Review - Death Note: The Last Name

So it's review time, for something a little different. Mainly because I just went and saw The Last Name in theaters yesterday (and it was awesome). So, let's get this started with an overview of the plot of Death Note as told in the manga, the changes made in the first movie, and then mosey right along to the second movie.

If you're familiar with the story, just go ahead and skip the overviews.

Death Note (the series):
Light is a young high school student, brilliant and ranked highest in the country on his exams. However, he's become bored with the daily routine of life and is disgusted by the criminals making things even worse. One day, he happens to find a notebook, entitled 'Death Note' with instructions on how to kill people. "The person whose name is written in this notebook shall die" (other rules located here). While at first he believes it nothing more than a silly prank, he finds himself drawn to take it home and try it out. Upon finding that it really does work exactly as written, he brings 'divine judgment' on those criminals the law is powerless against, and becomes a figure of hope to many citizens (who recognize him as 'Kira,' based on the word killer). Meanwhile, ace detective L--whose location, name, and face are unknown to anyone--decides to take it upon himself to catch 'Kira', engaging Light in a game of wits and intelligence.

Death Note (first movie):
Several changes were made in the movie, many of them unimportant. These do not ruin the story or anything such as that. They just piss off fangirls, but they need to learn to chill out and take this movie as just another branch of the Death Note universe. This movie starts with Light as a college student, studying law, who finds the death note while lamenting the law's powerlessness. When L eventually challenges him, he makes a mistake and confirms L's suspicion that Kira is in Japan. After smugly stealing information on the Kira case from his father (the police chief), Light makes a show of making L aware of that. This prompts L to begin trailing the families of those people working with him closely--people to whom he has come forth and revealed himself. L himself is very young and eccentric, but like Light his powers of deduction are near flawless.

In order to get rid of the FBI agent that is following him, Light devises a plan and kills the entire team after tricking his pursuer (through the powers of the Death Note) into giving him all of their names. This man is fiance to former FBI agent Naomi Misora, who has worked with L in the past and holds his respect. When her fiance dies, she takes it upon herself to study the case and eventually comes to the conclusion that Light is Kira. Trying to trick him into a confession she kidnaps his girlfriend, Shiori, and in the panic of the moment shoots and kills her, and then herself. This breeds sympathy for Light, who witnessed the event, although he reveals later that he had, in truth, killed the two women with the powers of the Death Note. It is after Shiori's death that L finally appears before Light. Meanwhile, idol and pop star Misa Amane is about to be murdered until the man suddenly dies, and a notebook falls before her...

Death Note: The Last Name: This movie starts with Misa Amane, who has just acquired a Death Note for herself. It has been mentioned in the previous movie that she supports Kira, although her staff try to keep her from saying so. This leads to the rise of a second Kira, more powerful than the original, and who wishes to join forces.

The movie was superb, I tell you. The ending was changed, for those people who are familiar with the manga, but I assure you it was a good ending nonetheless. The actors all played their characters well, especially Ken'ichi Matsuyama (L) and Erika Toda (Misa Amane). You could really get a feel for their characters through their actions. Really, it was quite adorable to watch them when they weren't trying to kill one another. Such as in the case where Misa is surrounded by fans of hers and L promises to defend her and find the culprit who pinched her butt (which happens, it turns out, to be him pilfering her cell phone), as well as the silly call between L and Light when L happens to answer Misa's cell phone.

Sadly, since the movie was aired dubbed, I cannot say anything about their ability to act beyond body language. But I can relate my love of the dub track, although I have less praise for them in the movie than I do for the anime. Alessandro Juliani brought something different and fresh to L in the anime, and I loved him for it. He does an adorable L in the movie as well. But there was just something about Ken'ichi Matsuyama's portrayal that I just loved so much, so was I loathe to give it up. Plus, the dubbing looked pretty bad at points.

The movie, like the rest of Death Note, deals a lot with mind games and wit, so for people looking for action I wouldn't recommend this by any stretch of the means: there are only two relatively short action scenes in the second movie, and maybe six throughout both. But for those people who like movies that deal more with mystery, this should fit. While the supernatural has a large position in this movie, the Shinigami (Gods of death and the original owners of the Death Notes) themselves have very little to do with much of anything. It manages to balance suspense and humor, especially with the introduction of Misa. If you can get past the absurdity of a killer notebook you should be able to enjoy this movie. Unless you happen to hate candy, because L does eat a great deal of it.

The characters are deep and lovable, although the very nature of the theme seems to guide most fans of the series to pick either L or Light. L is childlike and adorable (also mildly creepy), while Light is more serious and withdrawn. He deals with L by ignoring his actions, for the most part (such as when L spins in his chair during meetings or makes 'doughnut-kabobs'). Misa is pouty and cute, while at the same time proving herself as a very strong individual with a strong will. Takada is cruel and petty, but also a hardworking follower of Kira's.

(Misa Amane, Light Yagami, and L celebrate the success of the Death Note movie)

The story on which the movie was based sold millions of copies, and not just in Japan. Here Death Note has become a big hit for not only people who usually enjoy the genre, but for people who have never read manga before in their lives. The fact that it managed to worm its way into select theaters shows its vast potential.

I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed the series, although it's best to think of it as a re-envisioning of the series and not a direct port. Or to anyone that thinks it might be fun to watch attractive characters in a constant effort to prove their intellectual superiority... With their lives on the line.

Most of all, this story makes a person think about the very nature of justice, shown by the sharp divide between fans of L and fans of Light.