Death Note - Desu nôto: Light Up the New World (2016) Reviews

• It's not KIRA vs L

  Snootz2017-05-04

  The original Death Note was brilliant; this film is a dull glow in comparison. While the overall theme comes across, many viewers will find the individual elements of the plot quite a bit more difficult to follow and less cohesive to the film overall. There seems to be a lot of needless filler. Neither the plot nor characters are as sharp and intelligent as the original KIRA or L. There is nowhere near the unique personalities of the two, nor much viewer compassion for any of the characters. In truth, it struck me that the main stars of this film were the Shinigami, which were far more interesting than the live characters. There is a tendency of viewers to compare follow-up films with the original and that is perhaps unfair... but it is also inevitable. Imagine a Sherlock Holmes film in which the intelligence, attention to detail and twist-of-plot is missing; is it really Sherlock Holmes any longer? That considered, is a Death Note movie without extraordinary chess-like moves by the main characters really Death Note? In the end I was disappointed in the film and felt it could have been two hours better spent.

• Death Note Light Up the New World: A welcome addition to the franchise

  Platypuschow2017-09-28

  Death Note the anime is one of the all time greatest television series, a true masterpiece and a contender for the most intelligent franchise by far. I was always fearful to venture into the live action material and that doubled when I watched the embarrassment of Death Note (2017) I finally took a chance and watched Death Note (2006) and was thrilled at how well made it was and loyal to the original material. Sure it had tweaked a couple of parts of the storyline, but it still felt like Death Note. The sequel was equally great and the third part was perfectly good as well, when I discovered a 4th movie had been made I questioned whether it had reached the stage they were milking it. Following directly on from the 3rd movie, we're now 10yrs on from the original events of Kira with both Light & L deceased. The death gods have rained death notes down on the world and all hell is breaking loose. It's come down to L's successor and the surviving members of the old team to bring justice to those responsible. This 4th movie clearly has a larger budget, the shinigami cgi is considerably better and the whole film just looks polished. It follows on perfectly and is a welcome addition to the franchise. It has it's flaws don't get me wrong, but regardless is a great Death Note film even if it doesn't have the subtlety of the originals. I'm not sure whether this is the end, I feel like it could continue based upon the ending but this is a decent enough send off should it not. The Good: Decent opening sequence CGI has improved Shinigami's are great The Bad: Some bad, dull and unlikable characters Story is perhaps too grand for a 2hr film

• A decent thrilling entry to the fantastic live-action franchise. It may not hold a candle to the original first two films but it is a step up from L's spin off.

  helmutty2016-11-15

  As a Death Note fan, I was excited when a new film is green-lighted. It is only later when it is revealed as a sequel to Death Note: The last name. Though doubtful, I was still looking forward to see how the saga of Kira could be continued. Crafted as an original story, the first trailer looked intriguing. So how does the final product fare? Death Note: Light up the new world is a decent installment to the popular franchise, paying homage to the franchise. Although it is a sequel, it could easily be a stand-alone film with all the new characters. It may not match the standard of the first two films directed by Shusuke Kaneko but it is a step up from Hideo Nakata's L: Change the world. The story: Set 10 years after Death Note: The last name, Shinsuke Sato (Director of Gantz) goes straight into the thrills as he opens with a killing rampage in Tokyo. He keeps the pace brisk without slowing down for character's development. The viewers will be thrust into the middle of the cat-and-mouse chase. I think it will be helpful to watch Death Note: New Generation, a mini-series that is the prequel to this. The new characters are interesting enough but nothing beats Light and L. The third act falls to Shinsuke's familiar territory. A thrilling chase followed by an action-packed climax with revelations. Some twists may be a little surprised but if you know Death Note, it wouldn't come off as a big surprise. Shinsuke directs with enough thrills to keep the film afloat. Acting is alright. The characters are fighting for their own screen time. None of the characters stand out. Even Ryuk, the iconic shinigami, has limited screen time. Music is throughout and adds to the thrills. Overall: It may not hold a candle next to first two films in term of smartness and thrills but it is decent enough to warrant a watch. It is definitely not boring and the CGI has improved a lot. The CGI of the three shinigamis feel more realistic and organic. Is it worthy of being in the Death Note franchise? I would say a 'Yes'. It ends with a common cliffhanger and I wouldn't seeing Death Note taking a new direction. But it will have to wait until this film is deemed as successful. Meanwhile, let's see if the Hollywood remake in 2017 is worthy of its title.

• Fitfully exciting as a police procedural but little more, this new 'Death Note' entry lacks the wit, character detail, and thrill of its far superior predecessors

