Death Note

I dunno why some people think that the CGI of Ryuuk was bad... I thought it was excellent - realistic but not too out of place. It doesn't have physical fights and thrill (and if you've read the manga, you would know). The actor choices were pretty good - Tatsuya Fujiwara was, and still, well-known for his on-stage productions, and Kenichi Matsuyama's (from Nana fame - he was Shinichi, the bass player of the band 'Black Stones')L / Ryuuzaki was awesome! His every 'weird and strange' movements were exactly how I imagined the actual L would be ^-^ If I have to choose one thing negative about this film, it would be the character - Shiori. I have nothing against her, but then again, she was just some additional romance line that the director thought was a good idea. So in the end... if you're a fan of the DN manga, and you don't mind the directors changing the scenes abit, you should definitely give it a try!!

I saw the movie last night, and I thought it was very good. Repeating others, it would probably be better to read the manga a bit to see the changes, but the changes weren't that horrible. Some of the action is a bit wishy-washy(such as the heart attacks), but L was very good. The actor definitely captivated you as the character from the anime and movie. Raito was believable, but he didn't seem as genius as he did in the movie. The animation on Ryuk was also pretty sweet, only bad in one or two angles. I definitely can't wait to see "The Last Name". Already reading the ending, I think the director did a good job in changing some of the views and order of things.

Overall though, this movie is a must see!!!

Despite what some may say, this is as great as adaptation of the manga as one could ask for. The actors portray their characters perfectly. The calm menace of Light is portrayed perfectly, with a clear distinction between Light and "Kira" Light, which is impressive considering anime would allow stronger visual cues. L is an honest to god incarnation of his manga and anime counter part down to the smallest detail. Ryuk is also impressive, the CGI effects do him justice and his voice is much better then the one for the subbed anime which was horrendous.

Now obviously the plot needed to be condensed and changed but they did very well. All the important parts are there and the ending, which strays far from the manga, is actually even better then what actually happened in that instance in the story. It wasn't conveyed the complex story involving a genius highschool student who's use of a notebook that kills people that get's him involved in a proverbial chess match with the detective L, but they did a fine job. Misa, despite her short screen time, acted the part of Misa perfectly, down to the voice.

Fans of the manga should enjoy as long as they don't expect an exact replica of the manga, and fans of thrillers should enjoy this as well.

9.5/10

I admit it I'm a Death Note fanboy, the anime was a masterpiece and truly one of the most intelligent well written pieces of television ever made.

The American adaptation was a travesty, an embarrassment of colossal proportions which missed the entire point of the series and I was concerned about the Japanese version purely because I can't imagine telling that epic a story in 90 minutes.

Immediately I was taken by the solid casting, this was Light and L was sheer unadulterated perfection and a stark contrast to the American version who was the weakest link of the entire film.

The movie is a compact version of the first half of the anime with some slight differences/tweaks near the end which actually change the story quite a bit. Honestly I didn't mind as they were done so well as was the rest of the film.

So where does it go wrong? Well it doesn't really, but be aware this is part 1. Even I didn't realise that and will be shortly venturing into the finale. I always hate movies which aren't self contained and without part 2 this is merely part of a story.

The final moment of this however was outstandingly done 10/10.

If you like the anime I recommend this, yes it's essentially the same story but a valid adaptation that deserves your time.

Well written, fantastically acted, a near masterpiece.

The Good:

It's Death Note

Very well made, written and filmed

Extremely well cast

The Bad:

Red Hot Chilli Peppers was the weirdest choice for a credits song

Ryuk sfx are really quite weak

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If a person has a gun to their head, point a gun at them as well that'll show em!

The US had no excuse for not making a decent Death Note movie

Though the message of the film is to imply that absolute power corrupts, 'Deathnote', is a film that failed to impress me. Yes, I have seen the sequel too and I understand why it appeals to the young generation (the reasons are obvious). We see that the 'hero', Light, initially intended to use the deathnote in order to rid the world of criminals … but one thing leads to another and he becomes obsessed with power. A good premise indeed. However, there are some silly twists and several plot holes and the pace is extremely slow. Situations just become a little too unbelievable. It almost becomes another clichéd Japanese Teen-Horror film. The special effects make the Death god look fake and even some of their actions are unexplained (as are so many things in the film). I'd also like to warn that the film's ending is inconclusive (as it's continued in the second film), so if you still want to know what happens, there's the sequel.