I'd be blunt: I was disappointed.
If you wish to carry Death Note in your title, you should at least carry on or live to the standards set by the prequels. My main and constant distraction is the characters. The interesting stories behind L and Kira were all gone. Instead, we were shoved with uninteresting characters that are a disgrace to their source material. Take for example Ryuzaki. He was my favorite character in the Manga and in the movies. I've always praised K'enichi Matsuyama's portrayal of L in the prequels. It was like, he was born to play L. And here comes Ryuzaki in this film who was a trying-hard L. He looked like a thug auditioning for a scientist role. And it was painful to watch him do all those L-like acts that are so not him. He was a constant distraction which made the overall watching experience a disaster. Even "Neo Kira" wooh! was really a bore. Kira may not be the best role model for kids, but hey, we're not kids. So where's the fun you ask? None really. The entire movie was a letdown. Not even the cat-mouse play of L and Kira helped.
The story was also a mess. The explanation of Neo Kira wasn't so clear to me. I really didn't understand everything can someone just please explain to me how Neo Kira came to be...well, it would be a spoiler if you haven't watched it yet, came to be the person revealed to be Neo Kira. Which brings me, there was a first Neo Kira. Wooh, I'll stop here or I'll be commenting on how his all-white formal attire with a one-sided hairdo kinda ruined the Kira image for me. And the ending!!!! Wow, I thought I've seen the worst..the ending would cement my not-so-enjoyable experience actually.
The production values here are fine. But its Death Note we're talking about here. We loved the Manga, the story, the characters. Even the shinigamis. Sad to say, this one's not Death Note.
If you wish to carry Death Note in your title, you should at least carry on or live to the standards set by the prequels. My main and constant distraction is the characters. The interesting stories behind L and Kira were all gone. Instead, we were shoved with uninteresting characters that are a disgrace to their source material. Take for example Ryuzaki. He was my favorite character in the Manga and in the movies. I've always praised K'enichi Matsuyama's portrayal of L in the prequels. It was like, he was born to play L. And here comes Ryuzaki in this film who was a trying-hard L. He looked like a thug auditioning for a scientist role. And it was painful to watch him do all those L-like acts that are so not him. He was a constant distraction which made the overall watching experience a disaster. Even "Neo Kira" wooh! was really a bore. Kira may not be the best role model for kids, but hey, we're not kids. So where's the fun you ask? None really. The entire movie was a letdown. Not even the cat-mouse play of L and Kira helped.
The story was also a mess. The explanation of Neo Kira wasn't so clear to me. I really didn't understand everything can someone just please explain to me how Neo Kira came to be...well, it would be a spoiler if you haven't watched it yet, came to be the person revealed to be Neo Kira. Which brings me, there was a first Neo Kira. Wooh, I'll stop here or I'll be commenting on how his all-white formal attire with a one-sided hairdo kinda ruined the Kira image for me. And the ending!!!! Wow, I thought I've seen the worst..the ending would cement my not-so-enjoyable experience actually.
The production values here are fine. But its Death Note we're talking about here. We loved the Manga, the story, the characters. Even the shinigamis. Sad to say, this one's not Death Note.