デスノート, Desu Nōto (Death Note) (2006)

Synopsis: Based on the popular Japanese manga; Light Yagami is a bright kid in highschool. His brightness is put to the test when he recieves a note book from a death god (shinigami) giving Light the ability to kill anyone he wants by writing the person's name and seeing their face. He begins to exact his vigilante justice and the world is better for it! But not everyone shares his enthusiasim, like his father, whose the chief of the Japanese police. His father hires the help of a super detective, L. Now it's a battle of wits as Light and L square off in a titantic duel which will shape the new world order.

Should You Watch It? This manga was extremely popular in Japan and internationally as well for it's deep and I mean deep storyline combined with great character development and exposition based around a clever idea. Having said all of that, this movie will definitely feel light (no pun intended) compared to the manga cause it just can't do what the manga did. But instead of trying to strip away major parts of the comic and making it true to the books, this movie takes the premise and the characters and shapes them into a two part film which has just as much action and twists. The movie doesn't really touch on the philosophical aspects of having a killer note but it does enough.

Things to Watch Out For: This is a logic movie and that means you need to pay close attention. Although, it's not as deep as the manga it's still important that the audience stays in tune with the development in order to not get confused. The cast is pretty well assembled to represent their manga counter parts. Especially Amane Misa and Sayu are very well done. Furthermore the CG of the death gods Ryuk and Rem are absolutely amazing. Another sign that Asian cinema is catching up to Western standards and even surpassing them in terms of story telling and dialogue.

Things You Don't Expect: The writers decided to cut out a lot of characters and still made it the story work. They completely took out Near, Mello, and Mikami. If you haven't read the manga then you have no idea what I'm talking about which is good! But for those of you who have read it then don't hold your breath waiting for those characters.

Final Comments:
Story: 9.2
Direction: 7.5
Acting: 7.0
Cinematography: 8.8
Music/Sound: 7.8

Final Score: 8.5