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REVIEW: Death Note (2017)


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Zeino



Joined: 19 May 2017
Posts: 1098
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:19 am Reply with quote
So it is basically Dragon Ball Evolution all over again.
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:22 am Reply with quote
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.
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championferret



Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 765
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:43 am Reply with quote
I'm gonna be real here - I got over Death Note about ten years ago but the more I hear about how hilariously bad this is the more I want to see it. If this adaptation was being praised by everyone, I'd have zero interest, because I have zero interest in the franchise these days.
But this sounds like a complete train-wreck that would be a riot to watch with some friends and make fun of. Reading this review makes it difficult to believe that it could have been made for any other purpose. Some people might be upset that the adaptation is as bad as it is but it's funny to me because it wouldn't have even blipped on my radar otherwise. Laughing

(does this mean the pre-release review that was on here before was just a load of advertising bull, then? It is, to date, the sole positive response I have seen to this, from anyone.)
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:47 am Reply with quote
championferret wrote:
(does this mean the pre-release review that was on here before was just a load of advertising bull, then? It is, to date, the sole positive response I have seen to this, from anyone.)


Simply a differing opinion. A concerningly optimistic differing opinion, but still, such is the way of different critics.
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Animeking1108



Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:52 am Reply with quote
Zeino wrote:
So it is basically Dragon Ball Evolution all over again.


No, "Dragonball Evolution" was "Battlefield Earth"-bad. This movie was "The Room"-bad.
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ChibiKangaroo



Joined: 01 Feb 2010
Posts: 2941
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:06 am Reply with quote
Although I generally agree that the movie had a lot of flaws (though I rated it more as a "B-" barely passable B movie), I do take issue with a couple points. First, I really don't think it is fair to say that one of Light's motivations for using the death note was getting laid. He does brag about the fact that he has the death note in order to get Mia's attention and affection, which ultimately leads to him getting laid, but there is never an indication that I can recall that he is using the death note for that purpose. He initially uses it because Ryuk sort of goads him into it. Then he uses it again for revenge. After that, he seems to be using it out of his own genuine belief in creating the new world, similar to Light from the source material.

Also, I don't really think the problem with this movie was a lack of humanity. If anything, it had too much humanity. It seems like the source material portrayed both Light and L as much more clinical, dispassionate, and utilitarian. Those two plus Ryuk and Misa were of course the major players, and out of the four of them Misa was the only one who seemed consistently human (both in her flaws and positive characteristics). In this movie, everyone is much more human - in particular, the movie does much more to humanize both Light and L. Even Ryuk is more engaged and personally invested this time around, (spoiler[at one point indicating that perhaps he could even be killed by the death note and threatening Light with death if he tries to write Ryuk's name in it]), whereas in the anime he was pretty ambivalent most of the time and was more of a passive observer. Mia's involvement seems all over the map this time around, and although I do like the idea of not making her into an easily manipulated airhead, she seems so capricious here that it comes across as a bit sloppy. However, it could be said that she is more the embodiment of human greed and ambition, even to a reckless extent, which makes her almost like a deeply flawed (humanized?) version of Light from the anime.
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MajinAkuma



Joined: 15 Aug 2014
Posts: 1199
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:22 am Reply with quote
Zeino wrote:
So it is basically Dragon Ball Evolution all over again.

Dragon Ball Evolution was so bad and they ignored Toriyama's inputs so hard, Toriyama started to care for his franchise again.
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Tenbyakugon



Joined: 11 Jan 2012
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Location: Ohio, United States
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:34 am Reply with quote
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.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:17 am Reply with quote
I'm glad it was different than the original. Why would I want to see the same story, but this time live action? I don't even watch animated compilation films (with a few exceptions), so I don't think a live action compilation film would be any more desirable, personally. If I wanted to revisit the original story, I'd just rewatch the anime.
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HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:46 am Reply with quote
I haven't seen the movie (and don't plan to), but this review makes me ponder an interesting question: If you're going to make major changes to the plot/characters ANYWAY, why not tell a DIFFERENT story. Or more to the point, why not ponder the question (considering Ryuk starts the whole thing out of "boredom") "Light can't be the ONLY time he ever gave a death note to a person, right?" ie. "Japan was fun, what about if I (Ryuk) gave it to someone in a bigger country like America". That seems like it'd make more sense.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 12:22 pm Reply with quote
MajinAkuma wrote:

Dragon Ball Evolution was so bad and they ignored Toriyama's inputs so hard, Toriyama started to care for his franchise again.


Enough to remember Tao Pai Pai?
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Animechic420



Joined: 25 Sep 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 12:32 pm Reply with quote
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
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
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Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 12:49 pm Reply with quote
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

In the case of this film in particular, I believe the issue is not so much that anime fans are resistant to appreciating it inasmuch as it is an adaptation—indeed, many such fans jumped at the opportunity to watch this as soon as they could—but that this film's writing decisions are so eyebrow-raising and indelible in their utter inanity that nobody can seriously enjoy it. Reading the live reactions yesterday was a thing of comedic beauty.
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Double Mangekyo



Joined: 17 Aug 2011
Posts: 179
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 1:32 pm Reply with quote
HeeroTX wrote:
I haven't seen the movie (and don't plan to), but this review makes me ponder an interesting question: If you're going to make major changes to the plot/characters ANYWAY, why not tell a DIFFERENT story. Or more to the point, why not ponder the question (considering Ryuk starts the whole thing out of "boredom") "Light can't be the ONLY time he ever gave a death note to a person, right?" ie. "Japan was fun, what about if I (Ryuk) gave it to someone in a bigger country like America". That seems like it'd make more sense.

This! So much this! I ask myself the same thing whenever the topic comes up.

Death Note especially could've worked anywhere. "God of death drops notebook -> human finds notebook -> human starts killing with notebook -> top-tier detective hunts human with notebook into a battle of wits."
If the movie wasn't trying to sell itself as an adaptation of a loved franchise, I guarantee it would not be generating this much hate. I would've welcomed a new iteration with a whole new cast of characters.
But instead we get "Hey fans, this character is L! And this character is Light! In America!".
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 1:53 pm Reply with quote
I don't usually pay much attention to music, but I'm glad others have been noting how terrible some of the music in this film is. The Ferris Wheel scene was especially bad. I was honestly grinning from ear-to-ear while simultaneously cringing throughout a lot of the movie. It was worse than I expected, but it was still entertaining in its badness.
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