The movie which is an adaptation of the very popular anime “Death Note” is about Light Yagami is a brilliant student, an A student the kind of student who looks like he has his entire life figured out. Smart, good-looking, have it all figured out. Then one day, he finds something that is definitely not supposed to be lying around on the ground, a mysterious black notebook called the Death Note. It looks like an ordinary notebook, except for one tiny problem, the plot goes as whoever's name is written inside it dies.
Of course, Light doesn't immediately believe it. Why would he? Or who would? The idea that you can kill somebody simply by writing their name in a notebook sounds completely ridiculous but then he tests it, and suddenly he realizes that this thing actually works and this is where the movie really starts getting interesting because Light isn't some completely innocent guy who accidentally gets dragged into darkness. He makes a choice, he decides that if he has the power to eliminate criminals, then maybe the world would actually be better without them. In his mind, he's not becoming a murderer, he's becoming a god of justice.
Then we meet Ryuk, the Shinigami who owns the notebook, and this guy is probably the strangest part of the entire movie. He's not really interested in helping Light, he's basically there because he's bored and wants to see what happens when a human gets handed this ridiculous amount of power. Ryuk doesn't care whether Light becomes a hero or a monster. He's just sitting there watching everything unfold like it's the best entertainment he's had in years.
Obviously, Light can't just start killing criminals without somebody noticing. People begin dying mysteriously, one after another, and eventually the authorities realize that there has to be somebody behind it. That's when L enters the story. Light is trying to figure out who L is and how to get rid of him. I really enjoyed this part because it doesn't rely entirely on action. Most of the tension comes from two incredibly intelligent people basically trying to outthink each other.
Death Note doesn't spend too much time trying to convince you that Light is completely right or completely wrong. You can understand why the idea of removing dangerous criminals from society might initially appeal to him, but you also get to watch how quickly that justification can become an excuse for having absolute power over people's lives. The more Light uses the notebook, the easier it becomes for him to decide who deserves to live and who doesn't. At some point, you stop wondering whether he's still doing this for justice and start wondering how much he simply enjoys being the person making the decision.
The 2006 movie is as I have said an adaptation and if you've watched the anime, you'll definitely notice that it condenses and changes quite a lot of the story. In short I watched the movie before even knowing it was an anime originally, maybe I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if id watched the anime first before the movie
Death Note is a mystery, supernatural movie . It's watching an intelligent person slowly convince himself that having the power to judge everyone else means he has the right to do so and once Light starts walking down that road, you already know things aren't going to end peacefully
Rating: 75/100