  moviexclusive2016-11-10

  If you've never heard of L, Light, Kira, Misa, Ryuk or for that matter the Death Notes, then we suggest that you catch up with the first three movies of the 'Death Note' film franchise before watching this fourth chapter. Oh yes, despite set ten years after 'Death Note 2: The Last Name', this new instalment by 'Gantz' and 'I Am A Hero' director Shinsuke Sato draws heavily from its predecessors – among the key members of the task force set up to investigate the new rash of Death Note murders is Ryuzaki (Sosuke Ikematsu), an Interpol officer who has inherited L's DNA and therefore not only his spiritual but also biological successor; the main nemesis is also codenamed 'Neo Kira' (or 'New Kira'), after the nickname that Light uses to execute his own brand of vigilante justice; and last but not least, there are appearances by L, Light, Misa and Ryuk in both physical and digital form to draw reference to their legacy from the earlier movies. It is therefore somewhat inevitable that 'Death Note: Light Up the New World' is compared against the earlier Shūsuke Kaneko's duology, but unfortunately that comparison does no favours to this latest addition. Central to the thrill of the first two 'Death Note' movies was the battle of wits between L and Light, each of whom recognized the imperfections of the existing system of law and order but had fundamental disagreements over how to make things right – and between them of course was the death god Ryuk, who had his own ambitions but was ultimately constrained by the rules governing the gods assigned to the 'death note(book)'. That same cerebral tension is sorely missing in this adaptation, which struggles to summon the same level of cleverness in the to-and-fro between Ryuzaki and Yuki Shien (aka the 'Neo Kira'); neither do we find the same exchange of intellectual plotting between Ryuzaki and his fellow bright-eyed investigator Tsukuru Mishima (Masahiro Higashide), who have their fair share of run-ins given the former's unconventional methods. Worse, in trying to be smart, Sato and his screenwriter Katsunari Mano tie the narrative in some implausible twists and turns especially in the last half-hour. The so-called 'Neo Kira' turns out to be someone else. Mishima is not quite who he says he is. Ryuzaki 'cheats' death in a similar way that L used to trap Light. And one of Mishima's teammates turns out to be the vengeful sister of a victim who died at the hands of the 'Neo Kira'. As fast-paced as these revelations come, they come off unconvincing. Are we supposed to accept that Ryuzaki can just waltz into the Metro Police's headquarters and break Mishima out of detention, after he is accused by his superior of withholding critical information from the investigation? Are we supposed to accept that the both of them can then access the same headquarters' vaults to retrieve one of the 'death note(books)' the Police has managed to retrieve? Indeed, there is a blatant disregard for logic as the film tries to stay one step ahead of its audience, but the surprises are just too far- fetched. Without sufficient character work between Ryuzaki, Mishima and Yuki Shien, it is pretty much left up to the plotting to sustain interest throughout its two-hours plus runtime. Admittedly, things do start off intriguing as not one but six notebooks are found to be circulating around the world – which is the reason for a Russian prologue that sees a doctor discover one of them and unintentionally cause the death of one of his close friends/ patients – but, for obvious budgetary reasons, these notebooks quickly and inexplicably find themselves in Tokyo, Japan, which the taskforce comprising of only Japanese is assigned to track down. A cyber-terrorism link that could have taken the story in a fresh new direction is also under- developed, such that the narrative is reduced to no more than a police procedural around the hunt for the 'Neo Kira'. There is a fair bit of excitement no doubt, but the fact that the proceedings unfold on a much smaller scale is inevitably disappointing. Sadly too, the combined talent of Higashide, Ikematsu and Sada cannot quite make up for the considerable absence of Kenichi Matsuyama and Tatsuya Fujiwara (who had played L and Light respectively). There is a palpable sense of joy seeing them on the screen, which promptly evaporates once we realize that they are no more than cameos. The advances in CGI have made the 'shinigamis' (or 'death gods') look much more imposing and humbling though, including a white female one named Arma (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro) that forms an intimate connection with Ryuzaki. But besides Ryuzaki and Arma, the bond between (notebook) bearer and god (including that between Yuki Shien and Ryuk here) is hardly fleshed out, lacking therefore the nuances which characterized that between Light and Ryuk in the previous two movies. As an addition to the film franchise, 'Death Note: Light Up the New World' pales in comparison is probably the weakest next to 'L: Light Up the World'. There is no exposition on the philosophical conundrums of the Death Notes, of being able to judge and decide who lives and who dies, nor for that matter of how that power changes its wielder (as it did Light). There is also little intellectual machination that the earlier two films had, or character intricacies that made L and Light such complex and fascinating characters in their own right. In place is a fitfully exciting police procedural that only becomes more and more ridiculous as it tries to outwit itself, ending on a predictably open note that leaves the possibility of a sequel all but inevitable. Alas, its very title proves a misnomer – not only does it not light up a new beginning, it pretty much casts a dull shadow on the franchise by expending much of the goodwill built up by its far superior predecessors.

• Improvement from the last one , but is it worth watching?

  ultroks2017-06-15

  The movie is set 10 years after Kira and L's conflict ended, Six notes are released to the world. The movie follows three main characters even if it feels like two. A special task force member who pursues all 6 death notes, Ryuzaki the successor of L who helps special task force and Worshiper of kira who want all 6 death notes. The acting is decent and story overall is not that bad either,they surely had some good ideas, but fail to deliver it. Third act is full of plot twists and revelations that just complicates the story, it seems they wanted to apply same formula for the characters here like in the original. Even forcing similar relationship L and Kira had.The problem is that characters does not have enough building till that point for what they wanted to achieve. Those who are unfamiliar with whole death note franchise may find the story hard to follow especially with all the rules and backstory it have. There were few mistakes that bothered me like some scenes where names are written in the Death Note and people are immediately dying instead in 40 seconds. Which means its breaking the rules of Death note. The thing that I like the most was new Shinigamis, Cgi was improved and their design are great as well, I find them more interesting than main characters. Also it can be seen how are they trying to recreate the complexity of the original story but the main problem is that the characters are lacking depths. it can be exciting at moments, I say give it a try only if you are a fan of the series and movies, if you loved first two movies you may also enjoy this one.