A Few Sandwiches Short Of A Picnic

Alongside the vast array of superhero features and reboots of film title that are nonsensical and stagnant, live-action anime adaptations are slowly but surely becoming the latest cinematic trend at this moment in time. From the past failures of Dragonball Evolution and Speed Racer, fans of anime, quite rightly, tend to cringe at the prospect of seeing their favourite Japanese animation being taken down the live-action strain since they not only radically change certain elements of the source material to be more conventional and relatable to other demographics, but are shrouded in controversial topics of discussion that can never be avoided. The latest of which is the surrounding claims of whitewashing in Rupert Sanders’s Ghost in the Shell which see’s the main female role of the Major portrayed by an A-List film star in Scarlett Johansson. Aside the debatable dissensions, it’s clear to see that Westernised live-action adaptations of anime are now coming more into the fold and Netflix’s Death Note is the most recent example of this…

Based on the famous and notorious Japanese manga and anime written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note follows a clever high-school student in Light Turner who comes across a supernatural notebook realising that holds within it a great yet disturbing power; if the owner inscribes someones’s name into it, he or she will die. Intoxicated with this notebook and what godlike abilities it possesses, Light decides to launch a secret crusade to rid those who he deems unworthy of life. In dealing the final blow to those who willingly commit-crime however, Light soon finds himself pursued by a famous detective known only by the alias, L.

In having a strong contextual resemblance with Michael Lehman’s Heathers, it’s clear to see that Adam Wingard’s live-action anime adaptation Death Note is trying to ornately occupy the said animated series’ more barbarous undertones in a backdrop that is generically familiar audiences who’ve never heard or seen the original source material. From the outset where major details are quickly glossed over to the way in which the premise quickly develops in the second act, what is noticeable to perceive in watching Netflix’s attempt of  adapting a lauded and beloved anime source is how drastically conventional the film is presented and told. Not only does the crux of narrative heavily rely on a forced and unconvincing romance that turns out to be the main motive for the protagonists fantastical and supernatural culling ways, but the films contextual trajectory shamefully falls into a pit of predictability and un-imagination. The stylistic choices that Wingard ultimately carries out, particularly when the protagonists journey of becoming this killing-alias is quickly elaborated through a cheap and meaningful montage, feels unaccomplished and doesn’t justify what the original anime series represented in its longevity. As understandable as it is that the East and West’s way of constructing any-variety of entertainment will differ from one-another, whether it’s to do with genre or the running time of a particular feature, for an anime-adaptation to be simply feasible to watch for both affiliated and unbeknown audiences, it has to maintain the thematical qualities that the anime series so effortlessly projected; very much like how what Rupert Sanders with this years Ghost in the Shell that combined the many said anime preceding series and films motifs into a whole structure. As much as it is satisfying to see live-action anime adaptations coming more into the cinematic fold which, arguably, shows how studios are recognising the importance and significance that Japanese animation upholds and how it’s an integral influence on lauded filmic depictions, it’s also a scary prospect to go and see a live-action anime adaptation due to a lot of affiliated audiences expectancy’s and how it retains yet differs from the original material. To put it lightly, it’s clear enough from the way Death Note is illuminatingly filmed and formally constructed  that director Adam Wingard definitely tried; he undertook a prospect that was always going to receive raised-eyebrows by a select few and endeavoured in making an adaptation that hallmarked certain elements of the original anime series. By no means is this a throw-away disaster like M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, even those who haven’t seen have never seen the original anime will get at least a competent viewing experience and will perhaps invest some more time in Tetsurō Araki’s anime television series. However, while the characters depicted in this film do retain certain facets of the same personalities seen in the anime, it’s evident from the way in which the film develops that these major fictional players are grounded by the rather conventional manner in which the film is illustrated. Indeed, from the main protagonist becoming the known killing-alias as ‘Kira’ for all the wrong reasons and the way in which the character of L is displayed in the third and rushed final act of the film, there’s enough evidence to suggest that Death Note doesn’t uphold enough cohesion to warrant further viewings. Rather than being a boy-genius who avidly hates the world that he lives in and wants to purge those who deserve divine punishment as seen in the anime series, Light, depicted in this film, seems to use the death note to impress the character of Mia that he likes who turns out to be more deranged than the over-dramatic and un-relatable protagonist. From the outset of this forced and rather atypical ‘romance’ the develops between Light and Mia, it’s again clear to see that they’ve taken characters that are very complex and extremely compelling in the original anime and manga, and have turned into stereotypical teen archetypes that you would normally see in angst films of latest memory. Furthermore, what’s even more disastrous that side-swipes any development whatsoever, is the integration of a needless montage sequence that swiftly delves into Light’s transition into becoming the famed Kira which, again, was a strange stylistic choice to behold. The very fact that Wingard allowed to construct Death Note by skipping-over imperative character development in quick succession, just makes the viewing experience feel rushed and unaccomplished. With this film being solely seen on the Netflix platform, it makes you wonder why this live-action depiction of Araki’s anime was made only as a single feature. Surely, it would have made more sense if this was instead a thirteen episode mini-series? Perhaps we’ll never get that. It’s comprehensible that many of you reading can suggest that the points that have been so far are solely reliant on the fact that I’ve seen the anime. While that maybe true in regards to how the characters shown here are portrayed, of which we’ll discuss in a moment, you only have to look at the contextual choices that Death Note adopts to see how uncoordinated the film is. Even the final moments of the film are rushed when we’re greeted with a random chase sequence that’s out-of-place. If there’s one thing to understand about the anime series, is that it was long cat-and-mouse story-line that placed two characters face-to-face against each other by using their clever and intricate mental expertise. By taking one glance at the concluding sequences of Wingard’s Death Note, you’d think you would be watching a generic action-film with no comprehension. 

