Death Note (Netflix Edition): The Adventures of Emo Light

The Death Note anime and manga are a classic. Now I know people throw around that term a lot these days. As a hip-hop fan, every time a new album comes out from a top tier rapper people always post "CLASSIC" and they haven't even finished the damn album. But in this case it's true. The complex story weaves perfectly around the excellent written characters and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end. I have all black books of the manga and watched the anime series twice now and I haven't seen another story with so much suspense upheld over a long period of time.  Only masterful juggling act I can remember that rivals the thrilling pace in series form is Dexter Season 1& 2. The Netflix movie is...not that good.

I'm all for changing things for film adaptations. I understand that film is a completely different medium than video games or comics or novels. Besides even if the adaptation is shit I always have the original to fall back on. And if it's good I get another chance to experience a story I love through the lens of another storyteller. So when Netflix announced they were doing this movie I wasn't outraged like everyone else. I was actually looking forward to viewing this story again for the first time. But damn...what the hell happened?

Light looks like a school shooter. I think this is what pissed me off the most. Light isn't some loner kid, he's a charming ladies man who gets straight A's in school. He's more Patrick Bateman than Trenchcoat Mafia. That's why when he gets the Death Note he looks like more of a psychopath with a god complex. How can this kid who has a perfect life want to kill people? He isn't oppressed by a ruling force, or burdened by vengeance. He's a pretty teen who decides he wants to kill. That's the core of Death Note. How the hell do you change that? Light doesn't even care about the opposite sex either. He's a manipulator who likes to use people. He never falls in love or cares about anybody. The movie showed Light becoming a sucker for Mia and her being the crazed deranged one. I'm screaming at my small T.V. like "IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!! HOW DO YOU MESS THAT UP?!" Where in Death Note did Light even show a hint of pure love? Even his potato chips he ate with malice intent.

But I digress, even if this was the story, even if they kept School Shooter Light and his dead momma and Psycho Mia and the lame revenge story, I wouldn't have really cared if it was done right. Unfortunately you can tell the story was rushed. The black books are 7 EDITIONS and thick as hell filled with twists and turns. A complex narrative like this can't be told in an hour and 30 minutes and the only guy who could kind of pull it off is David Fincher. I like Adam Wingard but he plays fast and loose with his movies. You look at something like The Guest or You're Next, the story isn't heavy with narrative or beaming with deep thinking characters who drive the plot. It's quick, in your face moving at 100 MPH and hoping the viewer is in on the ride. Death Note doesn't deserve quick, it deserves slow burn Zodiac-like film making with attention to every detail. And Lakeith Stanfield is a great actor but wow was he horribly miscast in this role. Why didn't anyone call Paul Dano? You can tell Netflix wanted a quick cash grab and what they got instead was a flaming turd. But hey at least the Japanese movie version is probably even more shitty.