Not unless you're
a can of Alphabet Soup (I'll be B and you'll be Q), I think saving
the world and changing it within a mere 23 days is a neigh impossible
feat.
Snarky comments aside, don't get me wrong! I'm a huge fan
of Death Note - sitting through the first two movies is more
than enough proof.
"The human whose
name is written in the Death Note shall die"
 If you're new to
the Death Note series, you might not know that it first started
off in 2003 as a serialized manga (that's "comic" in Japanese
to non-linguaphiles). The manga was a hit with readers due to its
distinctive plot, which treads the murky waters that separates ‘good'
and ‘evil'.
Taking a different stance from the classic Good VS Evil
dynamic, the creators of Death Note Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi
Obata chose to throw a curve ball in the languishing manga scene.
Death Note is
decidedly Machiavellian. The protagonist Yagami Light is an anti-hero
in every way. Light discovers the eponymous Death Note one day and slowly
deciphers the cryptic words written in the book.
Seriously, we, more than anyone else, know
that the pen is mightier than the sword, but this might be pushing it
a little. However, with the Death Note's owner, shinigami (Death
God) Ryuku goading him, his curiosity gets the better of him and he
writes a criminal's name - said criminal dies a few minutes later.
Light's philosophy?
To cleanse the world of evil and create an utopia where he will reign
as God. His actions earn him the moniker of "Kira" (Engrish for
"Killer") and the world, like the readers of the manga, is swept
into a confounding discourse over whether the end justifies the means.
 Bring in L, the titular
character of L: change the WorLd, a top notch detective with
a penchant for sweets. He takes on the task of tracking down and apprehending
Kira, travelling to Tokyo in order to do so. If appearances can be deceiving,
the genius L looks like well, a bum. Often barefooted and with disheveled
hair, L hardly looks capable of pitting himself against fellow genius
Light.
The first two live-action
movies Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name were box-office
hits in Singapore and the region. Hoping to replicate the same success,
L: change the WorLd was created as a spin-off.
 HOOKED spoke to a few
cosplayers who were invited to the preview of the movie to find out
what they thought about Death Note and why they chose to cosplay
as the characters.
When asked why she
was cosplaying as Misa Amane (who doesn't appear in the movie), Crystal
replies: "She suits my personality and she's my favourite character.
She knows what she wants, but a little naïve - like me!"
Frequent cosplayer
Sansele, who was also cosplaying as Misa, highlighted the plot as what
got her hooked onto Death Note.
"It's a complex story, something
which you don't really see in manga these days." She also noted
Light's personality and characterization as a key factor to Death
Note's appeal.
HOOKED also managed
to interview one of the few male cosplayers present at the event, suitably
dressed as L, the star of the show. When asked why he was cosplaying as L, Leo
amiably divulged that L is his favourite character.
Why? Because of
his brains of course!
"We all die anyway."
Now we all know that
spin-offs either succeed or just fail miserably. In trying to recreate
the same Death Note atmosphere, L: change the WorLd falls
into the latter category.
Taking place in the
convenient plot hole duration of the 23 days before L's demise, the
movie milks the character L for all his worth into a feature-length
film. In short: it's made of pure fan-service.
Director Hideo Nakata,
of Ringu fame, is at the helm of the movie. Alarm bells should
start ringing - especially when the movie eases its way into a fairly
disturbing scene in Thailand. The movie reads like a zombie flick -
a bad one at that - with infected Thais groaning and grabbing at any
one they can find. Strange enough, these extras shine in comparison
to the Caucasian extras, who fill the first 10 minutes of the film with
bad acting and overdone accents.
It's obvious that
bioterrorism is happening before our eyes and after a quick introduction
to characters F and BOY (Narushi Fukuda), we're led into an unexpected
car-chase scene (it seems that most movies these days need a
car-chase scene) and lots of explosions.
Hold on a second here
- aren't we supposed to be watching L: change the WorLd,
where intellectual battles should be the weapon of choice?
 We are, actually.
Just that Director Nakata has decided to equip "bioterrorism" and
the whole "the earth is dying" spiel, instead of what made Death
Note, Death Note. The premise of the story seems more of
a farce to me, a poorly executed way of presenting what Nakata wanted
the audience to see, "an attractive L."
So this brings us to
the crucial question. What has this impending biological doom have to
do with L (Kenichi Matsuyama) and his final 23 days as a living, breathing
person? Aside from a few weak connections, nothing really. The routine
virus plot and lack of a suitable adversary for L reduces the film to
a rather unexceptional film.
Director Nakata tosses
a MacGuffin in the form of K, a member for Wammy's House (the organization
that nurtured L), who is really Dr. Kimiko Kujo (Youki Kudoh), a disillusioned
scientist who wants to change the world (now, doesn't this
seem familiar?) with BlueShip, a money hungry organization.
 BOY is also literally
delivered into L's (not so welcoming) arms - who discovers that
the boy is coincidentally immune to the devastating virus which wiped
out the Thai village. To add more strangeness to the mixture, BOY is
a genius with numbers. Throw in 12 year old Maki (Mayuko Fukuda), the
daughter of scientist Nikaido who happens to be working on the
vaccine for the bioterrorists' virus (a nasty combination of influenza
and Ebola), and we have L: change the WorLd.
Unlike the previous
films, L: change the WorLd is an original screenplay, which lacks
the certain distinctive story that the manga managed to build up. As
a result, the film suffers overall, despite managing to retain the quirky
and intelligent characteristics of L.
The movie's fatal
flaw is that it cannot rely on one character alone. And for all
L's quirkiness and eccentric adorability, he can't sustain the two-hour
plus feature with just his personality.
Previous films capitalized
on L's charisma where he was constantly pushed to outthink,
outplay and outlast the people around him. However, in L: change
the WorLd, we see him always one step ahead, and his intelligence
rarely has a moment to present itself - making the film a lot less
interesting and surprising.
Instead, the film tries
its every best to show us the other side of L, one that has experienced
loss and even confusion. This is probably what saves the film from being
an utter failure.
 You have to give a huge amount of credit to Matsuyama
for being L - he wasn't merely acting as a character, he
was channeling L through his body. Here, Maki and BOY serve a much better
purpose than their role in the whole bioterrorist plot. Having to look
after his new charges, Matsuyama's L awkwardness is incredibly watchable
and even endearing.
Overall, the film when
just watched by itself, could be considered a breath of air (hopefully
not stale) for movie-goers out there. But when compared against the
previous Death Note films and fictional world that created L,
it's simply a passable film with decent (but not excellent) casting
and a very questionable plot.
L does manage to change the WorLd, albeit
at a horrifically slow pace, but it's more of Maki and BOY's world
that undergoes a noticeable change. Without the original dark and edgy
feeling Death Note was known for, the film and L, never really lived up to expectations.
So who should watch
the film? If you're simply a fan of Death Note and absolutely
must see Matsuyama Kenichi as L again, then the 2 hours will be a visual
orgasm. Otherwise, hardcore fans should forget everything associated
with Death Note before watching it.
For the general public, the
movie's interesting enough as it combines a number of different film
genres, so you do get your money's worth. For HOOKED, we'll give L: change the WorLd
6 over 10 popcorn barrels for L to enjoy. hooked
HOOKED's rating: 3/5
Images courtesy of Encore Films
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Written by Guest on 2008-06-07 17:27:58
WERE CAN I GOT TO SEE L CHANGE THE WORLD MOVIE
-ZIM |
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