*Horraween 2017* Death Note

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So Netflix took an amazing concept from the source material Death Note, the anime series, whitewashed it and made it all about teen romance. "And I'm expected to swoon? I don't think so!"*

Our "protagonist" is Light Turner. He's the average "underdog" type. No friends, bad relationship with father, he's bullied and lost his mother in a tragedy. When we meet him he finds the mysterious notebook titled Death Note on a windy day. This is moments before he attempts to stop the school bully from pushing around a female classmate named Mia. The bully knocks his lights out (seriously no pun intended) and he wakes up in the principals office. The administrator reprimands Light for having a ton of students homework in his backpack (this is the movies attempt at showing us Light is a bit of a genius, as per the show.) The principal shows no  pity for Lights' black eye and sentences him to detention. 

In detention, Light opens the mysterious note book. It's filled with pages of names and  many, many rules. 

-whoevers' name is written in this book shall die 

-When writing a name you must imagine their face and see it in your head (so the wrong person doesn't die.)

Light has little time to contemplate if this book is real or some sort of Hoax. Ryuk the original owner of the Death Note appears in Lights empty detention classroom. Ryuk is an eight foot, scary ass demon and he evokes sheer terror from Light and promptly eats his apple. (In the first episode of the anime Ryuk reveals he loves apples from the human world.) Ryuk immediately has Light test out the Death Notes authenticity by writing down the bully's name from earlier. Ryuk urges Light to look out the window, where the bully is pushing around another girl. Lights decides to give it a try, a bully surely deserves an untimely death and so Light writes his name in the book. Ryuk then tells Light he needs to write down cause of death. Light jots down decapitation, that seems fair. (Personally I like the way Light discovers how the Death Note works in the anime much better than this. Ryuk doesnt appear to Light until 5 weeks after Light finds the book. It was less likely for him to believe the book to be real without a huge demon showing up first.) The bully is  swiftly killed by brutal decapitation. Yay for Karma! 

Then Light goes home and argues with his police officer father about his mothers death. Light is upset that her killer was able to pay his way out of prison. He goes upstairs to flip through his new note book and Ryuk returns. Among the very specific rules there is also a warning written from another previous owner DONT TRUST RYUK!  Light, still pissed at his dad for doing nothing to moms killer, decides to make her murderer his next victim. Minutes later his father tells Light that the guy they were just arguing over has suddenly died. His dad sad seems happy, this encourages Light.

Death Note (the movie) really wants to get into this teen romance so a few scenes later (few days time in the movie) Light is approached by the girl Mia. They have never spoken before but she was the girl he took that beating for in the beginning. They talk about how much they don't care about the bully that died the other day. Mia says"Kenny was a sociopath."  This will soon prove to be the pot calling the kettle black. After a few MINUTES Light decides to let Mia in on his big secret. His thought process was hey, girl I've never spoken to before, wanna see how I can kill anybody I want just, by writing their name?

He takes Mia to the computer lab and they find a live stream of a man holding his wife and daughter hostage with a gun.The mans face is shown and his name announced. Light quickly writes down the mans name  and picks a cause of death. He and Mia both watch the man die during the live news broadcast moments later. Then Light casually points at the paper to show Mia that he caused it to happen. Mia is impressed to say the least. She never really questions anything about whats going on but she wants to get in on the action. "We can change the world" she says. Her use of the word 'we' really excites Light. They are making out together minutes later because killing people is so hawt you guys! Light has been given this godlike power and gotten his first kiss in the space of 48 hours! Light tells Mia that whoever had the book before him just used it for personal problems and small time crooks. Light wants to use it to stop major drug lords, dictators, and rid the world of 'real evil. He realises that people will start to take notice if so many people, all bad guys just start dying. He decides that with each kill the name Kira will appear. He chooses this word because "it's a Japanese word and they will think the person behind all of this is in Japan." (false) He wants people to believe that Kira is a god and should be feared. 

Montage time! News reels show reporters talking about so many recent deaths on a global scale, and how people  are beginning to worship and fear Kira, some calling Kira the Messiah. Light and Mia specifically target an anonymous Asian man in tan military clothing. They also zero in on some Middle Eastern guy. (sigh) The world has no choice but to pay attention when Kira kills a total of four hundred people all over the globe. Everyone is talking about it. People fear Kira and it's actually prompting a huge decrease in crime. Most people worship this "God". Lights dad is not impressed at all. With no crime he has "no job to do", LOL. His father even complains that other officers don't care for him too much because they're also fans of Kira. An elusive detective is brought over from Japan to help find the real person behind the Kira deaths. With today's computer technology L knows quite a bit about Kira. Kira can only kill people whose names he knows and faces he's seen. To be safe L usually walks around with a face mask. L is a very eccentric character and really entertaining. He does a lot of jumping on tables to prove a point and smashing glasses for good measure. I didn't find L to be menacing, just quirky, he also loves candy. He has a Japanese associate that he travels with and trusts completely. (I really want to know more about L's character in the anime.) L is able to not only narrow down the city and state of Kira but has figured out Kira is an associate of the very police station that Lights father works at. L holds a press conference letting Kira know that he's coming for them. Mia starts showing her her true colors when she shows Light a random website of supposed "bad people" to kill next. They are small timers; rapists, murderers etc. Light thinks the site is too sketchy and doesn't find the site legit enough to use, come one guys, use links next time. This restraint on Lights side really bothers Mia. Remember Light, is supposed to be the 'good guy'. He's killing terrible people so it's fine. Light is now the judge, jury and the executioner but his moral compass is not skewed in any way. 

