Death Note doesn’t nosedive in the way that fans of the anime or casual viewers seem to be painting. Its style is purposefully overdone and revels in that with conscious choice of cheesy music and acting. The appearance of Death God Ryuk and the blood-curdling screams early on establishes a schlocky, self-aware attitude that leaves it up to the individual to agree if it works. Familiarity with the Director Adam Wingard’s previous films would only help better understand what he is attempting to do. He walks the tightrope of comedy/horror schlock in most of his films, and while there is evidence Death Note does the same, there is an underlying sense this project is handcuffed by studio notes instead of the allowance for liberal exploration of fresh and bizarre territory. It bleeds the question, “what could this have been as a 13-episode miniseries?” Death Note both fails and succeeds in cramming the plot points of the source material into a short amount of time while exploring new ideas but tumbles under its own weight, simultaneously entertaining and disappointing, exceeding and underperforming in its adaptation. I’m genuinely unsure if a straight adaptation would work better or be as enjoyable. Perhaps it works better as a summation of curious, ambitious ideas that either fall short or are lost in translation. An amusing, infuriating and intriguing mess of a film. (6.5/10)
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