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
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