Film of the Week: Death Note (2017)

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that had a list of things I would have liked the American remake of Death Note include. Unfortunately, and to be fair, as expected, it didn’t capture hardly anything of the original. There are a few things it got right, but there were more it spectacularly got wrong.

The first thing the film had to include was the mental battle between Light and L. Instead, we received a physical one, a run through a city. In the anime, we were made to think who was good and who was bad – in the film, it was made clear who we should be rooting for, eliminating that iconic tense atmosphere that kept us firmly planted in our seats, wanting to watch another episode. Light and L’s intelligence were the epicentre of the anime, as they battled it out mentally. Light being a constant obstacle between L and the confirmation that the person who’s working with him is Kira. That constant intensity as you waited for someone to make a mistake. None of that was captured properly in the American remake.

Light and L’s intelligence were represented authentically with L coming to a quick conclusion as to who Kira is, and Light battles to keep himself hidden. However, it quickly spiralled out of control during the second act. The plot threw out all it had set up to allow an action set piece in, disturbing core essentials that people were expecting. Unfortunately, Light’s intelligence was the only thing they got right. He’s supposed to be cool, calm, collected, constantly active, and the defining moment that allowed us to see exactly who he is as a person was when he first saw the Shinigami. He wasn’t afraid, just took it in his stride, studied and learnt what it all meant and planned the future. In the film, he ran away, scared. He screamed for help. That was not Light.

L’s character stayed truer to the source material than any other character. His love of sweets, his genius intellect, his sitting position, and he bent stride – although at first glance it did appear to be standing perfectly straight.

Being an adaptation, it makes sense that there had to be a few changes and discards along the way, especially when making a 37-episode series into a 2-hour film. Misa’s Death Note and ability to see people’s names above their head was scrapped, but her crazy personality and insane love for Light remained – although dumbed down considerably to the point where it felt as if it was a romantic teen drama instead, which again completely ruins the overall atmosphere we all expected.

Ryuk’s appearance was constantly kept in shadow for some strange reason, only stepping into the light a handful of times – giving the impression the budget wouldn’t allow the animators to put in any details. However, William Defoe was the perfect choice for that character. His darkly growling voice captured the Shinigami’s personality flawlessly. That’s about the only thing they did get right – everything else was half of what it should have been.

In conclusion, the entire film felt as if it was a coming-of-age story with teen dramas and a little bit of mysticism. It failed to capture the essence, and the core of the show. It was dark, it was gory, it’s definitely not for children, but that’s about it. Whilst this could be considered a nitpick, I felt there were unnecessary swearing throughout. The anime didn’t need to litter the dialogue with swear words, because it explained everything cleanly and clearly – only using them when absolutely necessary to add emphasis to the situation, not what felt as if they were an automatic impulse.

There’s also talks for a possible sequel, but only if enough people watch it, but that’s the problem if they go by that alone. Plenty of people will see it because it’s an adaptation of Death Note, and so curiosity will take control, or because you’re a fan. I do hope they pay attention to the reviews and forego the sequel. If it follows on from this film, it’s not going to get any better. At least they tried, right?

Thanks for watching

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)