Customer Reviews

L Change the WorLd (First Print Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

L: CHANGE THE WORLD is the spin-off of the highly successful DEATH NOTE and DEATH NOTE: The Last Name. (marketers would call it Death Note 3) The two films based on the Japanese comic book (also adapted into an anime series) were box-office hits all over Asia, so obviously, Japanese filmmakers, taking a page from Hollywood's book intends to capitalize on its fame. However, the film seems more of an ode to the series and is aimed generally to diehard fans. Those unfamiliar with the two live action films may be alienated so I suggest you watch those first before viewing this film.

The tale occurs in the final 23 days L (Kenichi Matsuyama) has left in the world. A killer virus had killed the occupants of a small village in Thailand. A former colleague named "F" discovers the secrets of the virus and sends a young boy somehow immune to the fatal disease to L's doorstep. A few days later, 12-year old Maki ( Mayuko Fukuda) also shows up with a different strain of the virus, described as a combination of Ebola and Influenza. Apparently, her father Nikaido (Shingo Tsurumi) had created the virus and a subversive group called "Blue Ship" is after it. Leader Dr. Kujo (Youki Kudoh) intends to use it to change the world by ridding it of all the useless people who inhabit it--useless people are those who abuse our natural resources; so you can guess exactly just how many people they intend to eliminate.

The film cleverly takes place during the last 23 days of L's existence. Changing the world by killing "useless" people? The first two films focused on the scum of the Earth, and the theme may be somewhat similar to the "Death Note" franchise in its own way. While "Death Note" dealt with the supernatural and mystical world of "Death Gods", this time around, the "death god" is man-made. "L: Change the World" isn't really a bad film but the absence of a real effective villain such as Light Yagami, the film fails to impress. You may say that the villains in this film are pretty routine; and the direction by Hideo Nakata while very competent, has so little to work with. "Death Note 1 and 2" were full of cerebral thrills and they kept me in the edge of my seat. The mind games between Light and L were the two films' showstopper, and without an effective manga to back this film up, the antagonists were left unexplored and their goals a little too predictable.

L is the same sugar-loving genius, punk rock refugee with bad posture; quirky and full of eccentric charisma. All these seem a little wasted when the genius detective is set against a rather very underwhelming antagonist. Sadly, his displays of outsmarting and staying one step ahead of Dr. Kujo and Matoba neither immerses or impressed me. The main reason why the two Death Note films were so successful is because they were full of surprises and at times quite difficult to predict what may happen next. Every good hero needs a good villain or his exact opposite. The film's simple exposition makes the film a lot less thrilling and suspenseful but it does eliminate the complexities of the wordy dialogue that some viewers saw that it hampered "Death Note" a little. (not for me though)

Kenichi Matsuyama's portrayal of L is endearing and charming, and the character does get a lot of character development in place of displays of his super-intellect and cunning brain. The Death Note series focused more on mind games and a somewhat convoluted plotline, this time around, the film focuses more on L's personality. He develops a warm connection with the young boy (later named "Near") who is also a mathematical genius. You see more as to how L spends his last days, and it was quite entertaining to see him reject the temptation of the "notebook of death" by burning it. His involvement and compassion for Maki is quite satisfying as he tries his best to comfort her and shows that such an eccentric individual is capable of emotion. L's "Crepe and Ice Cream mobile" put a smile on my face as I am sure fans will find this very amusing and cute (?). L also tries his hand at being an action hero but all we really see him do is run, climb and straighten his back.

L isn't as compelling or interesting a figure without a mystical situation with surprising twists or a nemesis such as Light Yagami; you may say they are two sides of the same coin. A hero is only made by the villain he faces? If the producers manage to create a formidable villain worthy of L's supposed magnificent intelligence, a new franchise may work. The film just isn't as intense as its two predecessors but at least I found it fun to watch. The film is a little slower-paced than I expected and suspense is only found on occasion and when they are, it may get a bit redundant. The film just doesn't possess the darkness inherent in the "Death Note" live action films, but for die-hard fans of the series, this film is definitely still worth a look. Others may feel little lost and maybe a little bored without knowledge of this character. This film wasn't on par with "Death Note" but at least it wasn't as bad as I feared.

Recommended timidly to fans of Death Note and a good rental for everyone else [3 Stars]

Note: Death Note and Death Note: the Last Name both come highly recommended.


