Death Note Movie Review: L change the World

The chocolate I got after buying the movie ticket. Still can't bear to eat it yet....

Watched the movie on sat and I think the movie is quite enjoyable and worth the watch even if you’re not a Death Note fan or even if you have not watched the previous 2 movies before.

The story is about how L spent his 23days before his death.

Synopsis here

Review

I think the plot is not that interesting and even abit dull compared to the previous movies as Death Note is supposed to be an intelligent story, filled with twists and suspense and interesting battle of the wits between the characters. However what we get this time in the movie is nothing about battle of intelligence or exciting and unpredictable moves by the characters. Without the intelligent Kira in this movie to match up to the wit of L, L seems less intelligent and the story become abit lame. *Spolier* For example I don’t understand why would L just sit back and do nothing when the little girl injected the virus into her own body. When I was watching that scene, I was full of anticipation for L to press some keys on his high tech system to prevent the girl from injecting the virus. But none of it happened. Instead, only L chose to appear and played hero to save the girl from the enemies after she injected the virus into her body. Well I guess they have to let the girl inject the virus into her body to drive the plot for the movie. If she didn’t inject the virus into her body, there will be no storyline for the movie and the movie won’t be made in the first place. The plot just became dull and normal like what you will expect from other ‘hero save the day’ movie. L become less mysterious and more humane in the story as we get to see another side of him for example how he interact with others etc.

However, despite the dull plot, the movie is still an enjoyable one with the focus on the character of L. We get to see much more of L and understand more about him in this movie as compared to the previous 2 Death Note movies. Kenichi Matsuyama continued his good job in his portrayal of L in this movie. L's cute and funny antics in the movie served as a good comedy relief for the audience. He amuses us with the way he walk, the way he sit, the way he reacts, the way he held items etc. I can’t help but just find L so loveable and adorable. *Spoiler* I like the part where L tried to stand up straight and walk. He looked like an idiot when he was trying to walk with his back straight (but a cute one of course). The way they showed the scene where he straightened his back was really hilarious.

So kudos to Kenichi Matsuyama for bringing live to L and I must applaud him for his impressive performance as L. He made this movie possible.

To sum it up, you really should go and catch this movie if you’re a Death Note or L fan (Duh!) , but if you’re not a Death Note fan, this movie is worth the watch as well. I think you’ll end up falling for L and can’t help but think he’s cute. For those who have watched this movie (but not the previous 2 Death Note movie) and think that this movie is good, you really got to watch the 2 previous movies. I can assure you the plot of the previous 2 Death Note movie is much much better and you’ll be impressed by it.

Advice: If you are planning to watch the movie, stay till the end of the credits!!! There's a scene after the credits but I missed it! argh. So stay after the credits to catch that scene!

Found this on Youtube. (credit calimerokei for the clips)

L change the world special program part 1

Part 2

These handphone straps are soo cute! Hope I'll be able to get them in Sg

L change the World

Release Date in Singapore: 21 February 2008

Synopsis:

“The human whose name is written in the Death Note shall die.”

A God of Death dropped a notebook which had the power to kill people. Light Yagami (Tatsuya Fujiwara) found the notebook and tried to become Kira, God of a new crime-free world by executing criminals with the notebook. L (Kenichi Matsuyama), a genius detective confronted Kira who was his toughest enemy ever. At last, L managed to close the case of Kira but had to pay a painful price.After making the hardest decision ever, another serious case confronts L. There are only 23 days left and without his best partner Watari (Shunji Fujimura), L has to solve the case all by himself for the very first time.A boy and a girl hold the keys to solving this case and L had to get into a desparate situation to protect the kids. L has solved many cases previously through monitors and using his brain power as he has never appeared in public as L. This is the first and last case that he has to deal with people in person...A person who obtains the most horrible weapon “Death God” created by human says the same thing as Kira... ”I am going to change the world.”What will happen to L? Is anything in the world going to be changed? The turbulent 23 days even L cannot predict awaits him. The most exciting and moving countdown has now begun!

Website(sg): http://www.encorefilms.com/L/index.htm

jap website: http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/L-movie/

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It'll be released soon... But I wonder if it would be good as the writer is not the original writer for the Death Note manga...Nevertheless, we'll still get to see Kinichi Matsuyama as L =) I thought the movie would be a recap of L's past life, but its actually not. It would be about the 23days before L's death....

Can't wait to catch it on screen.

Death Note

I started watching Death Note anime after my brother recommended
it to me. I had no interest in anime last time as I thought that
its just little kids who watch cartoons and animes. And I thought
that anime is quite stupid as the stories are all fictitious and
unreal and those stories would of course not happen in real life
since animes usually contains stuffs like magic and powers which is
too absurd to happen in real life. Another reason I was not interested
in anime is that they are cartoons and the characters are all fake/
unreal, therefore even though they may be handsome/pretty, they’re
just made up characters which does not exist in real life unlike
dramas where the actors and actresses are really handsome/pretty
and they EXIST in real life.

But after watching an episode of Death Note, I decided to be open
minded and give the anime a try. And I'm glad I did as I got
hooked onto the anime and couldn't get more of it. What really
attracted me was the well thought out plot and the clever-ness
of the author of the manga. The were lots of twist in the plot
which builds up its anticipation and surprises the readers with
the unexpected turns of events. You would never know what would
happen next and so it'll leave you craving for more.

Besides the plot, I also grew to like the character in Death Note.
Both the main characters, Light Yagami and L are very clever people
and their intelligence got me attracted to them. L's antics
and behaviour is also very entertaining and funny as he behave
just like a little child, but have the brain of a genius.
Yagami Light is charismatic and a cool guy, but sadly, he got too
caught up in punishing criminals that it turned into an obsession.
Even though the characters are fictitious, I can’t help but to like
them as the story proceeds.

I think some people may have watched the movie of Death Note
and think that its nice. I’ve watching the movie as well, but I felt
that the anime is really much much nicer than the movie. No doubt
the movie was quite successful in bringing out the plot of the
manga and I thought that Kenichi Matsuyama was really
convincing playing the role of L, but anime/manga lovers
would prefer the original version more. I thought that
the actor who acted as Light was not that good as Light
should be a cool and charismatic guy who is a real charmer, but
the actor in the movie was more bubbly than cool and I can’t really
see the charisma in him… My impression of
Light in the manga was much more charming and attractive.
So if you’ve watched the movie version of Death Note
and really liked it, I highly recommend you to watch the anime
or read the manga to get the full story. They cut short the story
and changed the plot/ending abit the movie. The manga/anime
is much longer with the introduction of characters like
Mello and Near. The anime was a good adaptation of the
manga, but sometimes it left be a bit confused at some parts.
So reading the manga would make the plot clearer and clear
the doubts.

I heard some news that there’ll be another Death Note movie coming
out which featured the story of L. I wonder what it would be
like… Can’t wait for it to be out since Kenichi Matsuyama
really did a great job as L.