By now I thought all the fire and media coverage of Netflix’s Death Note movie would have died down by now but looks like there are new logs on this bonfire. Mmm cozzzyy.
Well it’s been a a couple of months and I’m writing on this now because (insert life excuses here or I’ve been reading more manga and watching less anime) it’s about time.
I thought the movie was good. I’m not against the cast, setting, or anyone involved in the making of this movie. I really think it was a good adaption of Death Note. I have to admit it I did want it to be a series. Maybe another ambitious soul will rise to the challenge!
To address the big gripes with the film I will proclaim my following stances:
The anime is awesome.
The film is an adaptation of the anime as elements of the work are morphed and the story line modified and told in a different way. This is similar to the many versions of Peter Parker as Spider-man. Sometimes Peter is a teenager in high school and sometimes Peter is a college student attending Empire State University. In this adaption of Deathnote, the rise of Light’s judgement and cleansing happens in Seattle vs. Japan.
Does this make things better?
Well this depends on what one wants the film to accomplish. The founding idea of Otakify is to share anime with others who have not yet experienced this eccentric form of story telling. Does this movie get people to learn about or, better yet, watch Deathnote? I think so. I think as more movie adaptions are created the more people see anime and begin to discover it.
Does the movie represent the anime well?
Again, this depends on if you want the movie to be an exact recreation or an adaption inspired by the anime. This movie does not exactly follow the happenings in the anime but sometimes the anime leaves out parts from manga as well. To answer the above question: The movie is satisfactory in representation of anime. But! Does a good job as a stand alone Netflix movie production.
The following is what I think gives this movie a solid ground to stand on.
Plot lines items:
- The Deathnote and it’s mechanisms.
- The struggle and conflict between Light and L.
- Light’s test runs of the Deathnote and cleansing using it’s power.
- Some of Light’s inner conflict.
Characters included: Ryuk, L, Light, Misa, Light’s father.
The movie had these essentials which meets minimum requirements. But one must use these items carefully and not just throw them together and call it a movie.
For this undertaking to go further and meet satisfactory the project needed to be executed very carefully as to not come off as cheap or cheesy.
The cinematography’s look and feel reminded me of a combination BBC’s Sherlock and Back to the Future. Most specifically the grey tones and gloom-ish filters from Sherlock in combination with Back to the Future’s pans and slides. The shots we steady, smooth, and robust. The walking towards the camera scenes with L are some that come to mind right away.
Special effects and Ryuk. When I first heard of this I was thinking they will have their hands full executing Ryuk’s presentation and that they’d better put in the work or suffer tremendous wrath. I’d say that they did a good job. The character’s portrayal was polished and seams were tight. The CG was not noticeable if there even was any (I didn’t research, pure reaction and stream of consciousness baby).
So having not skimped on the filmography’s quality and their rendition of Ryuk I would have to say this movie did meet satisfactory representation and did a good job as a stand alone Netflix movie production.
I think that this work can Otakify and I hope to see more work like this in the future!
