Death Note (2017)

Photo credit: metro.co.uk

Death Note (2017) well I was really eager for this one for some reason. I had the hope that they'll get it right. Well I was wrong and I'm not even talking about white washing. Firstly I think this is a story that can be adapted to different settings around the world. Light can easily be Chinese, African, Canadian, Caucasian, Innuit etc.  same goes for L. So my problems are not due to casting contraversy (it is not like the film adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender where they RUINED the whole thing even before it started, God that film was a disaster even before it began).

Anyway my problems with this Death Note is that Americans got it wrong again. Right from the start.

Firstly Light is a charismatic genius who is respected and liked with a nice middle class family, a happy kid seemingly on the way to achieving good things in life. His problems are internal, outward he is all around successful and well adjusted. In this version Light is a kid who is anti social and his genius is shown by showing him doing and selling home works for the other kids. He is bullied and thought generally weird. An outcast. His family life is not good either. His dad is a cop (at least they kept this one) but his mother is killed in a traffic accident and the driver went free due to technical reasons etc. Do you see where this is going? They wanted to make Light into a more likeable character. The stupidity. One of the most interesting things about Death Note is how likable a character Light already is. The actor is also all wrong it is the kid who played the blind character in The Fault In Our Stars and I think they gave him a lead role in another John Green adaptation. He was really wrong for the role.

And then there is L. Well L is my favorite character in Death Note and I was a bit happy at first since they seem to get some things right with it but then he escalated into someone the original L would never turn into. At one point he was screaming with rage.

Also what was the point of Light and L chase, the whole ferris wheel scene. Spending money and putting some action to it does not automatically make it better. The kills reminded me of Final Destination and Ryuk was not even worth mentioning.

All in all this one turned out to be really bad. Not trusting his audience to get it, they messed up literally everything about it. Don't bother