Movie(s) Review : Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name

Though this review is of two movies based on the famous anime, I personally consider them to be a single, 4-hour long feature film. Since there is not much of a difference in the production values between both the movies, I thought it would be best to review them together. So here we go...

My first complaint with both the movies - Light looks like a 30 year old man going through mid-life crisis. I watched the trailer first and I thought to myself, "I am never going to watch this".

But I did and to be honest, the actor playing Light was actually very good. He really grew on me as the movie progressed and soon I forgot about how Light actually looked in the anime. In fact, the acting was very good in both films, with my favorite being Light's Father, Mr. Yagami. Even he doesn't look the one from the anime but he nails the role perfectly. 

That brings me to L, and this guy, I am telling you, was born to play L much like how Jackman was born to play Wolverine or Brosnan was to play 007. From the looks, the hunch, the walk, the sitting position, everything was perfect with this guy. Ryuku and Remu were both CG. The voice acting was good for both (I saw the original Japanese version with subs) but the animation looked far from real. Sometimes too cartoonish and plastic-y. That is my only complaint with the CG characters.

About 80% of the story was similar to the anime series but the remaining 20% was very different from the original. As a matter of fact, I actually liked what they've done with the live action versions in terms of the plot. They totally scrapped out Near, of which I am happy about (didn't like him in the original anyway). I would also like to add that this is how/where they should've ended the anime series without dragging it as much as they did. Would've been perfect!

In the end, if you are even remotely interested in the anime series or the manga, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't check these movies out.

Death Note - 7/10

Death Note 2 - 7.5/10