L soon suspects Light is Kira. He mentions to Lights father that his son is just so bright. (A fact from the anime that is never proven in this movie, just said repeatedly.) Light figures out he's being tailed by the police and it's revealed that every cop has their families being tailed. Investigators announce they're on to something when the Kira deaths slow down. Mia suggests they kill every single agent tailing every single person to keep the heat off them and they can continue their job of playing God. Light objects to this idea. Still somehow every agent dies a few days later via mass suicide. Light suspects Ryuk has done this from sort of loophole with the Death Note. To people with brains, it's obvious that Mia did this somehow. She really goes off the deep end when she tries to write Lights own fathers name after he holds a press conference daring Kira to kill him too. Light rightfully tells Mia to get the fuck out. It's clear that her desire for him isn't very strong when he isn't willing to kill his own father. "He's practically begging for it!" Mia cries. They make up when Mia comes back a few days later and tells him "I Love You(R POWER)"

Since Light doesn't kill his father L is now sure that he is Kira. He confronts Light and Light basically asks for help. L has no remorse because of all the people that have died. He begins stepping on the coffee shop table Light is sitting at and spills things for good measure. He wants to prove that Light is Kira and L even reveals himself to Light by taking off his mask, knowing that Light will never find out his real name. Light panics, now he has to kill L. Light decides to threaten L's personal assistant by writing his name in the Death Book for a later date, he says he will burn the page if the associate finds L's real name. According to the rules this page burning, to "take back" a death is only allowed once per owner. L's assistant goes on a wild goose chase looking for the files with L's real identity in a remote location. When L can't find or get into contact with his associate he knows Light is behind it. L has a hard time trying to convince anyone that Kira is the police officers son but  he finally is able to obtain a warrant and confronts Light and his father at the same time, once again putting his foot on their table. Mia was also there and told to "get lost". She disappears from the scene. Light assumes the cops found  the Death Note because it's no longer in his room.  At their school dance Mia reveals that she has the Death Note and has a plan to fix everyhting. Her plan involves Light turning the Death Note over to her, making her the proper owner. To ensure Light does as told Mia has written  Light Turner's heart will stop at midnight. Because of  the page burning rule Mia doesn't allow Light to stop the impending death of L's assistant, even though he finally has found out l'S name. What I don't understand is, if Light didn't burn the page for the assistant...can't he burn the page with his own name on it, without giving it to Mia? Mia also confesses that she is behind the officers mass suicide and explains to Light how she did it . She then says to Light "NOW GO GET MY GODDAMN BOOK."

Light runs off supposedly to get it, while rushing to put together a scheme. Mia alerts him that the cops have entered the school and are looking for him.

He runs into the computer lab, goes back to sketchy website Mia showed him earlier and starts writing furiously in the notebook. He texts Mia to meet him at the Ferris wheel. Welcome to the climax. The very specific instructions Light wrote  in the Death Note play out perfectly for him, not so much for Mia, remember she's the "bad" one. 

Light wakes up two days later from a coma, presumed innocent and with a dead girlfriend. L has been discredited and boards a plan back to Japan. Light's father comes in and tells Light that he now knows that Light is Kira.

Light then tells his father how was able to pull off his very elaborate scheme to get away with everything.

That night after Light ran from the school he texted Mia to meet him at the Ferris Wheel. When they are both aboard it, it starts malfunctioning and the cops show up, waiting below, Light asks Mia to just run away with him. He tells Mia  if she really loves him she will stop trying to take the book and just let them live like normal kids again. LOL. When Light is distracted Mia takes the Death Note, this instantly breaks Lights' heart but also sets off a chain of events he wrote down in the Death Note, just in case she  betrayed him. Mia falls out of the Ferris wheel , ripping a page out of the death note as she falls (the page is the one with Lights name and it falls into and burns in a fire). Mia dies instantly as she hits the ground. Light also falls and lands in the water. He wrote that a specific criminal doctor should be on standby to put Light in a medically induced coma for two days. He also has another criminal retrieve the death note from the water and bring it to Lights hospital room in 48 hours. Those two men then commit suicide (while Light is still comatose) proving that he can't possibly be Kira if  these deaths happen while he's out cold. Lights dad doesn't really have an actual reaction to this heinous news.

Basically the movie ends here. I'm not quite sure if I'm supposed to be happy for Light for getting away with everything, because I'm not. I don't feel bad for him for having a manipulative girlfriend. I don't think Light is any better than Mia was. They both were killing and for the same reasons.  Light is the worst anti hero I've ever seen. He plays God and thinks that what he's doing is bringing justice to the world. In reality Light is the evil one. I'm sorry that I didn't get to see him suffer for his actions. The only thing Death Note did for me was motivate me into watching the rest of the original series. I only seen the first episode of the anime and it almost feels as if the makers of this movie only seen as much themselves. Even the last line from this movie is the last line from the first episode, and it's so great it will be the last line in this post. Ryuk returns to Light in the hospital. He sees the irony of all the choices Light has made thus far, and sees Light is still pleased with himself . Ryuk laughs "You Humans are so interesting" 

*Line from Clueless