I've never personally thought that anime/manga works very well for adapting to live action, I can rarely think of any series that did an actual good job at it, most of them being either mediocre at best or plain bad. And, I really have to say, Netflix's Death Note falls into downward spirals of depression levels of being absolutely awful. I can honestly say that I have no idea who this movie was intended to be for, besides the hollywood executives who were trying to get some cash in their pockets.
Now, this is not just because they've radically changed pretty much everything from the source material (But, lets be real, it probably didn't help at all). I don't even believe myself that adaptations need to follow the source material 100 percent, because it's nice to see some deviations from it so we can explore something new. These changes should be meaningful and with a purpose in mind. People do not get upset and furious over such things, they get angry when the changes done diminish from by the changes.
Unfortunately, the people involved with this movie didn't understand this, and instead made stupid, pointless, and random changes which seemed like they were based on a whim. To be frank, this movie is just as bad, if not even slightly worse than the cancer that was Dragon Ball Evolution. Let that sink in for a moment before you continue reading, because you may not like to hear what I have to say.
So, lets start off by talking about what's different from the anime/manga. Which, is pretty much almost everything. Probably the most controversial change which was criticized even when the first trailers were released was the casting for the film as well as the location change, essentially "whitewashing" the whole thing.
I personally don't think this is one of the main issues, and is just a smaller one that stems from the overall greater problem. That problem being that apparently everyone involved in this film lacked any sense of creativity, or will to try something outside of the norm.
Besides the very start of the film, the idea's from Death Note are deviated from almost entirely in comparison to the manga/anime. Light Yagami is now Light Turner, a highschool student who stumbles upon the Death Note, which states that anyone who's name who'm he recognizes and is written into the book will die.
He finds the book because it's been dropped down onto the Earth by the shinigami, Ryuk. Ryuk may very well be the only good part of this film, since William Dafoe was probably the perfect casting choice for him. Sadly, we get to see a whopping 4-5 minutes of him throughout the movie.
In the manga and anime, Light tests the Death Note out by committing acts of mass murder on criminals by giving them heart attacks allowing them to die a mostly quick and non painful death. He announces that his goals are to wipe out the evil of the world and become the God of human kind.
The rules are repeated often times throughout the original source material, and are overall much more extensive than what is shown in the movie. They've quite honestly dumbed it down a lot, which in a way is understandable I suppose. Though it doesn't help it's case at all.
In the movie, it's quite different. Light finds it and is immediately visited by Ryuk who tells him of how the book works. And, instead of using it to test his morality and mass murder criminals, the first thing he does is use it to brutally decapitate a school bully who has been irritating and bothersome to a classmate. This movie definitely uses quite a bit of gore, especially in comparison to the source material.
It's shown again with when he writes down the name of the man who got away with murdering his mother, Skomal. In a way, it reminds me of the Final Destination series with how it uses it's methods of killing. But, instead of the controller being fate or the Grim reaper, it's a quite possibly mentally handicapped high schooler who shrieks like a 7 year old girl.
Shortly after, Light is persuaded to continue to murder more criminals by another character named Mia, who I would guess is supposed to be the film equivalent of Misa from the manga/anime. This brings me to probably the biggest and worst change of the film. The makers decided it would be a great idea to add a love arc between the two characters which essentially makes this movie into a rom-com with some gore thrown in. Light very quickly lets her in on the secret of the Death Note, literally almost within 5 minutes of talking to her because he has a crush on her. Yes, I am serious about that.
Another aspect from the source material that they've changed is L. The character is still included in a similar role to how he was in the manga, however he is not as calm and collected of a character as he was. He's honestly a more watered down and again dumbed down version of his anime equivalent.
The cat and mouse game between Light and L which was easily one of the best pieces from the original Death Note series, is basically all but destroyed by the changes they've made in L's character, the addition of Mia, as well as the changes to Lights father who happens to be the police chief of the city.
All of these things add up, and it just entirely reduces the quality of the film by leaps and bounds and basically buries it in a shallow grave. None of these changes from the source material have any real artistic value, nor do they do anything to create a theme in the film.
The film feels very vacant, very devoid of anything of value. The director and writers refused to take a chance with making the protagonist like he was in the manga, and instead leaned on a laughable romantic angle thinking that somehow this was the best way.
This movie is truly all over the place, at times it gets to be almost a black comedy, but then reels itself back. This gives a very uneven tone to the film, where you just cannot figure out what it was aiming for. The dialogue is cringe worthy at best throughout the film, and I feel that none of the actors could have possibly even known what this film was based on.
The way it was filmed and shot isn't even pleasing to look at thanks to some bad editing and more than likely reshoots. I'm honestly quite shocked that the man who directed The Guest and You're Next made this, because it is an abomination to say the very least.
I can honestly and fully say, I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT YOU WATCH THIS PIECE OF TRASH. I don't even believe people who aren't familiar with the source material could enjoy this movie, due to the misplaced tones, horrible script, bad acting, and half-assed cinematography. This is truly a depressing piece of film, and if you're like me, you might end up hating yourself for a day or two after wasting an hour and a half on this skid mark of a movie.
I will however, leave you with this. The only entertaining scene throughout the entire film. Enjoy.
