If anyone were to ask me to recommend an ‘intelligent anime’, Death Note would be my first choice. The original manga & anime took the world by storm when they first came out, proving that you don’t always need action to make a story interesting. The anime was so smart, it would probably garner the attention of Sherlock Holmes, if he were real. With so many twists and turns, it kept the audiences at the edge of their seats, wondering what would happen next. As is the case with popular anime such as this, it was inevitable that it would get the Hollywood treatment, eventually.
Historically speaking, the number of successful anime-turned-live-action-movies in the past could arguably be counted on one hand. There are certain elements one must consider when adapting something such as this, whose origins lie in the roots of it’s creator’s culture. Which is why when one thinks of films adapting such, movies like Dragon Ball: Evolution & The Last Airbender come to mind. Two terrible movies, based on two amazingly awesome anime.
But surely some good must’ve come out of it right ? Well, yes. There are elements that try to pay homage to the anime, with Ryuk being the best. Willem Dafoe gives his absolute best as the death-god, and it shows. While the special effects used to bring the character to life are just fine, it is his intensity that brings the character to life. You really do feel intimidated whenever he’s on screen. Unfortunately he’s not there for most of it, and you really start to miss him since the other characters don’t really have the cinematic finesse to get you invested in them.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about the characters. There’s a lot to be said about Light (played by Nat Wolff). Being the lead protagonist, the amount of change that has been made to the character and his motivations in astounding. In the anime, Light Yagami is a genius. He has backup plans for his backup plans, and has clear, rational motivations for what he does & how he does it. However, in the movie, we get Light Turner (go figure), a sorta-kinda smart person who makes dumb choices. Twenty minutes into the film and he divulges the secret of the Death Note to his crush Mia. Yes, let that sink in. Not only have the character arcs for these characters been completely changed, they don’t make sense for the story the makers are trying to tell.
L (played by Lakeith Stanfield) is perhaps the most accurate depiction of the character in the film, & I say that because everyone else is just too different in order to be compared with their manga counterparts. Being the weird but intelligent detective, L is a fun presence, one who gives Light something to fight against. While the casting decision for the character may have stirred up some controversy, Stanfield delivers his best. It is in the second half however that his character takes a hit. L is supposed to be a calm person, one who would not lose his temper even when the situation around him has gone haywire. While he manages to present himself in said manner for the most part, by the time the third act of the film rolls, he is reduced to a shadow of what the original character is supposed to be : Not acting on impulse. Seriously, we get a chase sequence involving him and Light. Something which would never have happened they gave the characters the right treatment.
All in all, Death Note serves as yet another example of what happens when anime is is experimented upon to be westernized. While it isn’t as terrible as the abomination that was Dragon Ball Evolution, it doesn’t even come close to the masterpiece that the anime was. Bar that, it isn’t even a competent film on its own, and that is why you should probably skip this one (unless you’re ready to not take it as seriously as it was supposed to be).