Death Note

Year: 2017
Director: Adam Wingard
Roku Channel: Netflix (subscription needed)

** nothing but spoilers ahead**

Death Note is a story about Light Turner who finds a book called the death note that gives him the power to kill someone just by writing their name and picturing their face. He gives himself the name Kira to have glory in the press while remaining anonymous. His dad is asked to head the investigation to track down Kira. A super detective named L offers his services as well.

So the movie gets started with Light, a highschool boy, acquiring the death note. He's typical, not like the Light from the 2006 film at all. He just wants to impress a cheerleader named Mia, which is why he shows it to her way too quickly despite hardly knowing her. He wants to get into her tiny gym shorts, so thinking with his 3rd leg he drags her off and shows it to her ( the book not the 3rd leg)... Not that he didn't have it out in the middle of the gym anyway (again, the book not the 3rd leg). He even proves to her that the death note works by killing someone. If Mia was a normal girl instead of a ruthless psychopath, this could have really backfired! Since she is the kind of sicko who wants to watch people being decapitated, things work out really well and writing in the death note becomes some sort of teenage death sexcapade.  This is only at first, though, because it turns out that Mia is far more ruthless that Light. When Light's father goes on television and talks about finding and capturing Kira, Mia is prepared to kill Light's father and leave him an orphan! He later forgives her when she says the magic words " I love you." In the end, Mia threatens to kill him with the deathnote if he doesn't hand it over and make her the new owner of the book.

Let's face it, the deathnote was made to be owned by someone twisted like Mia. She's so twisted I almost can't help liking that sick bitch. Light does outsmart her in the end and live to tell the tale... To his father who has finally put together what has been obvious from the beginning with the death of the man who killed Light's mother. Not only that, but L told him.

Speaking of L, let's talk about some of his problems. L has been on Light's trail since the very beginning, and I didn't really like that he solved the puzzle so fast. Light was very clever leaving a trail that lead straight to Japan, and he even made sure to kill world wide. Still L sees through all this. What L also does in a very un L like fashion through out the movie is lose his cool. It's not at all like the 2006 film and this hinders L's ability to think clearly and be the super sleuth he is supposed to be. It's just not like him and in the end, he is kicked to the curb in disgrace.

Overall this movie was just too dramatic for me. They wrecked what could have been a very intellectual cat and mouse game. I did love the ferris wheel scene, but I would have preferred more clever use of the death note and for L to have been a more worthy adversary for Light. Light wasn't even worthy of being in this so maybe it doesn't matter. Ryuk was the only ccharacter who was what he ought to be. And maybe Mia who could have possibly made this movie better by being the star.