COMMENTS
Light Yagami… hero or villain?
The cinematography of the film is suitably dark, and almost edgy in nature. Shots are clean, but contain a certain contrast of light versus dark that fits with the theme of the film: good versus evil. Scenes in which Light is the central character seem to have a lower level of light than those with L, which are bright, and tend to lean more toward a white palette. Perhaps the perfect example of this, are the final shots of the film, in which L and Light come face to face for the first time. The area is lit, but somewhat dimly. Unlike the shots with either characters, this setting is neither light, nor dark. It walks the line between the two, creating an interesting combination, as if to say the two men are at a stand still. Cinematographer Hiroshi Takase is to be commended for this meticulous level of detail.
Musically, Kenji Kawai pulls through once again. In all of his past projects, he tends to add a level of quality that often times makes a film feel more epic than it truly is. Unlike films such as DRAGON TIGER GATE, or SEVEN SWORDS (Chat Gim, 2005), however, the score here is far more ambient, and is meant to accompany a scene rather than overpower it. Rarely is the music ever louder than the sound effects or dialogue here. Perhaps the only track in the film that reaches a powerful, theme song level is “Go into Battle”, the track that plays over the first meeting between L and Light. It’s a piece that slowly builds into a guitar and synthesizer chord that perfectly represents the drama about to unfold in the final half of the story. The official movie soundtrack comes highly recommended.
The writing in the film is consistently one step ahead of the viewer, and keeps the audience on their feet. While most of the scenarios are straight out of the manga, much of the story is original. However, these scenes are just as intelligent and shocking as the ones that come before them. For instance, the meeting of L and Light, and the events that lead up to it, are drastically different from what is in the original source material, but it is equally as engaging, and completely apart of how these characters would interact with each other. Tetsuya Oishi has done a spectacular job in adapting the cerebral dialogue to the screen. Perhaps the only complaint is that in the beginning the film drags a little bit. Though this is to be expected considering the amount of information that needs to be delivered to the viewer in a short amount of time.
Director Shusuke Kaneko has done a spectacular job in bringing a well-loved property to the big screen. If critical success is not indicative of this, than perhaps the financial success is. DEATH NOTE in it’s Japanese release had an opening weekend take of $4 million (US), and earned more than $24 million total in it’s run in Japan. This doesn’t include the constantly increasing international releases in countries such as China and Singapore. If the box office is any indication, then clearly the sequel DEATH NOTE: THE LAST NAME is as good, if not better than this first film, having brought in $19,343,415 in only two weeks in Japan alone. Both films opened at number 1, which marks a first for Kaneko.
Light Yagami… hero or villain?
The cinematography of the film is suitably dark, and almost edgy in nature. Shots are clean, but contain a certain contrast of light versus dark that fits with the theme of the film: good versus evil. Scenes in which Light is the central character seem to have a lower level of light than those with L, which are bright, and tend to lean more toward a white palette. Perhaps the perfect example of this, are the final shots of the film, in which L and Light come face to face for the first time. The area is lit, but somewhat dimly. Unlike the shots with either characters, this setting is neither light, nor dark. It walks the line between the two, creating an interesting combination, as if to say the two men are at a stand still. Cinematographer Hiroshi Takase is to be commended for this meticulous level of detail.
Musically, Kenji Kawai pulls through once again. In all of his past projects, he tends to add a level of quality that often times makes a film feel more epic than it truly is. Unlike films such as DRAGON TIGER GATE, or SEVEN SWORDS (Chat Gim, 2005), however, the score here is far more ambient, and is meant to accompany a scene rather than overpower it. Rarely is the music ever louder than the sound effects or dialogue here. Perhaps the only track in the film that reaches a powerful, theme song level is “Go into Battle”, the track that plays over the first meeting between L and Light. It’s a piece that slowly builds into a guitar and synthesizer chord that perfectly represents the drama about to unfold in the final half of the story. The official movie soundtrack comes highly recommended.
The writing in the film is consistently one step ahead of the viewer, and keeps the audience on their feet. While most of the scenarios are straight out of the manga, much of the story is original. However, these scenes are just as intelligent and shocking as the ones that come before them. For instance, the meeting of L and Light, and the events that lead up to it, are drastically different from what is in the original source material, but it is equally as engaging, and completely apart of how these characters would interact with each other. Tetsuya Oishi has done a spectacular job in adapting the cerebral dialogue to the screen. Perhaps the only complaint is that in the beginning the film drags a little bit. Though this is to be expected considering the amount of information that needs to be delivered to the viewer in a short amount of time.
Director Shusuke Kaneko has done a spectacular job in bringing a well-loved property to the big screen. If critical success is not indicative of this, than perhaps the financial success is. DEATH NOTE in it’s Japanese release had an opening weekend take of $4 million (US), and earned more than $24 million total in it’s run in Japan. This doesn’t include the constantly increasing international releases in countries such as China and Singapore. If the box office is any indication, then clearly the sequel DEATH NOTE: THE LAST NAME is as good, if not better than this first film, having brought in $19,343,415 in only two weeks in Japan alone. Both films opened at number 1, which marks a first for Kaneko.
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