Based on the original Manga series, DEATH NOTE is not the first movie adaptation of the series however, Adam Wingard’s vision brings the series to America and to an 18 rated audience.

 

The story follows Light Turner (Nat Wolff) who inexplicably comes across the Death Note, a book that comes with its own Death God and once a name is etched in the book, they will die the death foretold by the author. As Light learns of the books power, he escalates from personal vengeances to world wide peacekeeper but with great power comes great responsibility and when he teams up with fellow class mate Mia (Margaret Qualley) the stakes get much higher and the Death God that accompanies the book has plans of his own.

 

FINAL DESTINATION meets NERVE in a film that struggles to find its target audience. There is good cause for the 18 rating as the death brought on by Light is gruesome and for a while comes in thick and fast. Unfortunately, the pacing slows down dramatically to focus on the cat and mouse chase between the police and Light’s identity that it really leaves much of the film bereft of the adrenaline fuelled death that the film promised from the start.

 

Adam Wingard’s passion for the eighties is influential throughout with the soundtrack, the teen romance and glistening neon lights, however the tone is so out of sync with the gory death scenes that it’s not clear whether this should be cut for a teen audience or recut for more mature audience to increase the tension of the romantic leads. Neither the responsibility of playing God nor the teen romance storylines seem to flow in a way that should and like FINAL DESTINATION could have better marketed to a lower, more susceptible audience than the mature one it garners.

 

In addition, while Winward has made a great effort in transitioning the film’s premise to a Western audience, the source material doesn’t do itself any favours. Ryuk (the Death God played by Willem Defoe) is often too comical to look at, distracting from the tension of Lights ordeal and the young detective, L (Lakeith Stanfield), on Light’s trail is far too comic book-esque to be taken seriously. At 101 minutes, comes across as 20 minutes to short and that time could have been added to fill out some of the development early in the film, instead the film feels far too rushed in setting up it's cat and mouse thriller it downplays the true events that are the real ordeal here.

 

This adaptation isn’t all bad and there is plenty of entertainment to be had, it just lacks the potential the film often glimpses at. At times, DEATH NOTE can have its joyous moments and there is some satisfaction from seeing some rather brutal death in a movie of this nature. The central leads have good chemistry and the films shocking climax is one that really leaves a punch it just lacks the tone to carry it throughout.