The way death note ended gives lot of questions to us viewers just what happen to the world after? Given that death note still exist. This film tries to answer that question as 6 death notes spread around the world; it also clarifies some rules and expands it more which only makes it more interesting for possible sequels in the future. Also, the film did a nice job of portraying the post death note world as how we imagine it, death note used as a tool for terrorism and the idea of death note as the key for world order. Although even with interesting setting, fans of death note would be a bit disappointed here as it lacks the brain power of the original, nothing new as plot twist and tricks were all familiar, the execution was right but sometimes innovation is needed.
Although the movie's substance is a bit of a disappointment what it excels at is its stunning visuals it's so good, it's directed by Shinsuke Sato in the first place, the guy who directed Gantz and I am hero so you know what to expect if you watched those, the camera shots were awesome and the films atmosphere too, and also THE CGI WAS TOP NOTCHED RYUK here is miles better than the original.
Imagining death note without Light and L would be hard but at least their presence was felt from video recordings of them throughout the movie which IMO was a brilliant idea. As for the rivalry, it is now played by Ryuzaki and Shien which was subpar compared to the original but please do yourself a favor "DO NO WATCH THIS FILM WITHOUT WATCHING THE 3 PART MINI SERIES" this will make you connect with them and understand their motivation better. The acting from 3 main actors was excellent even higashide which at first I thought would be subpar compared to ikematsu and suda.
Got the same feeling from watching Crows Explode, just replicates the awesomeness of the original but offers nothing new. Felt a bit of cash grab. Felt a bit disappointed especially that actors played their characters well.
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This review may contain spoilers
I have to say that DN had a special place in my heart. In which later on the manga took a turn into the direction I'm not fond off. But thankfully, the anime... as well as the Japanese live-action movies did well on the plot and adaptation.The movie was fun... and interesting. I love the returning characters; I mean, we can't have daddy Yagami back... but I love seeing the return of Matsuda Touta, played by Aoyama Sota-san, Amane Misa, played by Toda Erika... and of course, Yagami Raito, played by Fujiwara Tatsuya. Even if it turned out as a recorded video. Oh! Let's not forget Ryuuku too. The new casts were also amazing. Been a while since I last watched any of Sudacchi's recent dramas or movies so it surprised me to hear how his voice had grown deeper~ the new shinigami was also damn cool, tho I somewhat feel like they did appear briefly in the manga. Cos I somewhat feel that Arma was familiar... and if I'm not wrong, Rem can no longer exist. Tho I missed her too. Arma's fate paralleled Rem in a sense.
Another thing that I like about the movie was how it gets back to mirroring the events back when L and Raito were still alive. The neo-Kira was almost similar to Raito... no, he did end up doing exactly the same thing as Raito have. And that was so satisfying. The plot twist was satisfying. The movie might have ended vaguely... aka the search for Kira's successor continuing; but even then by that point it was clear that the only Death Note holder that came close to being similar to Kira was 'that person'. Ryukku did seem to imply it, after all. So far, 'he' was the only one Ryukku told about the true reasoning of the search for Kira's successor. Though he probably wouldn't have liked to take the throne of the Underworld.
I love the movie, it's been a while since I've looked forward to new DN stuff.
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There isn't a real reason to not watching it as soon as the subbed version has come out.
Death note is a milestone of the live action adaptations in Japan. It looks like everyone wants to rewrite its story, trying to make it better or maybe just trying to come up with a good plot for a sequel.
This movie had a great potential for its plot, with a well-known director and with a pretty high budget.
But its plot has some really bad holes that I tried so hard to not get influenced by them while writing down this review.
First thing first, let's write a little list of good reasons to watch this movie:
- Masaki's great performance.
- The chemistry between Ryuk and Shien.
- Good cinematography
-Arma's relationship with Ryuuzaki.
PLOT
Full of cliques from any kind of American thriller and action movie.
Set in the Death Note's universe, the world has to face another Kira's menace. 6 death notes were dropped by the Death King to the world and now all common human beings are using them to achieve something for their own good. But the police now is well prepared to fight a new kira's madness. A special police unit was created and now they are trying to get the death notes in their hands to bring back a peaceful world.
But what's a peaceful world? The distinct trait of Death notes plot is its willing to make you ask yourself what's good and what's evil. If we punish criminals for their actions by killing them, are we criminals too? Or are we some kind of good fellows that are just trying to make the world better? Isn't the death note a useful tool for the Law? Isn't the death note itself the real form of Justice?
In this movie they tried to give us a reasonable answer.
The death note drives you crazy because it drives you insane while thinking that maybe you are above all the human beings, making yourself look like a real God.
This time Kira isn't a person, but a status. Just like L's name.
We have two Kira and, at the same time, we haven't got either one.
There's Shien, the cyber terrorist who's Kira's devotee just like Misa Amane was back then.
Shien was a pretty interesting character. Young, clever, he didn't actually want to be a follower of a new Kira. Light was Kira, so nobody better than him couldn't be the perfect Kira's successor.
I Liked him so much, it was well written, His actions were always well planned.
He had an interesting chemistry with Ryuuk, making them look like partners in crime rather than a death note's keeper and his Shinigami.
Talking about Shinigamis, I wanted to see more of them in action. Six death notes were dropped on earth but we barely saw just three Shinigamis.
Beppo, who appeared right on the first minutes of the movie, was quite interesting and I was expecting to see them more during the movie but he got cut off right away after explaining to the police unit some new rules that we didn't actually know.
Arma was an upgraded version of Rem. Classy and well mannered (can I use this adjective to describe her? Idk) female Shinigami, he looks more like a mother to Ryuuzaki. In fact, when she protected Ryuuzaki I saw her sacrifice more like a mother's one than a lover's one.
Souseke Ikematsu did a great job. We have already get used to a different version of L's personality with the Drama's adaptation so I wasn't surprised to watch a Ryuuzaki which personality was written to be hugely different from L's real character.
He's a bitchy, hyperactive and sarcastic man that doesn't want to follow L's steps and modus operandi.
He doesn't trust and won't ever trust anyone around him, making him look like a lone wolf. In fact, he doesn't even have a "sidekick" or someone who looks after him as Watari did for L.
I loved his character. He isn't L so people shouldn't compare him to L. I saw a little bit of Mello's influence in him but it was just a slight sparkle.
I wasn't impressed nor amazed by Higashide's character and Higashide's performance.
Mishima is introduced to us as a "death note" nerd, a skillful cop who want's to stop Kira's legacy.
He was a bore. His plan was nothing new, the screenwriter made him look like a Kira's copycat.
He did EXACTLY what Kira would have done, so there weren't any kind of unexpected plot twists.
There were some contradictions with Misa's death but she wasn't a real big character here so I didn't mind it.
In the end, I might say that this movie looked like a plot for a pretty interesting fanfic.
Because that's what Death Note: Light Up the new world is... Good material for a fanfic, not a Death Note Sequel.
Anyway, I've decided to give this movie 6.5 out of 10 because it wasn't a really bad movie to watch.
It was a spin-off, so basically the plot hasn't nothing to do with the real story and the original characters.
I know that lot of people didn't like it but I assumed they have watched this movie thinking that it was a sequel to the original plot, which it isn't.
It's set in the Death Note's universe, so you shouldn't watch it thinking that it's related to the original plot.
Mates, give this movie a try just for MASAKI SUDA amazing acting skills.
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