DEATH NOTE (2017)

Studio:       Netflix
Director:    Adam Wingard
Writer:       Charles Palapanides, Vlas Palapanides, Jeremy Slater
Producer:  Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Masi Oka, Jason Hoffs, Ted Sarandos
Stars:     Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, Shea Whigham, Paul Nakauchi, Jason Liles, Willem Dafoe

Review Score:

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Summary:

A troubled teen comes into possession of a mysterious book with the power to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

During a sudden storm, a leather-bound journal embossed with the words ‘Death Note’ drops from the sky and lands at the feet of Seattle high school student Light Turner. Light takes the book.

Light is punched unconscious when he intervenes in an altercation involving bully Kenny Doyle and classmate Mia Sutton. Rather than discipline Kenny, the principal assigns Light to detention after discovering Light has been selling completed homework papers to other students.

Left alone in detention, Light begins reading the rules written in the pages of Death Note, which purports to be capable of killing any human whose name is written in the book provided the writer visualizes the target’s face. The demon Ryuk appears. Ryuk tells Light to write Kenny’s name in the book along with a manner of death. Light writes “decapitation.” Light watches in shock as a chain of events outside ends with a ladder cutting off Kenny’s head. Ryuk tells Light that if he can’t handle being the book’s keeper, he should leave it alone for seven days so that Ryuk can give the Death Note to someone else.

Over dinner at home, Light angrily refuses to talk about Kenny’s death or his detention with his detective father James. Light accuses James of not doing enough to ensure punishment for Antony Skomal, an abusive criminal who got away with killing Light’s mother by having his jury bribed.

Light reads more Death Note rules in his bedroom. Light also finds a warning to not trust Ryuk scribbled in a margin. Ryuk reappears to explain more about how the book works. Light writes Skomal’s name in the Death Note. Another elaborate accident ends with Skomal being stabbed in the throat while dining at a restaurant.

At school, Light shows Mia the Death Note. Light learns that Mia cannot see Ryuk because the death demon only appears to the keeper. Light demonstrates the book’s power to Mia during a televised hostage situation where gunman James Brode dies according to Light’s Death Note description.

Light and Mia begin a romance. They also agree to use the Death Note to affect global change. Using the name ‘Kira,’ which means “light” in Russian and “killer” in Japanese, Light and Mia create an imaginary god who is seemingly responsible for their spree of killing numerous criminals and high profile terrorists.

As remote deaths continue worldwide, James Turner is assigned to investigate Kira-related killings, which makes him a target for fellow officers who believe Kira is a noble vigilante. Flanked by his stalwart handler Watari, eccentric international investigator L arrives to partner with police and the FBI in identifying Kira. L explains to James that he believes Kira is in Seattle because he traced the killings back to James Brode’s death. L also believes Kira has access to police databases.

With his face partially masked, L appears on television to publicly threaten Kira with exposure. L also assigns a surveillance tail to Light because he is James Turner’s son. Mia suggests killing the investigators to protect themselves, but Light adamantly refuses.

The assistant FBI director dies of a heart attack. Twelve agents, including the one assigned to Light, commit suicide by jumping from a tall building. Thinking that they were killed according to a Death Note rule he is unfamiliar with, Light angrily confronts Ryuk. Ryuk suggests letting the book go, prompting Light to threaten Ryuk.

James Turner appears on television to publicly threaten Kira. Light becomes upset with Mia when she suggests killing James to help hide their identities.

Because James doesn’t die, L concludes that Light is Kira. L has a tense confrontation with Light in which he shows his face and threatens to expose Light.

Mia apologizes to Light and professes her love for him. Light plans to kill L, but needs to uncover his real name in order to write it in the Death Note. Using an extensive passage written in the book, Light manipulates Watari into investigating L’s true identity. Light explains to Mia that he plans to save Watari before his death by burning the page with his name on it. Ryuk warns that only one book page can be burned.

