Death Note (2017)

Absolutely Brilliant!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I've loved the anime since I seen it many years ago. the complex characters, the fact it's an actual thriller, and the fact it was a philosophical starting point in asking "what if criminals were eliminated". If you haven't read the source material or seen the anime, start with this movie and afterwards treat yourself to either the anime or the manga. If you haven't seen or read either and only seen this movie, I would give it a 5 out of 10, and that is being more than generous. I was largely disappointed with this movie not using any of what made the former so successful. Overall though, i'd honestly avoid this movie. I was reluctant to watch the movie to begin with as I know exactly what Hollywood would do to the storyline. Hint...totally ruin it for the sake of money. Understandable if you consider what Hollywood is built on. Given that my motto is anything once, I was compelled to watch it. I was hoping it wouldn't be as bad as it was, but then again I wasn't completely surprised either. Do yourselves a favour and watch the anime or read the manga.

***ATTENTION*** THIS MOVIE IS NOT THE ANIME. GET OVER IT. If you're looking for a decent movie, (if you are on Netflix it's one of the better ones I've found) this movie is a great thriller. Obviously a B movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. It kept my attention and had a believable ending. Overall I enjoyed watching it

Let me start off by saying I love the original Death Note anime. However this live action rendition is absolutely horrible. I appreciate what they were trying to do but really NetFlix.. The main character is a bad actor with no talent whatsoever. I had to force myself to finish it. It just drags on and on with a confusing plot and bad acting in general. Do yourself a favor and skip this monstrosity of a film.

I am a sucker for movies with gimmicks like this. But this failed for a few reasons. The protagonist was OK, but the femme fatale girlfriend was only so-so. There was no discernable bond between the cop dad and son either. The young detective was extremely annoying. I hear that this is based on Japanese anime, so I'll watch that. Then there was the exposition, the kid states he's seen an 8 foot demon. Yes we know, you showed it us! Never spell out what you've shown us, this is seriously infuriating. If someone is too dumb to follow a simple plot then so what? The demon seemed to be there as a kind of voice over deus ex machina. He was unnecessary, and made the movie goofy. The light twists in this movie were the best thing about it, but they were in a vacuum. I don't hate this movie in the way I hate, say, the new Starwars nonsense, it was mostly entertaining. But mistakes were made that stopped it being fun.