I posted a 1-sentence review of this movie on my Wordpless blog (https://wastedwanderer.com/2017/08/27/one-line-movie-review-death-note-2017/), and I said that I wanted to stop watching and just read the manga that it's based from. Well I did do that, and just a few chapters of reading enlightened me as to why I didn't like this Netflix adaptation AT ALL.
SAME CHARACTER NAMES, AND THAT'S IT
Light here is a screamy adolescent boy who doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. L was prone to fits of emotion, and was not intellectually engaging at all. Ryuk was like that other character portrayed by Willem Defoe-- Green Goblin.KILL KIRA KILL
At one point, I wasn't sure if I was watching Death Note, or Final Destination.THE CHEAP FIX
How am I supposed to believe that you can control the page of the Death Note that says you will die, and have it magically float down into a burning barrel, eventually keeping you alive?!NO INTELLIGENT BATTLES
What's great about the Death Note manga-- you should really go and read it-- is that you find yourself engaged in suspense as you watch the battle of wits between Light and L. No tiring chase scenes. Just two geniuses trying to outwit and outsmart each other.THE ENDING
They want to make a sequel, judging by that open ending. I hope they don't. And what's with the Air Supply song??
The movie might have worked for me if it was a sequel, with different characters. But not as a loose adaptation with a lot of creative license. In the end, I regret that I even went back to finish the film.
-Ed. E.