My review of “Death Note” 2017 (Netflix)

Trish and I binge-watched the anime about 5 years ago, and we loved the experience. I’m actually one of the rare folks who tries not to hang any expectations on new versions, iterations, or adaptations of beloved content (yes, while I won’t say I love them, I find myself an apologist for the Star Wars prequels often). Also, while I am a vocal advocate for representations of Asians in media, I can accept this film as an American adaptation of a Japanese story. Make no mistake, it’s definitely problematic, but it’s far from the worst thing about this movie.

It’s simply an awful film.
The directing is terrible. It’s not so much that the acting is bad, it’s that the acting is wrong. You can put the blame squarely on the director for the way this thing is acted. It’s uneven, and often just off. Blargh.

Also, this film hates women. The one female character is the girlfriend, and she exists only to tempt the protagonist to the dark side. At one point, she says, “Nothing I do has ever mattered until I met you.” It’s an odd line that forces her character into the needy/helpless-girl-appendage trope when she’s clearly an equal partner in their activities otherwise. There’s also the jarring single scene that contains nudity, where a woman’s breasts are exposed in a way that adds absolutely nothing to anything. A room full of dead bodies, apparently from a mafia-type gang war, and also boobies. I can’t remember the last time I saw such a subversively sexist and misogynistic piece of media. I’ve read half a dozen reviews of this thing, and I’ve seen no mention of this element, a fact which itself speaks volumes.

That’s all that I have to say about this thing. I’m arguably the perfect consumer for a film like this: Love the Death Note franchise, and are totally open to a new story and adaptation… but this thing is a pile of crap.
I watched it so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.
