Obligatory Death Note Thoughts
On Friday, Netflix cursed us with something we’ve all been dreading, Death Note. Since it has been announced, the collective fan-base has feared the approaching American movie adaptation. I took it upon myself to watch this train wreck and report back to everybody if the movie was worth it or not.
Here are my thoughts: it’s bad.
I’m very familiar with Death Note. More so than I want to admit that I am. I’ve survived 2009 anime conventions. I’ve heard “Danny Califronia” reverberating through a convention hall because con staff was showing one of the Japanese live actions. I’ve seen people cosplay the actual Death Note. Shit, I witnessed my friend cosplay Misa with clothes that were in her closet at the time. My point is I’m very familiar with not only the series, but also the fan-base.
As somebody who watched the series, I found myself thinking about if this movie was bad simply on the principal of being poorly written, and almost cringeworthy, or if I thought it was bad because I no longer felt a connection to the source material.
Netflix
When I was 15, my sense of justice was a lot more black and white. If you did something bad, you sucked. Light follows a very similar ideology. Now, as a 22 year old, I take into consideration a lot of things. Of course, my sense of justice is still considered “social justice warrior”-like to a lot of conservative people, but I can tell you that not everything is so apparent as I once thought. Of course, that’s a part of growing up, but back to the bullshit that is this movie.
What makes Light so appealing in the original source material is that he’s average. Of course he’s smart, handsome, and whatever, but in his core moral beliefs, he’s normal. Netflix Light, despite refusing to write in the book originally, quickly uses it on a petty bully, and then instantly jumps to his mother’s murderer. I watched the original series eight years ago, so forgive me if I’m remembering incorrectly but isn’t a big part of creating Light’s god complex is that he slowly realizes his capability over time? With each experience he becomes more cunning and daring. Maybe it’s the pacing that threw me off, but I feel like while original Light’s moral descent was gradual, Netflix Light’s was there since day one and that he was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
A big complaint I also have is that Misa’s story is completely torn to shreds. I’ve always been one to love female characters even if they barely have a personality, but original Misa had a charm about her. Of course she was in love with Light, but she was hard working and loyal and desperately needed to feel wanted, which I resonated with. Mia (Margaret Qualley), the Netflix Misa, did not have a Death Note and wasn’t an idol, but she was a cheerleader that smoked, and she was really into Light for no reason. Taking away Misa’s Death Note felt wrong, it gave a powerless girl power and a freedom she did not have, and in the final moments of Netflix Death Note Mia dies due to her want for the book itself. Mia’s relationship with Light in this movie is a dependency instead of a manipulative partnership. Both suck, but at least Misa had her own cool moments in the original material.
I’ll give the movie this, Lakeith Stanfield, L’s actor, was incredibly convincing. His abrupt movements, his mannerisms, his all around acting made the movie sort of worth it in the long run. Even the interpretation of Watari was pretty cool. It was a shame that the Kira Task Force was also so much smaller and less prominent, but the “good guys” were ok in my book. Also, it felt weird that Ryuk (Willem Dafoe) was barely in it. Ryuk is Light’s original guide, and Ryuk definitely had a big roll in Light’s corruption. In the movie, he was barely there, casually throwing apple cores around, kind of being a dick. Willem Dafoe did an excellent job with his voice acting, however.
Overall, Death Note feels like a sixteen-year-old boy watched the anime and then proceeded to write it over again in order to make it more “cool”. The movie is not worth your time, and in the span of an hour and forty minutes, you could watch a little under five episodes of the original anime. If you push through a little bit longer, you’ll reach the potato chip scene in episode eight, and by this point, might as well finish the whole series. God knows we all haven’t experienced this series since 2009. What I’m saying is, just watch the original anime or read the manga instead and don’t waste your time on Death Note.
