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| Image Source: About.com |
Movie Title: Death Note
Actors: Tatsuya Fujiwara (Light), Kenichi
Matsuyama (L)
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
I
just finished watching Death Note and Oh My Shinigami(aka god of death)! Now, before I elaborate more, I should add a
little disclaimer: I haven’t read the manga or watched the anime. >_<
(Please, Death Note fans, I beg you not to write my name in any suspicious
notebooks you may find!) Initially, I
wasn’t interested in anything Death Note at all, but my students said,
“Teacher, you will like it. And do you
know Kenichi Matsuyama is in it?” Well,
once his name was uttered, how could I not watch the movie? (He is just sooo cute @_@ . . .ahem ::wiping
drool:: . . .back on track now) So
without further ado, here’s the review!
Story:
The story centers around Light Yagami, a law student who is disappointed
in the lack of effectiveness the law has in administering justice. One day he finds a mysterious notebook and is now able
to see a Shinigami (god of death). The
Shinigami, Ryuk, explains that if a name is written on the pages of the notebook that
person will die. And so starts a killing
spree of all the criminals who have escaped justice throughout the world. The police begin a hunt for the vigilante known
as ‘Kira’ lead by a brilliant, but odd detective, L. The death toll begins to rise as Light tries
to create a crime-free world. L proves
to be quite the opponent, however, as the chase intensifies.
Positives:
Characters – I actually started the movie
sort of liking Light and being creeped out by L and was surprised when those
feelings did a 180 in the
middle of the movie. (That’s what I get
for buying the Chinese edition of the movie and not reading the synopsis on
back) I ended up loving L’s quirky character
and I’m not just saying that because Matsuyama
is hot, I swear! ^_^ Both main
characters, Light and L, and the police chief were well-done, although I did
feel that Shiori (Light’s girlfriend) and Naomi Misora (fiancée of one of the
FBI agents) characters often felt more 2-dimensional than they should have been.
Storyline – I was constantly surprised
throughout the movie! The action was
well-paced, intense and at many places had me on the edge of my seat. The story was easy to
understand without having to read the manga or watch the anime. The movie also made a disturbing sort of sense and
at the end left you thinking what a dangerous and corrupting power it is to
decide who lives and dies.
Possible Pitfalls:
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| Which one looks like a serial killer to you? |
Details – In manga and anime you have lots
of chapters and episodes in which to establish characters and plots, but in
movies you only get two hours at most.
Because of that I felt Light’s fall into insanity was quite abrupt. He went from a law student craving justice to
a cold-hearted serial killer in a very short span of time. And this somewhat strained my suspension of
belief.
Spoilers Ahead!!! Please skip this section if you don’t want to
know a pivotal plot point!!
The kidnapping at the museum – I found this
scene really flat. For what should have
been an intensely emotional scene, I admit, I hardly felt the emotional punch
at all. Misora’s character felt wooden
and Shiori seemed way too relaxed with a gun to her head considering she’d been so upset by the
bus-hijacker. Their attitudes might make
sense if when Light writes a death scene the characters turn into puppets, but
still I wanted a powerful scene at the end of the movie and felt somewhat
cheated!
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| Matsuyama-san!! ::faint:: |
All in all, this is the perfect movie to watch on a free Saturday afternoon! The storyline was unique, most
of the acting was well done, the suspense was great, and the message of the
story was a good one: it is dangerous to have the power to decide who lives and
dies. (And the best part of the movie -
it has Kenichi Matsuyama!! Anymore need
be said??)
Final score is 4 out of 5 firecrackers:
Has anyone else seen Death Note? Did you like Matsuyama the story? Do you prefer the anime and/or manga? I’d love to hear your thoughts about the
movie!
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