|
|
 MangaLife Spotlight On: The (First) Live-Action Death Note Movie
Written by Barb Lien-Cooper
If this was a review instead of a spotlight feature, I think I might give Death Note The (first) Live-Action Movie a B, but don't take the relatively low grade for this version of the classic manga Death Note as some sort of indication that I'm not a fan of the series. I am. My husband and I think that the Death Note the manga is about as fine a mind messer-upper as you're going to find out on the market. I say that because the last thing I'd want is to have some of my brother and sister Death Note fans to write MY name down in their faux-Death Notebooks, for Pity's sake.
Actually, Death Note makes a really pretty good live action film. Honestly it does. Only, it pales in comparison to its incredible sequel Death Note: The Last Name. I hear that you can skip the last installment, Death Note 3. I'm telling you, though, that The Last Name is The Bride of Frankenstein or Godfather II of manga to live action movies. To wit, a rare sequel that is about 1000 times better than the first one, even though the first one has worth. I cannot say enough good things about Death Note II, even though a couple of reviewers on Netflix would probably disagree with me (and if you do, just remember, it's just one person's opinion). What I love about the sequel: it takes the whole second half of the manga and rewrites it into two hours surprises and suspense. To me, the sequel is thoroughly yummy. So getting a review copy of Death Note I in the mails, therefore, is like playing Final Fantasy VII after playing its sequels. It's still fun, but you know that the best is yet to be.
For those of you living in bio domes or only reading American comics (the only two acceptable reasons why the comics reading world has for not knowing the plot of Death Note), Death Note concerns a college student named Light Yagami. Light, at first glance, is the perfect guy. He's studying law, he plays a heck of a game of basketball, he's got a killer smile, and seems to be the perfect son, brother, and boyfriend. But Light's got a secret. The truth is, he's an arrogant, pride-filled, cold-hearted dude with a bit of an unfulfilled God complex. Until the Death Notebook drops out of the sky one rainy evening, that is.
A Death Notebook is just what it seems to be. The owner writes the name of his victim down in it and the victim dies. Oh, there are plenty of rules concerning the hows and whys of how to use the notebook, but that's it in a nutshell. The notebook belongs to a God of Death named Ryuk, a ten or eleven foot mofo who looks like The Joker with rabies. Ryuk is an easily bored immortal whose idea of fun is seeing what Light's gonna do with his new godlike powers over death. At first, Light, acting not unlike Batman, in a weird way, decides to use the Death Notebook to kill criminals who slip through the cracks of the justice system. As the mysterious "Kira" as his alias, Light becomes an internet sensation. Half the world thinks he's the Messiah come to save the world, half thinks he's as bad as the criminals he kills. And you can see both points of view. The crime rates do go down big time, for instance. But there's something in Light's eyes that tells you that he doesn't want so much to save the world as to subjugate it.
Naturally, the police would like to track down Kira. A special task force headed by Light's own father (if you're a Death Note fan, you soon become well used to such wild coincidences) starts trying to track down a killer that they're not even sure exists. Enter L., one of the weirdest, wisest, best looking, and just plain odd sons of Sherlock Holmes you're ever going to meet. L. is like a teenaged, skinny as a rail version of Columbo except with a serious sweets habit. He's also hilarious, compelling, and just plain fascinating. One of the saddest things about the otherwise well done Death Note anime is that neither the English language version nor the Japanese version quite captures what a kook L. really is. One of the great joys of Death Note the movies is that actor Kenichi Matsuyama makes a heck of a good L., even down to that weird cat-like way L. jumps onto furniture.
The two movies become a grudge match between L. and Kira. To say more would be too much of a spoiler.
The best thing about Death Note I is the acting. Tatsuya Fujiwara brings incredible charm but also a certain necessary glassy eyed malice to Light. One of the most fun things to watch for in the first film is the exact moment when you finally stop sympathizing with Light and start wondering if he isn't just a little, you know, insane. It's a tricky thing to pull off as a feat of acting and the impish Fujiwara does it well.
I also liked how Viz films managed to shoe-horn series lovely Misa Misa into the first Death Note. Um, I saw this film way before the manga was even out in the USA and I don't remember her in it (not that I'm complaining!). So either my memory is poor or these scenes were added later. Either way, while Erica Toda doesn't look all that much like Misa Amane, she ACTS just like her, which is what really counts for us Misa fans.
So why the lowish grade?
Really, it's just that the film is just a little too slow in some places, and a bit too improbable even for a sometimes far fetched manga like Death Note in others. So, as much as my heart wants to say B PLUS, I'm sticking with my B. Did I mention that I adore Death Note II? Honest and for true I do!
Death Note I is either for people who love Death Note so much that they want to see it done up right live action wise OR for geeks who can't stand anime or manga but have been bugged by their manga/anime loving friends into at least trying out the movie before making with the unfair manga/anime putdowns. If you're in either of those categories, I can heartily recommend the film. For everyone else, read the source manga first. You'll get more of a buzz out of that way.
Because, you know, finally getting to see a CGI'ed Shinigami with sharp fangs as big as your hands chomping into an apple and making with that sickening "Ryuk, Ryuk" laugh as he mocks humanity... well, it might be an acquired taste to some. But it's definitely one I have, thanks to the Death Note.
: :
|
30 August 2010
MangaLife: On Culture
Share 25 August 2010
Words of Truth and Wisdom: I Put A Spell On You
Share 11 August 2010
Words of Truth and Wisdom: Filters
Share 6 August 2010
Maybe You're Not Using It Right :On Japanese Load Words
Share
|
