As a big fan of the anime I was cringing a little before watching; taking the attitude of I hope they don't screw it up too bad. The first thing I came to realize is they weren't trying to recreate the anime. While the idea and principal characters are represented and the story line follows the same direction, the entire focus of the movie is different. So for this reason I would advise against seeing the anime if you haven't already as this is more a cliff notes version with some major changes. Okay the bad- the movie is just too short, really needed another 30-40 minutes to delve into the scope of the Death Note and the creation of Kira. Ryuk gets almost no attention and basically spends his time laughing, and the half eaten apples started to bug me (just why a death god eats at all is never explained). Now the good- despite the above deficiencies it had no trouble keeping my attention for the most part. The deaths they show are adequately graphic. The notion that Light is making the world a better place is buttressed by interaction from other players, not just declared like some other elements. Overall I think this movie is aimed at the Goosebumps demographic who have just grown past that franchise. It presents a thought provoking scenario both wondrous and horrifying, sprinkle it with gore and tension, and top it off with 'hey I could be that guy'. The movie concludes leaving some questions unanswered and primed for a sequel. So my conclusion is if you have never heard of Death Note before and were a fan of Goosebumps then definitely give this a viewing. However if you are a purist and have seen the anime you may want to steer clear. Personally I liked it despite its shortcomings and will probably watch it again.
Review of Death Note
