REVIEW: Death Note Film

Death Note (film)

Directed by Shūsuke Kaneko

Released in Japan 2006

Death Note (film)

·         The film notably takes more detail in the reactions of the public compared to the manga, as the film opens with the death of criminals and commentary by the populous on what they think of Kira. There is even a fan page on the internet to Kira to which a noted number of forum messengers encourage Kira to continue killing criminals.

·         The film notably abridges the pacing of the manga, as the detail to which Light took precautions in the burning of the Death Note is notably missing.

·         Light notably acts smug and not content with the justice system, letting Shiori, Light’s girlfriend, know the detail to which he hates the current Japanese justice system. This notably makes him more of a suspect to being Kira should common sense be applied. In fact, Light supports Kira. This questionably would have made him a prime suspect.

·         L uses a Mac book Pro in his introduction.

·         Ryuk looks too much like a CGI effect in the film, contrasting with the live action.

·         They added a scene where Light lost his faith in the justice system before picking up the Death Note. They also excluded him saving a girl from a punk by getting the punk hit by a bus.

·         They switched some of the ethnicities in the film, as with the fake L being a Caucasian person rather than a Japanese person.

·         It is noted that things float in the air when Ryuk is holding them from the real world, as normal people can’t see Death gods.

·         The hair colors of the characters are noted to be natural brown black in the live action, as opposed to the distinctive blond or off setting colors key to manga.

·         Ryuk notably acts like a trickster in the film, opposed to his more collective introduction to the series in the manga.

·         The voice actors of the dubbed film are from the animated dub.

·         The FBI agent was targeting Light specifically in his introduction as opposed to being there to search for Kira. This deviates from the manga and suggests that Light was acting suspiciously to begin with.

·         Ryuk is the only seen Death God in the film, as the dimension to where the Death gods come from isn’t included in the film.

·         Ryuk didn’t tell light that he would write his name down as the last victim of the Death Note as with the manga, making him more of an ambiguous character.

·         Light doesn’t monologue/ tell Ryuk he’d prefer not to kill his father like in the manga, suggesting this version of Light is not above patricide in order to keep his sense of justice.

·         They take an entire page worth of Death Note for each death, which is not only lacking efficiency but also inaccurate to how Light killed people in the manga.

Bibliography

Death Note. Dir. Shūsuke Kaneko. Viz Pictures, 2006. Film.