For those of you following my twitter, Yes I am that interesting. You all would’ve noticed by now, that I have been watching the Death Note movies. Now having heard about the anime, from pretty much every single human being on the goddamn planet, I decided to take a peek at it. But when I saw that Death Note had a live-action movie, I had to sink my teeth in. Now originally I was confused as to why Warner Brothers was funding the movie, I thought it would’ve been a Hollywood – bang-bang, I have yo money. – But it was actually a Japanese production house who was responsible for the entire show.
Death Note (デスノート Desu Nōto?) is a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the “Death Note”, dropped on Earth by a shinigami (a god of death) named Ryuk. The Death Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose name and face they know, by writing the name in the notebook while picturing their face. The series centers around Light’s attempt to create and rule a world “cleansed of evil” as “God” using the notebook, and the efforts of a detective known as L to stop him.
The casting on this movie was ridiculously amazing. I never thought that the casting would’ve been so well done. Ever character looked exactly as they would’ve. The casting of Light and L was brilliant to say the least. The actors, Tatsuya Fujiwara and Kenichi Matsuyama, did an absolute god-like job with respect to their roles. You felt Light’s “Call For Justice” and you saw L ambition. The supporting characters were all well done. Much props the Takeshi Kaga who played Light’s father, he did a great job. The girls, Erika Toda and Hikari Mitsushima, I must admit were better than I thought. Upon seeing them it didn’t register in my brain, until their turn came to act. Although there were little hiccups from the Anime/Manga which didn’t translate to the movie. The voices of Ryuk and Rem was well done. I liked the quality they brought to the movie.
Animation
The animation of Ryuk and Rem was indeed quite a view. I must admit, I felt as though both Ryuk and Rem were real people. As Ryuk truly blended in with the environment. However Rem was not given the same treatment. While with Ryuk you had to look for the pieces of him that were animated, you could plainly see the animation throughout Rem’s Animation.
Acting
As I stated in the casting portion. The acting was amazing, even the extras acted brilliantly. All of the parts of the movie that the actors had to die in, they had all acted better than I expected. For extras the parts were well done.
Music
Fuck You Warner Brothers. Where Was Maximum The Hormone’s Zetsubou Billy? Which was originally chosen as the theme song for the Death Note Anime? Why was Red Hot Chilli Peppers‘ Dani California used? Don’t get me wrong, RHCP is an amazing band, and I am a big fan. But this is a live-action ANIME Movie.
Plot/Story
Mostly like the Anime and Manga. Of course they left out things. They really couldn’t pack over 10 hours of anime into a single movie. They took as much as they could. Although I felt as though they could have included more time between Ryuk and Light. Although, in retrospect, by the time you watched the second part you would’ve felt much better with the scenes you got in the first movie.
Final Thoughts.
A brilliantly done movie. And This production house should win awards in all categories. I am aware that this movie was done many years ago, but I believe it can still stand hardcore with the recent films. I would recommend this movie to any one. It was easy to follow even though it had a deep, psychological essence.
Via thehaphazard