If there’s one silver-lining to Wingard’s Death Note, it is Willem Dafoe’s portrayal as the Shinigami god, Ryuuk. His enactment is easily the best aspect of this film because his character not only provides the necessary eerie charm in contrast to Light’s desire to purge criminals and terrorists for their wrong-doings, but the way he is presented feels authentic. By combining both practical and CG effects, it’s hard to know when Ryuuk is on-screen, whether or not he’s either some big animatronic device or a computer-generated figment. It was savouring to see Dafoe, who hadn’t read anything of his character before-hand, to steal the screen with his rather raspy and Joker-esque performance. However, to much dismay, Dafoe’s performance of Ryuuk hardly gets enough screen-time which, again, didn’t make sense. Throughout the course of the anime series, Ryuuk played a pivotal part in establishing the main character’s motivations as well maintaining a morbid-yet comical sense of chaos that contrasted well with the complicated motifs. The fact that he’s only in the film for roughly four minutes is strange. It’s as if they didn’t realise that Ryuuk was the best thing going for them and they barely utilise this being of a monster which is disappointing to say the least. Aside the unfortunate amount of time that Ryuuk gets on screen, what we’re presented with instead are performances that are not only unlike their anime counterparts, but are capable in being truly unconvincing. This goes accordingly with Nat Wolff’s portrayal as Light since his reactions to certain things, from the first gaze at Ryuuk to seeing L for the first time, is blatantly overdone and ends up being a character that had multiple archetypes; at the start he’s a lonely genius who does other people’s homework for money and at the end he’s the complete opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Not once did his character steal the screen with any remote composure and reliability with the position that he takes up. Similarly, much of the same can be said about Lakeith Stanfield’s acting take on L who although retains much of the characters tropes seen in the anime where he hunches when sitting down on a chair or deciding to not where any shoes or socks whilst being addicted to sugary food, his development towards the concluding moments of the film is truly outlandish. 

In similar vain to many peoples expectancy with Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant earlier this year, Adam Wingard’s Death Note lives up-to many audiences expectations in being a live-action anime adaptation that quickly disregards the intricate and complex motifs of the original source material and opts for a conventional outlook that is filled with rather abrupt and unnecessary stylistic-choices; further elaborating clarifying that anime in general just doesn’t translate well onto a feature length capacity, which is a shame. The very fact that a lot of the imperative contextual development of the main protagonist is glossed over by drama that is forced and nonsensical is one of the reasons why Netflix’s Death Note will stand to be one of the worst films of the year so far. As mentioned before, it’s evident that Wingard did indeed try to construct an anime adaptation that both honoured and differed from the source material, as seen with the character of Ryuuk and how he’s portrayed. But with a total running-time of and hour and forty minutes, moulding context with the given-time was always going to be the main issue of this film and Wingard ultimately failed. Every aspect of each of the acts shown has severe pacing issue and isn’t complemented well by the performances of the human characters. As this was a Netflix property, you do have to wonder if they could have easily made this into a lengthy series, rather than a theatrical feature. Certainly, there would be enough room for cohesive character development, but I guess we’ll never know, will we?…

On that death note 😏…It’s time for me to end this week’s Film Review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest film review of Death Note and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read! 😉 If anyone has an opinion on either my review or on the film itself, you’re more than welcome to drop a comment down below. For next week, I will be doing a T.V. Review of another Netflix property, The Defenders which has its ups and downs. Aside from that, thank you once again for readings this week’s Blog Post and I’ll be seeing you all next wee! Have a nice weekend! Adieu! 😁✌

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte