DVD
REVIEW:DEATH NOTE L: CHANGE THE WORLD
08/31/09
SYNOPSIS: This
spin-off follows a new original storyline and introduces the
unwritten chapter of DEATH NOTE and reveals how the
legendary detective “L” (Kenichi Matsuyama) spends the final
23 days of his life. The story begins as L takes on the
“Kira” case, in which countless criminals are dying under
mysterious circumstances. L successfully solves the case and
stops Kira, but only after sacrificing his life, leaving
himself with only 23 days left to live. For his final case L
faces down a bio-terrorist group trying to wipe out humanity
with a deadly virus ten times more potent than Ebola. As L
tries to formulate an antidote with a scientist, he must
also save the lives of two children who have no one else to
turn to. DEATH NOTE: L, change the WorLd features what
happened before and after the two earlier DEATH NOTE events
and shows DEATH NOTE fans the more human side of L that
could not be seen previously. The movie stars Kenichi
Matsuyama (Linda Linda Linda, NANA and Detroit Metal City)
as ‘L’, and for dubbed version, L’s voice is played by
Alessandro Juliani from the anime series.
REVIEW: Be a witness
of world’s best detective’s last 23 days, and watch how his
brilliant mind and flawless intuition solves and saves the
world once again from another wicked opponent. Not really. L
Change the World, an original story on Tsugumi Ohba’s famous
character: L could have been an exceptional way to close the
Death Note series, but it ended up being nothing but a
simple spin off. The movie is entertaining, I will give it
that, the plot and the story line are acceptable enough to
spend the whole 129 minutes watching it, however it does not
feel like any of the Death Note movies, anime, or manga.
The movie has an interesting story, is not as fantastical
and appealing as the first two movies, but it does have many
qualities to make it fit to the original one, like the
characters, the stakes, and I also like how the director
linked the first two movies into this one. However, it lacks
something the other two had, and what makes a movies great :
a formidable foe. In this movie although the threat is as
evenly match as in the first two movies L is not faced with
an opponent as smart and appealing as Light Yagami was. I
thought the movie was suppose as the first two a battle of
wits between L and K, plus a race against time, since L’s
destiny is already written, but unfortunately the challenge
does not even measure to this. It was very disappointing
that this movie did not delivered any surprising moment at
all, it was very straight forward, and it is even more
disappointing that there was little reference to the Death
Note movies. Yes it touches some moments from the original
movies at the beginning, but as it progresses all the
mysticism simply goes away. I was waiting for a shocking
junction between one crisis to another, I was even looking
forward to see Ryuk having a supporting role.
Everything is not bad in this movie, I really enjoy Kinishi
Matsuyama’s performance as the calculating, almost
insensitive, candy lover L. he actually depicts the manga
character as its best. He looks, talk, and move like L. I
also like how the writers gave him more human feelings to
his character. The movie also presents scattered situations
that work one way or another, some are funny, other tries to
link the story to the original story, and other are just
good, like L’s escape vehicle, the plane scene, the side
story between L and the boy, and the story between L, K, and
Watari. Also I liked that they kept the original voices as
in anime. As a Death Note Fan I recommend this DVD to all
Death Note Fans who want to see how the story ends. However
do not expect to see nothing out of the ordinary, for any
other viewer I recommend to see the first two in order to
understand it better. L would not change the world with this
production, the film has the same effect as X-Men Origin:
Wolverine and Terminator: Salvation had on their franchises:
nothing. It is a shame that the unwritten chapter of Death
Note should have also being unfilmed.
VIDEO:
Widescreen Version 16x9
AUDIO:
English and Japanese 5.1
Dolby Surround / English Japanese 2.0
English Subtitles
SPECIAL FEATURES:
In this department the video
also lacks content, as other Death note DVDs it only has a
short making of with interviews of the director, and voice
actors(Japanese cast and crew), the promo and the preview
form the other Death note movies it has a special insert
with an L report( key observations about the character) and
a cross word.
Behind the Scenes and
director interview: basically it is the regular
making of, the producer, director and crew gives their
opinion on the new take to the story (19:44)
Event Bonus Teaser:
A teaser promo showed in Japan’s Screening (1:52)
Original Japanese
trailer: the original ads played in Japan (1:42)
Oficial English
Trailer: A Trailer which I found adds more
expectation of what the movie actually deliver. (1:04)
Trailers
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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