I watched this on Monday and I'd held it off for ages because I just wasn't in the mood but I DID want to see it before they stopped showing it at the cinema so I took the opportunity on Monday afternoon.

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Official Website
Trailers and Teasers 1, 2, 3, 4
And because Japan can't get enough of it: Ryuk doing PPAP

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Story

If you didn't know this is set 10 years after the original movies and 6 Death Notes have landed in the human world and naturally it causes mayhem and everyone in the world remembers the original Death Note outburst. The Japanese police are working with L's successor who goes by Ryuuzaki in order to find the new Kira and collect the 6 Death Notes.


Semi-to-Non-Spoiler

Lets do the aesthetics first;

In general, I'm really impressed by how much the production quality has risen in Japanese films this past year and this movie was also a very high quality budget production! I loved the cinematography the CGI was amazing! I'm pretty sure they used part real material and model, part CGI to make the Shinigami's this time and they're so impressive!! I really am happy with how well produced this movie is!

The story itself was interesting but the original teaser trailer made it sound a lot better than it actually ended up being. I enjoyed the story but the actual tricks and twists they had were pretty predictable or had been use previously in the Death Note series so it wasn't anything new or mindblowing which is a shame because Death Note's charm is that it's really well thought out and really mind-blowing in terms of it's tricks and how it does everything.

The genre of this new film itself was a little odd. I'm disappointed at how police based this was. I know this sounds odd because even the original series spends a lot of time in a police station but in the original series there's a lot of L vs Kira conflict and conversation and a lot of being with the main characters in their heads and there's a lot of suspense and internal thoughts and this power of the brains, however in this one it's very much 'we're the police. It's a police case. The police will sort this out' and Ryuuzaki and Kira never really get sceen time. They're just there now and again. They literally only have TWO conversations between them and during that time we're getting more shots of the police trying to focus in on Kira than we are watching these two (supposidely) masterminds going at it head-to-head.



Higashide Masahiro as Mishima. I have a problem with Higashide as an actor in general... I've seen him in Kirishima, Creepy, Aoharu Ride, Parasyte 1, Eien no Bokura Sea Side Blue, HanaMoyu, xxxHolic, Crows Explode and I just never really get a great impression from him, and also I feel he's only good for bad roles << by this I mean like the enemy roles. He has a very UNtrustworthy face in general and as soon as I saw him in this I thought 'is he bollocks playing the good guy'. For some reason I just don't like this guy as an actor and I just do not trust him as a person and he definitely has the face of a bad person and I'd never trust him in a good guy role.



Ikematsu Sousuke as Ryuuzaki. Ikematsu is an amazing actor and he did not disappoint me in this. He has amazing facial expressions, he's able to do a range of emotions and he just did a really solid and amazing job as always! Unfortunately the character himself is a little dull, underwritten, and no where near as clever as the original L but I feel Ikematsu proved to us once again that he's a worthy actor. Funnily enough, there's a scene in this where the location was also used in MOZU and immediately I was like 'I NEED TO WATCH IKEMATSU IN MOZU AGAIN!' for a good 10 minutes rather than paying attention to Death Note. Seriously, watch Mozu if you've never seen it!



Suda Masaki as Kira. First I have to get my concerns out; Suda lost weight for this role on purpose right?! because I don't remember him being that thin before! I got really concerned towards the end and you can even see on his face, he'll literally bone and viens (you can see a huge one going down his forehead) which you couldn't notice even last year! I am very concerned. Onto his acting; he's another solid actor and he did not disappoint! I really liked his role but just like Ikematsu's I wish he'd been given more development and more intelligence. I really liked his costume too.





Toda Erika - I am so glad Misa actually got common sense and a brain in this one! One of the biggest flaws on the DN series is that many people claimed and talked about the lack of female development and that they were only used a visually appealing characters so of course it was nice to get a Misa in this who isn't as easy to manipulate and isn't as easy to crack and there's a scene between her and Kira and she can clearly see right through his plan and isn't fooled at all and I was like 'yes Misa go!' her story in general was probably the most satifying in this movie. She had a role, she fulfilled it and the way her story ended was also very appropriate and satifying I think.