Watari calls Light. Watari explains that L was an orphan specifically raised by a secretive group dedicated to creating elite detectives. Light commands Watari to find St. Martin’s orphanage and track down L’s name.

When he discovers Watari is missing, L angrily confronts James and Light in their home. L tells James that his son is Kira, leading to a physical fight between the two men. L has police execute a search warrant, but Mia sneaks the Death Note out of the house. Ryuk warns Light that if authorities recover the book, Light loses control of it and Ryuk will suggest killing Light to the new keeper.

Light and Mia attend their homecoming dance. Mia distracts their law enforcement tails while Light retrieves the Death Note from Mia’s locker. Light gets on the phone with Watari while Watari goes through the defunct orphanage’s files. Light discovers that Mia removed Watari’s page from the book. Light is forced to listen as armed men gun down Watari before he can reveal L’s real name.

Light confronts Mia about removing Watari’s page. Mia explains that she did it to protect them, and was only taking the actions Light was too afraid to do. Mia admits to using the book to manipulate the mass deaths of the FBI agents. Mia also tells Light that she wrote his name in the book. Mia promises to burn the page with Light’s name, but demands that he first turn over possession of the Death Note to her.

L redoubles his efforts to take down Light after learning of Watari’s death. James sends out police officers to put his son in protective custody.

Instead of giving the book to Mia, Light does research on a school computer and writes an extensive passage in the Death Note. He then arranges for Mia to meet him at the Ferris wheel on the pier.

L chases Light through the streets, ultimately confronting him in an alleyway at gunpoint. Light tries to explain what is happening. A bystander knocks out L. Light runs to the pier.

At the top of the Ferris wheel, Mia demands the Death Note. Light says that if she truly loves him, she won’t take the book and they will instead destroy it in order to run away together. Mia professes her love again, but still grabs the book from Light’s hands. Surprised, Light admits that he wrote Mia’s name in the book, but specified a condition that she had to forcibly take the Death Note, which he didn’t think she would do.

James arrives at the pier with the police force as the Ferris wheel breaks apart under Ryuk’s command. Mia falls to her death while trying to reach for the Death Note. Light and the book fall into the water. L arrives in time to see the page with Light’s name, which Mia unintentionally ripped out while falling, descend into a fire barrel and burn. Pedophile mailman Aaron Peltz fishes the Death Note out of the water.

Four new Kira killings occur over two days while Light is in a coma. The police captain uses this as evidence to disgrace L for his insistence that Light is Kira. L remembers something Light said in the alleyway about Mia’s calculus book.

Aaron Peltz returns the Death Note to Light at the hospital. James calls out his son for being Kira once he traces the first murder all the way back to Antony Skoval. Light explains his elaborate survival plan that involved manipulating an abusive doctor into rescuing him, and the mailman into committing the other murders, before killing themselves to clear Light’s name.

In Mia’s house, L finds the missing Death Note page with the FBI agent names hidden in her calculus book. L considers writing Light’s name onto the page.

Ryuk appears at Light’s hospital bedside to laughingly taunt, “you humans are so interesting.” Light concernedly purses his brow at the demon.

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Review:

“Death Note” tells a tale involving Seattle high school student Light Turner, who mysteriously comes into possession of an even more mysterious book.  The ‘Death Note’ contains countless pages explaining the rules of how it works.  The most important rule is the first one, which states that anyone whose name is written in the book will die.

Possession of this terrible tome comes with the ability to see Ryuk, a mischievous death demon who resembles something of a malformed leprechaun mixed with a monstrous porcupine.  Ryuk demonstrates the Death Note’s power by convincing a disbelieving Light to murder the school bully using any method of choice.  Light inks “decapitation” next to the name, setting off a spectacular chain of events ending in the bully’s head leaving his neck and Light’s jaw hitting the floor.

