mind before making my judgement call about it.

I'm not against taking a few liberties, like how the characters are American or that it doesn't take place in Japan etc. To me the biggest deal killers was that Light was not on par with L and that L was to emotional. Of course the whole plot holes on how Light several ways to defeat and kill L through out the film especially when he was handed a golden chance and didn't take it. That part really killed any hope the movie had left.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:38 pm Reply with quote
CatSword wrote:
This is a watered down version of Death Note. Which is insulting, because the original Death Note ran in a magazine for Japanese children, and yet this adaptation is rated as "TV-MA" on Netflix. American adults apparently couldn't handle the original Death Note and needed exploding heads and dumb fight scenes.


It's TV-MA because this was done by a team that normally makes horror films. I've read several reviews, and none of them say that it was watered down, but rather, fitted into the horror film template, meaning things are likely more violent than the source material.

I haven't seen this movie yet, but if people are comparing it to films like Final Destination, then I'd reckon this was written in an "enjoy the violent and creative deaths" kind of way.

Tenbyakugon wrote:
Anyone who had high expectations for this thing probably shouldn't have read the manga to begin with, at least with the current state of American cinema anyway.


Not sure what you mean by "current state of American cinema," particularly what they're doing that's less successful than cinema from other countries.

Animechic420 wrote:
Well, looks like there's no point in studios attempting to make a decent American adaptation of a popular anime since the fans will never like it no matter what they do. Neutral


The hardcore fans will always be the first ones to cry "RUINED FOREVER" (a phrase made memetic by the Transformers fans when Generation II came about). This site brings in the said hardcore, or at least close enough to it that they consider anime a part of themselves. The less dedicated fans, I guarantee, would've been a lot less critical, at least before the movie's release.

Well, there's also an age-related thing. I've been in fandoms where the average age is a lot higher, and while they are no kinder to poorly-made adaptations, they are a lot more accepting of them. One group I'm in is quite niche but its fans are willing to throw all their support over any mention of it in mainstream media regardless of how accurate it is.

jr240483 wrote:
hopefully this will finally get into their thick skulls and quit making live action adaptions sooner rather than later. its not worth it and its a complete waste of time , money & resources.


Not sure if you mean adaptations in general (of which case, there are so many examples that the IMDb Top 250 has more adaptations than original stories) or of anime and manga specifically (which requires time, as is what happened to comic book adaptations).

chaccide wrote:
Why remove the aspects of the story that made it classic and beloved by so many people? I'll never understand the Hollywood mentality.


While a lot of it can be chalked up to the writing and directing team not understanding the spirit of the original (which, in turn, is also largely due to how people get assigned to do projects rather than them picking their own), there is also the concept of the "thumbprint," which I learned during my brief time there is necessary to get into a position where you have any sort of control over your project. Executives in Hollywood tend not to think too highly of adaptations that slavishly adhere to the source material, as they interpret it as a sign of risk aversion and lack of your own creativity--in order to get promoted to a position of control, you have to put your own spin on it, a spin that turns out to be popular. After all, they hire you for your unique talents, not for someone else's.

Woomy wrote:
And then the angry weebs would just be complaining about how it's nothing like the series. I think it's safe to say looking at so many of the people complaining (and stubborn fanboys in general) that they honestly don't know what they want.

Best if creators drown them out and push forward with creative confidence because I can at least respect the creative integrity to stay true to a vision, even if I have issues with the result. And most anime fans I'm glad aren't in charge of these things because they wouldn't know good writing if it hit them in the face.


Though I can't say much about the Death Note fandom as, while I enjoyed the manga and the anime, I am not a part of it, I CAN say, based on other instances, that what the fandom wants, overall, is mutually exclusive between sections of the fandom. For the most part, they want it left alone, even if it isn't financially viable. For instance, Freedom Planet is a game made by Sonic the Hedgehog fans and heavily influenced by Sonic. Yet, the people Freedom Planet fans get along with the least, of all things, are Sonic fans, and that's because the Sonic fans immediately started calling it a "Sonic ripoff" while refusing to play it.

In other words, fans of something tend to be very, very defensive about it and are the ones quickest to deem things as competition, threats, or defacement of what they're fans of. Depending on what it is, it may be best to ignore what they say because they'll continue to buy your stuff even if they say they're unhappy with it (Sonic fans, Zelda fans, Star Trek fans, Taylor Swift fans, Simpsons fans). There are a few fandoms with the collective power to influence a franchise's popularity though, who DO stop buying if they're dissatisfied and whose fans make up enough of their audience that the creators have to listen to them (Street Fighter fans, Walking Dead fans, Bronies, Harry Potter fans, Ender's Game fans), but from my observations, those are the minority, at least among things popular enough to be mainstream or close to mainstream. (The NFL contains both: Colts fans are the former whereas Chargers fans are the latter.)
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LUNI_TUNZ



Joined: 28 Apr 2010
Posts: 809
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 9:28 pm Reply with quote
AiddonValentine wrote:
. 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.


