Just when you think you know where the film's going to go, it changes direction, pulls the rug out from under you, and piles on the twists and surprises. It's a bit of an unwieldy premise, but in the hands of the filmmakers here it becomes a quite wonderful little thriller that's completely impossible to predict. It tells the unusual story of a notebook that has the power to kill anybody whose name is written in it.
The two films are halves of the same story and really have to be seen in unison to get the full picture. This film came out in 2006 and is in reality the first of a two parter, with the sequel entitled DEATH NOTE: THE LAST NAME. Throughout the film, I kept expecting him to whip out a yellow pepper and eat it, but unfortunately he did not!ĭEATH NOTE is an atypical, unusual comic book story from Japan, based on a popular manga that itself was turned into a long-running anime series. One final note is that the guy playing Light's father is Chairman Kaga from Iron Chef. In light of this, I really think this live-action film is good entertainment for all. And, my insane "sold my soul to anime" teen loved the film as well. My wife generally hates anime and loved the film. I am much more of a casual fan of the genre and enjoyed the film immensely. However, for the uninitiated, please try to suspend judgment-the film can be enjoyed by anyone-not just anime/manga fans. If you are already an anime/manga freak, then you probably will not be scared away by the odd plot line and story elements about the supernatural. As for the story itself, it's a pretty hard film to describe for Western audiences. But as for the rest of the film, it is true to the original-Light is an evil piggie and L looks and acts much like a cockroach (like in the anime). Early on, she's about as superfluous as a vestigial tail, but later she becomes an important part of the plot-you'll see. However, I advise you to relax and give the film a chance-I actually LOVED what they did with the lady in the film. In the anime and manga, there was no girlfriend and so my purist daughter complained loudly when she appeared in the film. They are both relatively similar, though the plot lines have been moved around a bit and a girlfriend was created for the main character, Light.
This is the live-action version of the TV anime series, DEATH NOTE.