Death Note (The Live Action Movie) DVD

I had already seen this movie, so I knew what I was buying. Check out some clips online if you're still iffy. If you were dissapointed by the other two live action movies, this isn't for you. English subs, but Japanese audio only. NOT A DUB. It has an interesting plot-line, but almost nothing to do with the Death Notes. All of the killing in this movie is done by humans, though Ryuk makes a brief appearance. This movie was obviously made for the die-hard L fans. So much the better for us then!

If you saw Death Note Live Action Movies 1 & 2 and you loved the actors and you loved the story and you worshipped at Kennichi~sama's feet, then you will LOVE this movie. NO ONE plays a better L than Kennichi~sama. Not even Kappei Yamaguchi~sama (L anime voice actor). If you love L, then this is just a good movie. It's perfectly in character for him, even if it has so very little to do with the Death Note. It's a good good movie. I cried my eyes out, I smiled constantly. It's just GREAT. I'm sorry, this probably isn't a fair review, but it's just soooooooo great, I can't find the words to describe it, and I couldn't think of one single thing bad to say about this movie.

The story was pretty bad. It's clear upon watching it that this third movie is an attempt to further cash in on Death Note by introducing a "side story" that has nothing to do with the Manga, or the first two live action movies. There is no use of the titular "Death Note", no clever cat-and-mouse moments, the motives of the villains are incredibly one dimensional, and they don't really bring the type of rivalry seen in the previous movies. The only thing that saved this movie from a 2 star review was the character L. So unless you're a fan of L, I wouldn't recommend this movie for you.

Anybody who's been around the proverbial block with import anime DVDs and import Asian movie DVDs can tell you that if a DVD has a Cantonese sub AND all-region encoding, then it's most likely a bootleg.

Add the extremely cheesy cover, and I'd say it has all the telltale signs of a bootleg.

If you have any respect for the Death Note franchise, and if you have any love for L, then please don't hand over your hard-earned money to the bootleggers.

My 1-star rating reflects only the fact that this DVD release is a bootleg. For the movie itself, if you are a fan who can't get enough of L and Kenichi Matsuyama's masterful portrayal of L, then it's a 5-star movie. If you are a fan who want more Death Note and epic duel of minds, then it's a 1-star movie.

Like it or not, The Death Note movies have been very successful, and has been one of the most popular J-horror franchises in recent history. It has a whole database of fans- lots of which dress up as L in cosplay contests and obsess over them and how "Hot" they are. Truly, you can't deny it that the series is famous. And comes again, another Death Note movie, this time focused Primarily on L. Sounds like a good idea, didn't it?

Not. The premise is that the film takes place in L's last 3 weeks (after the 2nd movie where he had written his own name in the Death Note). Our favorite hunched-over, OCD, unhygenic detective trying to figure out what to do in his last 3 weeks when all of a sudden, a virus is unleashed, causing people to grow some nasty looking spores on their faces. He find out that this is all the fault of a group of corrupt scientists, and only he could save it.

Sure the plot sounds interesting, but what really bothered me was the way the plot was told. There has to have been a deadline on here somewhere because it felt VERY rushed- You can tell there weren't very many reshoots and very many character details. Plus, the script felt like a glorified fan-fiction to me- it lacked pretty much everything that made the first 2 movies so good (well, I'll admit it- the scene where they try to make L stand up straight was hilarious), and the dialogue felt like something only an obsessed L fan would write. The editing was trite too- did Bob Guccione edit this movie? Did it include editing out the entire third act? Did it mean cutting scenes out so that the audience could automatically be confused?

I can't wait for the movie to come out on DVD, so that I could see that 45 minutes of essential plot material cut out so they could make us confused. I also can't wait to hear Hideo Nakata's commentary going on and on about how amazing the actor playing L was (when at times it felt like there was supposed to be a coin slot on the side of his head so that if you put a quarter in there he'd start acting again). And also, another thing I can't wait for The Last Name to come out so we can all watch it and forget this trite. But would that save the movie from being a train wreck? No.

Overall, this film is VERY boring, rushed, and repetitive, and annoying at times. This seriously should be called "Death Note: The Last Name 2.0".

This is obviously bootleg so I gave it 1 star. Even if it were not bootleg I would only give it 2 or 3 stars max. I think they did as best a job as they could keeping L true to character in the death note movies...but thats not saying much. Due to time constraints they could only tell so much of the story so L is just sort of "eh, passable". Now I'm saying this because if L is only "eh, passable" in the movies based directly off death note than what the hell is he going to be in a spin off like this?!?!?! L was completely out of character (if you're judging from the original manga) and I only watched it because I'm an L fangirl. Really though I think this movie makes a mockery of L's original character.