I love how people were complaining that this movie is too over the top, while forgetting that goofy ass potato chip scene, and all the other goofy shit from the original anime.

I honestly thought this was a decent movie. i like Death Note, but the show was kind of up it's own ass in how "smart" it thought it was. Most of the cat and mouse games were characters pulling stuff from their asses, and going with it. The whole Mikami arc is probably the most circuitously absurd thing I've ever seen.

They at least attempt to make Light sympathetic in this one, as opposed to the anime where he kills a guy, then just decides he wants to be some sort of god. And Mia is a huge improvement over Misa, doing more in one 90 minute film, than Misa's done in the last several incarnations combined.
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Lynx Amali





PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 10:26 pm Reply with quote
I think my biggest issue with this movie is it has an identity crisis about a quarter of the way in. It can't decide on whether it wants to adapt the original story or tell its own. Even really interesting ideas that they brought up never get addressed again or are simply forgotten.spoiler[ The dynamic between Light and Ryuk in this version I really wish they did more with. Ryuk as a whole was severely underused actually. Forget L; Ryuk could've been the main rival to Light in this film.]

The pacing was also really bad to be honest. It felt like they had a 10/12 episode run of a TV show planned out but had to cram it into a single film. So much stuff was just glossed over which really hurt the characters in that regard.
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jrockfreak



Joined: 06 Sep 2013
Posts: 125
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:33 am Reply with quote
Zeino wrote:
So it is basically Dragon Ball Evolution all over again.


I actually found it easier to watch that DBZ Evolution
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jrockfreak



Joined: 06 Sep 2013
Posts: 125
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:35 am Reply with quote
While the movie was bad for some reason i sorta enjoyed it, I think because half way threw i stopped trying to take it serious and just kinda went along for the ride and i did rather enjoy L
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IG



Joined: 02 Oct 2015
Posts: 60
PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:25 am Reply with quote
[quote="Woomy"]
HeeroTX wrote:
Light can't be the ONLY time he ever gave a death note to a person, right?" ie.
Best if creators drown them out and push forward with creative confidence because I can at least respect the creative integrity to stay true to a vision, even if I have issues with the result. And most anime fans I'm glad aren't in charge of these things because they wouldn't know good writing if it hit them in the face.

I thought this adaptation was just ok. There are some things I can appreciate in this iteration, despite me also having issues. It's without a doubt flawed, but I didn't witness something so abysmal I was ready to get all pissy. And Death Note is one of my favorite anime series. I feel the author of this kind of didn't get the context behind some of the things this film tried to do.

Honestly, compared to the Japanese films, the only one better than this one is Death Note 2: The Last Name. That's probably the best this series is ever going to get in live action. The first Death Note film is poor with very detrimental pacing issues, the L spinoff unfortunately sucks (read the superior and different novelization), and the less said about the retarded fanfiction "Light Up The NEW World" the better.
Yah, I understand what you mean. The Death Note Japanese films are really not that good . People like them because they like the original . ( anime or manga) In reality, any other person wold think thoes movies are subpar or gooffy. Also to the point people don't understand Is that some things work because they are anime, and manga
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:13 am Reply with quote
IG wrote:
Yah, I understand what you mean. The Death Note Japanese films are really not that good . People like them because they like the original . ( anime or manga) In reality, any other person wold think thoes movies are subpar or gooffy. Also to the point people don't understand Is that some things work because they are anime, and manga


There are also some people who like them solely because they are Japanese, in a kind of reverse provincialism I find pretty odd. (Some anime fans say Hollywood should stop trying to adapt anime and manga, but the Japanese film industry isn't any better at it.)
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IG



Joined: 02 Oct 2015
Posts: 60
PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:55 am Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
IG wrote:
Yah, I understand what you mean. The Death Note Japanese films are really not that good . People like them because they like the original . ( anime or manga) In reality, any other person wold think thoes movies are subpar or gooffy. Also to the point people don't understand Is that some things work because they are anime, and manga


There are also some people who like them solely because they are Japanese, in a kind of reverse provincialism I find pretty odd. (Some anime fans say Hollywood should stop trying to adapt anime and manga, but the Japanese film industry isn't any better at it.)

Thats what get s me these people complain about America, but Japan is not that better either? The worst live action to me was Attack on Titan . That was entirely Japanese film, and it was still bad . ( Still ironically it was the highest gross in Japan s ?) America might look into remaking that one not saying /i would blame them.Anyway I think fans need to realize that it doesn't matter which country does adaption . You're going to have changed no matter what . There also going to be ups, and downs no matter what . Also this was not gear towards just the fans . It was gear towards a general audience.
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