Death Note: L Muda o Mundo

This is movie is extremely average with nothing much in it. It's trying to use the success of Death Note to try to sell itself.

I had already read and heard reviews for this movie being horrible. So I had very very very low expectations in this one. But the problem is when you see L , you really start expecting something smart, something intelligent. And you get highly disappointed :-( If they had made this movie without the Death Note characters , it would have be a bad movie. But using the same characters is even worse, as you tend to expect them to do their regular bit. Believe me, when you see L on the screen, you will start thinking that he is upto something, or he will come out with something smart and surprising. But no .. nothing like that at all.

That is the reason why I gave it a 4. Unlike the earlier Death Notes :

* there is hardly a plot

* no brilliant moment at all in the movie

* it goes a little sentimental at times

* lines of L are very often useless

* there is no Ryuk

* there is no Light Yagami

* emotional side of L is seen as he gets along with 2 children

In fact, I am going to stop talking about this movie at all. I'd like to mention at this point , that Death Note 1 and 2 were simply awesome !!!

I'm sure everyone agrees that L was by far the more interesting character in the Death Note movies, thanks to a charmingly weird geek-cool performance from Kenichi Matsuyama, possibly channelling Johnny Depp. As such you can't blame the producers for giving him his own spin-off/sequel... only for making it so bad.

The problem, in a nutshell, is that the writers have missed the point on practically everything that made the Death Note films interesting. The intriguing mystical lore about the Death Notes and their keepers is all forgotten about, which is probably better than trying to contrive some re-entrance for them - except that it's replaced by a feeble pseudo-science deadly virus tale that even the cheesiest of direct-to-video American films would be ashamed of. The high level mind games that drove the plot of DN are almost entirely gone - L's opponents are a dim-witted bunch, and in their place is a countdown to destruction and an entirely unforgivable attempt at an action-packed finale. Ugh.

Worst of all, they decided that what L really needed was humanising - to whit, a back-story that reveals him to be part of an alphabetically codenamed secret organisation fighting crime under the stewardship of Watari, and a plot that leaves him taking care of two young children for most of the film. Matsuyama tries his best, and his presentation of L still manages to be simultaneously super-cool and super-cute, but there's only so much he can do with the ill-conceived storyline and juvenile scripting. There are some moments that do work, but they are in a minority. Worth seeing if you enjoyed the Death Note films, just to tie things up, but set your expectations for it several notches down.

I rate this a 7 because it is fine for kids and teens and good in many ways. It lacks the substantial weightiness that it's predecessors have. But, I enjoyed it and especially loved the Japanese fun/humorous moments too. I guess it was not the film I had hoped it would be after the first two Death Note films I saw, but I wasn't disappointed either. This fellow, L, is a very likable character and interesting every bit through. You can't help but root for him and the ending just steals my heart. What can I say except, if you want to get into a film, whether light of heavy, this is fine to watch... and good for young people too. It has an easy to follow story, but filling too.

L: Change the World is a spin-off from the Death Note movies, not the mangas. The mangas/anime are better than all the films. Death Note: Part 1 is a better film than L, but I enjoy the last the most. Death Note: Part 2 is all-over the place though.

Hideo Nakata was able to craft an intense and heart-pounding thriller, and Matsuyama Kenichi is just simply amazing as the almost heartless L, but we see more of him as a "human".

Basically, L: Change the World chronicles the last days of L, similar to what Passion of the Christ did to Jesus. Other than the amazing Kenichi, the young boy F is adorable and we see him become Near - who we never see - in the near future; hence the toy robot.

Overall, L: Change the World is a worthy spin-off to the shaky films and superior mangas/anime. Highly recommended!

First of all, I don't know why some people dis this movie- saying "This has nothing to do with Death Note". For the record, that's because it isn't supposed to have anything to do with Death Note.

I went to HMV last weekend and when I saw this movie, I had to buy it- I am a huge fan of L and seeing the title and cover I thought this would be a good watch. I was right.

From the beginning, I enjoyed this movie. I liked that the last days of L's life were spent solving a case,visiting Wammys and smiling?:D I also liked Near's appearance, and no offence but they weren't going to find a Thai boy with white hair. Near was very sweet and his liking for toys and genius ability showed during the course of the movie.

Maki was an interesting character, by the end I had started to like her, In the beginning I despised her to be honest.

I cried at the ending, it was very touching. Showing this was the end. L's final words were very moving and he actually smiled!

L fans will enjoy this movie a lot, I think.

All in all, this was a very good watch and I'm glad that I bought it.

8/10.