Fujii Mina - there's an obvious pattern in this movie. In the DN 2015 TV series there's 5 cops (4 men and 1 woman), L and Light. In the movie we have 3 police men, 1 police woman, Ryuuzaki and Mishima. Clearly a mirror pattern between the two. Unforutnately she didn't have that much of a role but the way her story came towards the end was interesting.

Other things I want to touch on before we hit the spoilers:

They did try and put in some comedy in this fil but personally I feel it did not work. It did not fit the mood or the atmosphere of Death Note in my opinion. Also going back to the story falling a little flat, there was no suspense or mystery really because of the predictability and how simple the plot was. There was a part towards the end when there was a 'the real Kira' reveal moment which was a little surprising but because of who it was and because the trick behind it was very simple and already done before, this too fell a little flat.

Also the theme song really did not suit this movie. It's a really cheery-ish song. Death Note is supposed to be dark and supposed to have rock or dark music to it. Not this! Death Note should be a super dramatic dark rocky song!!!

Finally, almost all the trailers they showed before the actual movie looked very interesting also like Moguru 2, Shinjuku Swan 2, Kiseki etc.




The Ending/Super Spoiler Territory

There were a few parts about the ending that confused me. So I need to be spoilery in order to try and understand it and in order to explain what confused me.

First towards the end when Mishima, Suda and Ikematsu are suddenly getting attacked by the police and because of that, all of a sudden all three of them have formed a trio and are suddenly helping each other escape out of the house xD as a fangirl I enjoyed suddenly Suda and Ikematsu working together and I was like "YESSSS TAKE OVER THE WORLD TOGETHER AS A TRIO!!!"  but as a 'they're supposed to be enemies' it didn't fit the story in my opinion.

I was also annoyed they killed Suda off at the end, but if you think about it logically, I wouldn't know how to get all three of them out safe AND not ruining the world in the end so... in a sense I understand that needed to happen.

Also we soon learn in the movie that Ryuuzaki is an owner of one of the Death Notes and he has a very weird relationship with his Shinigami. He's like 'I'm home' and she's very motherly towards him and such. Maybe I missed the information but at the end she sacrifices her life in order to save Mishima's (because Ryuuzaki doesn't want Mishima killed) and when she crumbles I swear to god he's yelling 'MOTHER!!! MOTHER NO!!!' and I'm like 'WHAT?!' So if anyone can explain that then please tell me.

Going back to Misa, she decides to kill herself in the end but the way she did it was so satisfactory and so perfect for her character! I am completely satisfied with her character in this movie!

Also right at the end, Mishima ends up being Kira but he did it so he could collect all the Death Notes and lock them down, but in order for the plan to work he had to put Ryuuzaki's name in one of the Death Notes. So right at the end Ryuuzaki meets him in jail (he got arrested cos he's Kira and used the Death Note) and tells him 'today I'll day as Mishima. Today you'll walk out and be Ryuuzaki. Be the next L. More Death Notes have dropped' and so Ryuuzaki dies in the cell while Mishima walks out. He doesn't crack a smile or anything but I was just sat there like 'he planned all this didn't he! He knew ALL this was going to happen! He made all this just so he could end up being both L and Kira right?!?!' but because he doesn't crack a smile at the end we don't clearly get told that WAS his plan. However, both me and my friend think that was his plan and that he succeeded.


Wait a Minute!

So apparently there is a POST ENDING CREDIT SCENE! Which sucks because I left BEFORE the credits ended!! So that means we ALL have to wait months before we can watch it on DVD to see what that ending scene is! =O

So I just asked my friend and it turns out that the after credit clip is of Kira going 'it all went according to plan' WTF?! So I was right it was all planned!!

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Overall: This is very enjoyable and a high quality productions and I really loved Ikematsu and Suda's performances. I also love Misa's role in this story. However, the story was very predictable and used no new tricks and the ending got a little confusing. But I still say it's worth a watch and the entertainment value.
Rating: 7/10