(PHOTO PROVIDED VIA GOOGLE)
***WARNING: REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***
RELEASED: AUGUST 25, 2017
RUNNING TIME: 1 HOUR 41 MINUTES
RATED: TV-MA
DIRECTOR: Adam Wingard
WRITERS: Charley Parlapanides, Vlas Parapanides, Jeremy Slater, Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Oba
STARRING:
Nat Wolff as Light Turner
Lakeith Stanfield as L
Margaret Qualley as Mia Sutton
Shea Whigham as James Turner
Willem Dafoe as Ryuk
Netflix's Death Note has received heavy criticism since its debut back in August. The internet and Death Note fans alike have come together to give negative feedback and lash out against the film. They say that the film is a horrible representation of what the manga series was. I've seen some even say that the Netflix film is complete garbage.
After reading a lot of criticism of the film, I have seen that most issues with the movie come from the romance angle with the characters Light and Mia. I partially agree with that criticism but I felt it was an important element to how the story reached it's climax. The film was heavier on their romance than I expected. I feel that it could have been done differently. But before I go into my opinion, let me begin by saying that I was not a watcher of the anime.
With that said, I watched the first episode of the anime. I enjoyed it. We learn about the Death Note and see where Ryuk comes from. These are elements that I feel should be part of the before. I felt this before I watched the Netflix movie. But again, I only watched one episode. The feedback you are getting comes from someone who only knows the movie version at best.
The film touched on Ryuk coming out of the shadows of Light's bedroom when we meet him, unfortunately there is no exploration on where Ryuk comes from. After seeing this in the anime, I felt that this was a huge oversight by the film makers on not including it. I hate missed opportunities.
I would have loved for there to be more Ryuk. I feel that he was not in the movie as much as he should have been. Again back to the romance. Ryuk was sacrificed over seeing Light and Mia's budding relationship.
Maybe my biggest problem with Light and Mia's relationship was not the actual relationship. I feel that I didn't believe in the actors playing them. I found myself comparing the movie version of Light to the little bit that I came to know of Light after only one episode of the anime. Nat Wolff just was not believable as Light.
Willem Dafoe on the other hand is Ryuk. He was the perfect person to voice the character and they only element of the film I enjoyed. Thank you Willem for making Death Note somewhat watchable.
I give Death Note a 2 out of 5 stars and that's only because of the Willem Dafoe element. As a Netflix viewer, I have seen some pretty good films come from them. I was surprised that they put their name on this film. Please someone, remake Death note and remake it the right way. Again, this is from someone who has only seen one episode of the anime.
