Death Note II: The Last Name - Movie

Earlier I posted about the first live action Death Note film and so I decided to watch the second film to see how the story would end. I am glad I did, as the second film is a flawless continuation of the first. All of the same characters and actors return, with some new ones as well.

As the first film ends, the second picks up literally with the final scenes being reshown. A character from the first film, Misa, is saved by someone using similar means to Kira and she finds a second notebook that gives her the same abilities as Kira. She soon shows that she is willing to go even farther than Kira ever did by killing anyone who dares to criticize Kira. soon the police and L are searching for the first and now this new second Kira. From here the movie goes into complex and deep story that involves L and Light engaged in an even higher stakes game of cat and mouse. Misa makes things very difficult for the police and things get even further difficult when a third Kira emerges who is more dangerous than Light and Misa.

It is difficult to fully review this without spoiling it, so I will refrain from revealing too much. The acting is again very well done and the effects are good for the film. There are times when Rem, the second shinigami, appears very cartoonish, but I felt like it was tougher maybe to capture his essence easily, as his color is stark white and thus details were easier to see. The pacing was good and the characters were enjoyable, even when they are at their most evil. Where the first film made you question who you should cheer for, this one makes it almost patently clear from the start. And yes there are twists upon twists in this one so the ending is not nearly as predictable as you might suspect.

All in all a great follow-up to first film and a great way to close out the Death Note series.

What? There's a third one? Ohhhhhh........well....heh heh....guess I'm off to see more people getting killed by the mighty pen. Until next time, mata ne!

Death Note (Part One) - Movie

So, after a brief absence I decided to sit down and watch a movie I'd been interested in for a while. That movie was Death Note, based on the manga and anime of the same title.

The premise is simple enough. A young college student named Light Yagami, who's father is a police detective, has dreams of joining the police force after college. A dedicated student and believer in the law, he comes to realization after some research that many of the criminals in society go free from prison or are not sentenced at all. This frustrates him and causes him to become disillusioned with the idea of the justice system. One night after a tense confrontation with a freed killer, Light finds a mysterious notebook in the streets simply titled "Death Note." Inside the notebook are a few rules stating that if someone's name is written in the notebook they will die within a few minutes. The rules also specify other things that are discovered through the course of the film. Of course Light finds this to be impossible, until he actually tries it with a freed criminal who is on the news. When the criminal dies suddenly of a heart attack, Light begins to experiment with other criminals (as he has access via hacking to the police database). Criminals begin dying by the dozens throughout the world and people begin to notice. Soon the killer is dubbed "Kira" (killer in transliteration) and people either love him or hate him depending on how they feel about his actions. Soon a police investigation is launched including international police and FBI support to catch the famous Kira.

As Light becomes more adept at using the notebook he meets the shinigami (reaper spirit) attached the book and while Light can see him, no one else can. The reaper serves only as a sort of counsel to Light and takes no side in the story. No one, not even his girlfriend Shiori, is aware that Light and Kira are one and the same. As the film moves forward a mysterious person named "L" joins the police investigation and speaks only through a computer terminal to the police in order to protect his identity from Kira. Soon it becomes a game of cat and mouse between L and Kira and the public soon becomes frightened of Kira. Kira begins to experiment more with the notebook and finds that he can write down what will happen with someone he names in the book and that it will happen. An example of this is when he directs inmates in a prison to cut themselves and write symbols on the wall before killing themselves, or a man being hit by a car. This places Kira into a position where he is more like a god than a man and the power soon begins to consume his personality.

I won't spoil the film but it is suspenseful, dark, and a lot of fun. The concept is interesting because the viewer is not sure who to root for after a while. In the beginning it seems easy to root for Light, but as he begins to take the lives of even good people who get in his way, that support ends rather quickly. But then, the character of "L" is suspicious enough to keep the reader in a sort of median position between the two. The film is well paced and I was on the edge of my seat at points when it felt as though the noose was about to snare Light. The effects are not the best but then, it's a TV movie and rendering a death reaper on the screen for a majority of the film might be expensive, so its forgivable. I have seen worse effects in bigger budget movies that make the theater so they aren't so bad. At least the reaper looks exactly like he does in the manga so that's cool. The acting is good and the guy playing Light did an amazing job, as did the guy playing "L."

Overall a great movie worth a watch because the interaction between the police in their chase and Light is fascinating to watch with a brilliant premise as the backdrop. Take the time, check it out and see a really cool original concept brought to the screen. Now.....on to part two. Until next time, mata ne!