Netflix Death Note

[Chapinator_X]

I just watched it. I tried to think of it as its own story separate from the original, but even as a regular movie, I thought it was very stupid.

 

 

I'll give them credit in getting Ryuk down to a T. Williem Dafoe was having as much fun as possible playing him as calculating, mischievous, and along for a crazy ride, much like how he was with the series. I also enjoyed how L was during his calmer moments because Lakeith Stanfield did get his mannerisms down well in earlier parts of the film before Watari was killed. Additionally, I appreciate how well the lighting was in the film. A lot of the shadows and colors created a nice ambiance that is foreboding like the original yet colorful enough to breathe some life into the world.

 

Unfortunately, the rest of the film is really ridiculous. I'd be able to handle Light better if he wasn't a snotty brat 24/7. They didn't even try to make him subtle at all in his behavior and attitude. The only good thing about Yagami was the fact that he could blend in easily enough that you wouldn't have suspected him at first glance. Everything about Turner screams "guilty" as he blows his cover early on and barely even hides that his sanity has been slipping for quite some time as there isn't a moment when he isn't losing his cool on someone. I liked how they gave him more ambition about killing popular criminals you'd find on the news like foreign dictators and ISIS members, but it didn't help that he came up with the Kira moniker to place a name on the person doing the killings instead of the media placing a label on it because they were all heart attacks. But all they wanted in the film was bullshit and excess. They could've cut out the detention scene and the bullies, retain Turner being frustrated with his dad not finding his mom's killer, have Turner discover Ryuk and the book's powers from writing his mom's killer's name, and nothing of value would've been lost other than saving the money spent on Turner's sniveling and the CGI they put into the bully's decapitation.

 

He wrote his own warrant, which became clear when L found him and outed him. He only pretended for a second that he wasn't Kira, but he still lost his cool as quickly as possible. It felt like the moviemakers saw Yagami's freakout scene when Near caught him in the final episode and went with that as they way to have Turner act throughout the whole damn movie when it came to people blowing his cover and figuring him out. His only saving grace was that L was also written to be irrational and emotional, something that only happened in the series when he deduced that shinigami were possibly involved.

 

Misa was a bland, doormat in the original series, but Mia never had a pleasant moment on-screen. The best thing Mia did was make Turner more sympathetic by giving her Yagami's murderous powertrip traits, making Turner just Light in-name-only. In the process, it made Mia literally the only reason why Turner has the FBI breathing under his neck by killing the agents, baiting Turner's father into having Turner fall into L's bait-and-switch, and having Watari killed. And then there's how dense she was about openly acting like it'd be cool for them to kill Turner's dad, as if that'd make anything better. Mia was portrayed as a recklessly stupid ride-or-die chick for the Suicide Squad generation, and every new development with her train of thought was as dense as can be.

 

Some of the scenes got fucking terrible around the last half, starting with how they were able to place Watari under the Death Note by writing the name WATARI. AND IT WORKED! They could've wrote down the letter L, and it would've worked if the book was THAT lax. Watari wasn't his real name. He couldn't have changed his full name to the one word, especially if L's name was also a mystery. It took a whole loophole with Rem to discover Watari's true identity. This shouldn't have worked, but due to plot convenience, apparently, it was good enough to write just the name Watari to end his life. And then, there was L losing his shit, which not only ruined his character, but offered that cringy moment when L took the police car and shouted "Aaaaaaaaaaaaah" like Rambo while he's running over signs and shit along the way. And then, there was also a weird boner the film had for power ballads. Playing Chicago during that hilarious slo-mo scene of Turner and Mia falling off the ferris wheel. I burst out laughing as 80's era Chicago kicked into gear while Turner and Mia made their most embarrassing "OH SHIT" faces in free-fall. Or hearing the Celine Dion ballad "The Power of Love" that Air Supply previously had a version of while L is tearfully getting ready to write down Turner's name and Turner has a heart-to-heart with his flunky dad who wants to cover for his serial killer kid. How the fuck am I supposed to take the cliffhanger seriously if Ryuk is giggling while I can hear Air Supply shouting "AND YOU'RE MY LAAAAAADAAAAAAAAY!"

 

If there is a redeemable factor about the Netflix Death Note movie, it's that it showed us what happens if the people who wield the Death Note are stupid enough to get themselves implicated as fast as possible. In a way, it does it's film run time justice by showing how quickly the users would have their shit kicked in by the FBI if they were as reckless and dumb with its use as possible. I'm pretty sure I'm leaving out things I liked and disliked since it's been a short time since I finished the film. The main saving grace is that the movie is more of a ridiculous bad than a dull bad. I'm really hoping that there isn't a sequel made like they said there'd be, but Netflix is lax about cutting out it's shittier titles, and let Iron Fist ruin his own series and the Defenders crossover. It'd probably be made if the algorithm gives more incentive to fund another one with the viewing amounts instead of the ratings.

 

 

[naraku360]

 

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That. Was. Beautiful.