Light then does what any teenager would do in his situation.  He tries impressing his love interest Mia by letting her in on the secret of what the Death Note does.  Together, the deadly duo embarks on a Dexter-like crusade of remotely executing Death Row inmates and high profile terrorists worldwide.  By pinning the deaths on an imaginary entity named ‘Kira,’ Mia and Light create a vengeful vigilante god whom everyone seemingly adores.

Everyone except L, that is.  Raised from birth to be an unusually elite detective, L has a sneaking suspicion that Kira comes from Seattle.  Making matters worse for Light, L’s hunt for the truth leads him to partner with the city’s lead investigator on the case, who happens to be Light’s father.  As if wielding the Death Note’s destructiveness was not enough of a burden, Mia and Light now have to stay one step ahead of law enforcement and a malevolent demon before things truly spiral out of control.

Adam Wingard’s Netflix movie is my first exposure to the world of “Death Note,” which spans a multi-volume manga (by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata), an anime series, a light novel, video games, several live-action Japanese language films, a TV program, and even a musical.  Level of familiarity with a beloved transmedia property can be an important distinction to make when discussing any adaptation.  Because certain camps of longtime fans often come at new takes with pitchforks sharpened and torches blazing, anxious to bemoan what was changed, what stayed the same, or what wasn’t done “right.”

Consider this my declaration that I have no dog in any fight over how faithful this version is or isn’t to its source material.  Coming at it as a standalone story, Wingard’s “Death Note” is wickedly imaginative, with razor-sharp visuals, slick scenes of sinister slaughter, pulse-pounding intensity, and several eccentric characters who put some slyness in the spirit.

Alliterative hyperbole aside, as a neophyte to this narrative, “Death Note” makes me want to track down the original manga, movies, and anime to delve deeper into the richly detailed fiction.  This speaks to Wingard’s sincere success at inspiring audiences to make additional investments in a broader universe.

“Death Note” darkens its mood using David Tattersall’s camera and Tom Hammock’s production design.  Colored lights rip through rain-soaked sets or put halos around silhouettes for a look that is concurrently bright and bleak.  It’s an outward exemplification of how “Death Note” often offers imbalanced tones, though the resulting style is undeniably cinematic.

“Death Note” alternately lightens itself through colorful personalities.  Lakeith Stanfield flirts with putting too much quirk into enigmatic investigator L, although each deliberately over-thought mannerism adds intriguing layers that don’t necessarily come from the script.  Willem Dafoe similarly tiptoes on a tightrope between terrifying and cartoonish.  But the bite he puts into Ryuk using only his voice imbues the devil with an impish menace full of frightful fun.

The movie’s Achilles Heel lies in Mia and Light not having anywhere near the same charm as the antagonists.  Their fizzled chemistry also writes their romance on page one of the Death Note.  If Light were more likable, “Death Note” would be too.  This is the unfortunate elephant that actor Nat Wolff never moves out of the room.

Light isn’t motivated by misguided angst.  Light is driven by spiteful smugness, a quality that quickly chills his appeal as a person.  Everyone around Light is infinitely more interesting and when Light becomes the center of a scene, energy disappears in a vacuum.  His off-putting attitude is enough to make a vicarious experience undesirable.

Mia follows suit by cooling into a black widow before ever heating up as a cute romantic interest.  Getting behind her and Light as a couple becomes impossible given the questionable circumstances of their quick courtship.

Divorce yourself from the drama of problematic protagonists, an admittedly tall order, and getting into the swing of “Death Note’s” more entertaining elements is easier.  Others have argued that Adam Wingard’s eclectic blend of horror, police procedural, family soap opera, and comic book spectacle contains too many ingredients for a reasonable meal.  I’d counter that the creative mix makes a uniquely enjoyable experience out of uniquely inventive ideas.

Maybe this isn’t the “Death Note” that diehards desire.  But maybe it’s the “Death Note” that makes the most sense for the mainstream.

Review Score:  75

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