A review written by Lee Sonogan

(2017) 1h40min / Fantasy, Mystery

L: [to Light] You’re the one who flew into the sun, I’m just here to make sure you burn!

An original Netflix movie. Based on the manga Death Note is one hell of a story. You can describe this movie as a student who discovers a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone begins a crusade against evil in order to rule the world as a benevolent human god. Then a deadly game of cat and mouse begins when a reclusive detective begins to track down the young man, attempting to end his reign of terror once and for all.

This is the first American adaptation of the story. Producer Roy Lee stated that the film is “Definitely for adults. It has a zero chance it will get below an R-rating,”. He also stated that it “Will be one of the first manga adaptations that feels very grounded but still has fantastical elements,”. Willem Dafoe’s Ryuk is the most anticipated character in the whole movie.

This is Willem Dafoe’s third comic-book feature after the Spider-Man films as the Green Goblin and the DC Universe films, Vulko. Ryuk eats apples because to Shinigami or death gods they are equivalent to cigarettes. Ryuk is absolutely addicted to eating them and he always appears relieved after consuming one in the anime. In the Shinigami realm, their apples are rotten and bitter, so Ryuk doesn’t usually have a chance to enjoy them.

The anime show is very different to this live adoption. Changes are its style its genre is more of an American teen horror movie theme. Light has more romance scenes than the darker stuff from the anime. The music is interesting but only fantasy electronic. Ryuk is more interesting than Light in this movie. The ending is not the same as the anime. It is a poor ending compared to the anime. I recommend the movie to fans of the original and people who want to compare it with the original.

5.7/10

Light Turner: It’s like you said, sometimes you gotta choose the lesser of the two evils.