I want to preface by saying that this movie was my introduction to Death Note, my friends were big fans of the original material so I knew what it was about but I never read the manga or watch the anime. I understand they are also not very interested in this film, anyway the movie just launched on Netflix so I watched it. I thought Adam Wingard overall did a good job, it's not a great movie by any means, but I thought it was well-directed and entertaining, even though it's also largely flawed.

The biggest problem with this film might be the tonal changes and the pacing, the movie had trouble finding its voice and is trying to move to fast. There was moments of horror, followed by a quick comic relief and then serious conversations. Tonally, I have to admit it was a little bit all over the place. The performance by Nat Wolff was uneven for me, part of it was great, for example, no spoilers, but there's a scene with his father at the beginning where I thought he was nailing it, but I'm not sure I was into all the screaming and over-the-top reactions, which goes back to the problem with the tone of the film. The script is also messy and might be the sole reason why this movie did not exactly land.

Regarding Ryuk, Willem Dafoe did a nice job voicing him, but I guess I was hoping to get more of his flavor into the character, the effects on Ryuk looked great in the shadows, but sometimes he's sitting on a bed clearly and you can notice some imperfections, but that might only be me because he was definitely a strong part of this adaptation. I'm curious what the fans of the original thought of Ryuk in this movie, because I get the feeling that overall most of them might be disappointed. Yes the script is problematic but, Wingard knows how to direct a movie, loved the visuals, the soundtrack, it was interesting and I slightly enjoyed it.

6/10

Disclaimer: it is pretty obvious that the anime is far better than this movie. It is arguably one of the best animes/mangas ever written. But this movie isn't actually as bad as many people make it out to be either. So just keep that in mind.

Once you realize that this movie was supposed to be a different take on the whole Death Note story it is actually quite enjoyable. Yes, many of the characters from the anime are missing in the movie. But that was to be expected. It would've been impossible to incorporate all of them into a movie of this length.

I think that all the die-hard Death Note fanatics need to suspend their disbelief and just accept that this movie wasn't intended for them. None of these live action movies are. I have seen dozens of them and every single time people complain that it wasn't canon or too simplified. As if it's actually possible to comprise an entire series into a movie. Give me a break.

About the cast; some of the performances were really solid. L's acting e.g.. I can see how some people complained about the "whitewashing" but I think that they just don't get it. There is already a Japanese live action movie about this anime with an all- Asian cast. This is supposed to be a more Western approach to the story hence the white cast. I think people need to respect the vision of the director on this one.

The other reviews are massively not enthusiastic: Even though I'm a huge fan of the eponymous manga, it seems like most of the other fans are disappointed, as a sweet euphemism, by this adaptation. Turning a 10-hours Japanese cartoon into a 90-minutes Hollywood movie is obviously a tough exercise. But, according to me, the result is nevertheless correct. Morality: movie to be watched, and eventually appreciated, BEFORE the manga.