Death Note Movie II: The Last Name
Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Erika Toda, Takeshi KagaDirector: Shusuke Kaneko
Studio: VIZ Pictures
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 140 minutes
DVD Release: February 10th 2009
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DVD Review
DEATH NOTE: The Last Name is a sequel to the movie DEATH NOTE, which closely follows major plot elements from the original manga series, while featuring several new key story differences. The story begins on the heels of the first movie as Light Yagami joins the investigation team in pursuit of the serial killer known as "Kira." While L still strongly suspects that Light is "Kira," Light tries to uncover L's real name so he can kill him with his Death Note. Confusingly enough, a new rash of murders all around the world are taking place, with a Second Kira" claiming responsibility. Light learns the identity of the Second Kira and suggests they join forces to get rid of L. Will L be able to catch "Kira" before he is killed?
Bilingual (English/Japanese), featuring star voice actors from Anime series
Director s interview
Making of Death Note
Director & Cast Profile
User Reviews
Stick to Post-Its, they're less dangerous - Rating: 3/5
This movie is something of an oddity. On the downside, the plot is too convoluted, with numerous instances of the notes being swapped from one person to another and then back again, memories being lost and regained in the process, and new notes popping up out of nowhere. Some of the acting is a bit flaky, with characters breaking into hysterics one moment and then quickly accepting the appearance of Death Gods the next. The movie also implies that there are a lot of homicidal folks working in the Japanese media. But the main problem lies with the direction, which is too flat for such an imaginative source material. On the positive side it's engagingly quirky, it's always entertaining, it looks good, and the CGI is impressive. The story is ingenious despite its over-complexity, and there is never a dull moment. With stronger direction this could have been a great movie.
Wonderful! - Rating: 5/5
This was a really awesome movie. I had the opportunity to catch it when it went in theaters for one night only, and it was well worth it (My friend and I actually cosplayed as Light and L). The dubbing was surprisingly good, with only a few awkward moments, and all in all, it was a very tense and gripping movie.
I loved how they stuck to the original ending (Won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it) from the manga and anime, even if they had to cut out an entire second season due to time constraints. I would've liked to have seen the psychological play between Light, Near, and Mello, but to be fair, the second season was dialogue-heavy, with not quite as many action sequences.
I only had one real gripe with the movie, and that was the character of Rem. The CGI was impressive and all, but what peeved me was the fact that in the movie, the shinigami was male. In both manga and anime forms, Rem was a female; I'll admit that it was rather unclear in the manga, but just watch a few episodes of the anime after Rem is introduced, and it's pretty clear.
All in all a fantastic continuation from the first Death Note film.
Death Note 2: The Last Name Review - Rating: 4/5
A very well done conclusion to the film based off the anime series. The film makers did an outstanding job of putting the entire series in context with subplots and plots without confusing the person watching the film. It followed the anime series about 75%. The acting was superb by all actors involved. Even if you havent watched the anime series this film does a good job on its own of explaining everything.
Couple gripes though...
1. REM the shimigami was female in the anime series not male as portrayed in the movie.
2. While the overall plot conclusion was the same as the anime several massive plot variations werent followed, possibly due to movie time constraints. For instance in the anime series "L" was killed by REM via manipulation from Light. Also, one of light's own team members actually figured him out and defeated him with the help of Near. Light's Father also was killed in the anime series but he wasnt in the movie. While this isnt a big deal to some, these are major plot point that werent transitioned to to keep it "pure".
Overall this was an extremly well done movie! I wish some Hollywood directors and screenplay writerswould follow novels, games etc as well as the makers of Death note movies did.
GREAT SEQUEL TO THE FIRST ONE!! - Rating: 5/5
Great sequel to the first Death Note movie - picks up where the other left off, whips into hyper drive with an imaginative, complicated plot that really keeps you on your toes, and actually concludes with the Death Note notebook last name revealed. I wouldn't attempt to watch this sequel without seeing part one - you have to know the main characters, how they think, their relationship, etc., right from the get go in this part two. The story in infinitely more complex, with two gods of death and two Death Note notebooks, and more twists and turns how these death sentences using can be dealt using these notebooks. As before, the main story is the battle of wits between Light/Kira (Tatsuva Fujiwara), who vacillates between his evil Kira persona and innocent Light persona, and the mysterious "L" (Ken'ichi Matsuyama), the detective who's trying to put an end to all the deaths. These two brilliant young protagonists are playing a game of chess (both literally and figuratively) with each other, and the ending was pretty much a surprise to me. I'm not into Mangas, so I don't know if it's faithful to that story; I do know this movie is a really good supernatural thriller, and better than Death Note part one. The DVD has about a 20 minute "Making of" which was quite interesting - the director explained how the Manga had to be condensed and changed for the movie medium, each major actor had a say about their experiences ("L" never wants see candy again!), and a neat movie wrap where everyone politely claps and bows respectfully to one another. You can watch the DVD with dubbed English, or Japanese with English subtitles. Great DVD rental if you like this type of genre.
it's in the note - Rating: 5/5
If you enjoyed the mini series you will definitley enjoy the movie superbly done and you must see the part 1 then part 2.
