The Netflix Death Note Movie
*Spoilers for both the film and anime/manga to come*
I know this film adaption was released in 2017, but I just got around to watching it today, after finally finishing the Death Note anime {which is great}. This is just a mess of my personal thoughts, opinions and views, so please don’t be offended if you actually enjoyed the movie.
Firstly, let’s talk about Light Turner. Why did they change his surname? Is “Yagami” too Japanese sounding? It’s a powerful-sounding name, and literally translates to “night god”. Anyways, his character seemed off, and was more unstable than anime Light {who I will simply refer to as “Yagami” from here on out}. The abundance of cursing {which was probably added to give “America vibes”} is out of place for Light, as well as his active pursuit of romance. Yagami usually kept his cool, and manipulated his fair share of females in attempts to achieve his goals. Also the first scene, when Light was filling out test answers in exchange for cash. This is something that Yagami, perfect model student that he was {before receiving the Death Note} would never be caught doing.
Next, Mia Sutton, who is supposedly Misa’s counterpart in the film. The only things these two characters share are romantic feelings for Light and having used a Death Note at some point. She’s a cheerleader. They could have at least tried to pay homage to Misa’s gothic-lolita style by making her as goth girl. Mia is almost in the way throughout the film’s plot, and I was actually happy when she died {that shot with all the flower petals was beautiful}. She also calls the Death Note “my f***ing notebook” an unnecessary amount of times, which is completely false. Light found the Death Note, and he’s its rightful owner until he says otherwise. In addition this, {I’m busting out all the essay transitions today} Mia can’t see Ryuk, in complete contradiction to the source material, and I fail to see how this benefits the story.
L. He was better than Light and Mia, but still far from perfect. He’s too sane, and doesn’t appear as removed from society as his anime counterpart. He’s also way too violent when he eats candy, spilling it everywhere. At least he kept his sweet-tooth, which is one of L’s defining character traits.
As it’s own story, I guess the Netflix Death Note movie was okay, and as their own character, Watari was certainly my favourite {he wasn’t old enough to feel like Watari}. Overall, the “American Highschool” setting was giving me weird Twilight saga vibes, especially the scenes in Light’s room. In the end it was a fine movie {I guess} which was VERY loosely based on an incredible story.