Review of Death Note - the Last Name -

This review comes at almost a month after I watched the movie in the cinema. Actually, I had lots of thoughts and comments about the concluding instalment of the Death Note real-life adaptation movie but only managed to find time to get down to organising them now. As such, this review will be very long, probably longer than what I wrote for the first movie. And be reminded that there are lots of spoilers so if you haven't watched this and do not wish to find out about the ending or whose name was written last on the Death Note, please skip this review now.

Part 1 ended with the cliffhanger of L supposedly seeing through Light's TV-in-the-potato-chips trick and taunting the latter by munching on chips before him. The sequel is where L and Light finally get the chance to pit their wits against each other, face-to-face. Light wants to join the Kira search team headed by L so as to eliminate his biggest enemy. On the other hand, L wants to find the proof to point to Light's identity as Kira and relishes the thrill of catching Light unawares at unexpected junctures.

I guess both guys enjoy the challenge of having someone who's as smart as you even though the other party is a life-threatening enemy. For example, their first "clash" at chess was such a speedy affair that the onlookers were stunned at how fast the geniuses made their moves as if they did not need to think at all.

The story here is jumbled up and the setting deviates from the manga to a large extent.

First of all, instead of introducing the Yotsuba arc in the story, the movie made Takada Kiyomi (Katase Nana) become the female version of Higuchi instead and totally erased the romantic link between her and Light. In the manga, Takada was Light's ex-classmate and considered an ex-girlfriend as well. Her reappearance was arranged to be right after the Yotsuba arc as a pawn for Light to get in touch with Mikami, the third Kira.

In the movie, Takada becomes somewhat like Higuchi who had made use of the Death Note passed by Ryuk under Light's orders to shake off L's suspicions. Takada plays a budding reporter in Sakura TV who wants to climb to the post of main announcer which is currently hogged by Nishiyama Saeko who had slept with the producer Demegawa to secure the post. Well, Takada has lofty aspirations about being a top class announcer without stooping so low but her conscience and ideals crumble when presented with the Death Note by Rem (instead of Ryuk). She follows the instructions to continue killing criminals with the Death Note and finally uses it for her own benefit by causing a freak accident for Nishiyama. This allows Takada to climb to the top but not at her own merit. L and Light pinpoint Takada easily from the various clues and manage to catch her redhanded. Eventually, Light kills off Takada once he regains his memory and gets back the ownership of the Death Note.

Frankly speaking, although Takada isn't that smart in the manga either (she was used by Light and died in a fire together with Mero), she comes across as a bimbo especially after getting hold of the Death Note. And I simply do not understand why the director had to arrange for Takada to show off her legs in such a manner which is obviously a visual treat for the guys. It only serves to strengthen the impression that the Takada in the movie is a brainless beauty. Given that the movie does not have enough time to cover the full storyline, I guess that's why the decision was made to potray Takada as Higuchi.

Talking about the newly added characters, I don't understand why Demegawa shrunk from an obese fellow to one scrawny lecherous chap. Nishiyama's addition was similarly meaningless and only served to be the reason why Takada went astray.

Amane Misa (Toda Erika) becomes someone of greater importance in the sequel as an infatuated admirer of Light who would do anything for him. To be frank, I simply dislike the Misa in the manga because I cannot understand her rationale of doing things and her blind obsession with Light although it's obvious that he's using her. To make things worse, her "cute" mannerisms got on my nerves, primarily due to my lack of tolerance for girls who try to act cute. However, Toda does pretty well as Misa and I can say Misa doesn't seem that annoying after all. Although Misa's ditzy nature did not change in the movie, I guess Toda managed to tone down a little bit during the more sentimental scenes e.g. the last part where she was trying hard to remember what happened to Light.

With regards to the two leads i.e. Fujiwara Tatsuya and Matsuyama Kenichi, I must say that the latter outshines his senior in many ways. Although Fujiwara was good at showing how twisted Light had become especially to the extent of trying to kill his father for the sake of securing his own survival, Matsuyama showed off a more varied performance. That mask he was wearing to cover his face, the antics he was up to when he appeared in Light's university and the way he fell off the chair upon hearing about Death Gods made everyone in the theatre laugh amidst the tense atmosphere prevalent in the movie. Yet, he also showed the serious and sentimental side of L when he was having the final showdown with Light, lamenting his inability to save Watari and how he was facing impending death alone. No wonder he managed to get so many awards and nominations for his acting in this movie e.g. Best Newcomer in Hochi Movie Awards, Best Newcomer in Yokohama Movie Festival and Best Supporting Actor in Nippon Academy Awards. I'm looking forward to seeing the L spinoff movie which will be shown in 2008. Details about the movie are still shrouded in secrecy but once information is available, I will post them on this blog.

Last but not least, the ending of the movie which I'm sure everyone would know is different from the manga. In the manga, almost all those involved in the case in one way or another died and the only main character who survived is Near. Of course, there's still Matsuda, Aizawa and Co. who are left behind in the police force to think about the what ifs assuming Light aka Kira was still alive. In the movie, there were also many who died e.g. Light, L, Watari but there were many who survived to think about the what ifs. I like the idea of keeping the truth from people close to Light because they would have been devastated by his true identity as Kira especially Sayu and his mother. It was also a good thing for Misa to lose her memories of how Light died because she would have joined him in death which was almost a certainty.

In the movie, L is potrayed as the victor in the battle of wits against Light but at the expense of his life. He wrote his name personally in the Death Note to test one of the rules written within and to gain Yagami Souichirou's assistance in nabbing Light. Although he died later than Light, the final name written in the Death Note is Light since L used it on himself prior to the showdown. As such, this victory isn't a complete one for L but provides some consolation especially to L fans who should have been shocked and sad at seeing him die at such an early stage in the manga. That last scene of L facing death alone and feeling sad about not being able to protect Watari from harm was very upsetting. Although he died with dignity, that lingering sense of sadness made it very difficult for me to accept his death.

On the whole, I feel that the movie adaptation was pretty successful in many ways. First of all, most of the original characters and settings were kept as it was so as to manage the expectations of manga fans. At the same time, the deviations from the plot managed to churn up many surprises for those new to the story and manga fans at the same time. Adding to that was the competent performances of Fujiwara and Matsuyama made it a joy to watch their battle on screen. If I have to name the things which I'm unhappy about the films, that would probably be the handling of Misora Naomi to the extent of making her a brainless woman, the over-exposure of flesh from Takada Kiyomi as well as redundant changes e.g. the "shrinking" of Demegawa and oversimplying Takada's role as a woman hungry for fame and power.