Just got back from seeing the live action movie Death Note (part 1). It was really good, if a bit melodramatic in places (but so was the manga, ne...) The cast were excellent and surprisingly looked their parts with the possible exception of Light who was just slightly off the manga imagery. The guy who played L even got his body language down. It was so cool. And watching him with the sweet eating was even more amusing in action form. I was impressed by the costuming too. Everyone was wearing their exact outfits from the manga, even Misa's stuff was pefect.
Ryuk looked great. Exactly like he was supposed to and the jerkiness of the CGI actually lent itself to his otherworldlyness. I didn't like his voice, but only cause they put this reverb echo on it that made it really difficult for me to understand him.
I'd be lying if I said I could understand every line when I watched the movie, but since I had a very good idea of the general plot, I pretty much had no trouble following the story and filling in the blanks when my Japanese failed me. It also helped that I know the kanji for "death" *L*
Plotwise, it was surprisingly faithful though I'm not sure if I like the idea of starting a year into the story then skipping backwards since they didnt' even make it back to where they started by the end of the movie. They cut out the porn reading scene which is a pity since it's a funny scene. Also, one person dies who I don't believe dies in the manga (mostly cause she's an original character) making Light even more psychotic. (I also couldn't help laughing when Light throws away a Japanese rulebook after it fails to help him destroy a criminal. Talk about taking the term "throwing out the rules" literally.) I've never seen anyone be so threatening as L while eating potato chips *g*
Music was excellent. The camera angles were a bit odd in the beginning but settled down by the end. Ryuk was surprisingly entertaining. I think they did a good job of hiding that Light was the Chief's son until the big reveal. It's interesting that the more human the Chief gets, the less human Light does. That being said, Light's sobbing over his dead girlfriend would have convinced me too. Creepy.
So yeah. Good stuff. Have to wait until November for the next one. Will go and download the music now *L* Ja ne!
Ryuk looked great. Exactly like he was supposed to and the jerkiness of the CGI actually lent itself to his otherworldlyness. I didn't like his voice, but only cause they put this reverb echo on it that made it really difficult for me to understand him.
I'd be lying if I said I could understand every line when I watched the movie, but since I had a very good idea of the general plot, I pretty much had no trouble following the story and filling in the blanks when my Japanese failed me. It also helped that I know the kanji for "death" *L*
Plotwise, it was surprisingly faithful though I'm not sure if I like the idea of starting a year into the story then skipping backwards since they didnt' even make it back to where they started by the end of the movie. They cut out the porn reading scene which is a pity since it's a funny scene. Also, one person dies who I don't believe dies in the manga (mostly cause she's an original character) making Light even more psychotic. (I also couldn't help laughing when Light throws away a Japanese rulebook after it fails to help him destroy a criminal. Talk about taking the term "throwing out the rules" literally.) I've never seen anyone be so threatening as L while eating potato chips *g*
Music was excellent. The camera angles were a bit odd in the beginning but settled down by the end. Ryuk was surprisingly entertaining. I think they did a good job of hiding that Light was the Chief's son until the big reveal. It's interesting that the more human the Chief gets, the less human Light does. That being said, Light's sobbing over his dead girlfriend would have convinced me too. Creepy.
So yeah. Good stuff. Have to wait until November for the next one. Will go and download the music now *L* Ja ne!