#WILLEM DAFOE DEATH NOTE MOVIE#
#WILLEM DAFOE DEATH NOTE UPDATE#
#WILLEM DAFOE DEATH NOTE TV#

Though destined for the small screen, Wingard has given this assignment a look and feel (and score, courtesy of Atticus and Leopold Ross) deserving of the big screen, which will do far better justice to its black-on-black color scheme than most TV sets.Д«efore things turn bloody, RyukвЂ™s dramatic entrance recalls the great Amblin movies of the 1980s, as a mini-tornado turns the classroom where Light is serving detention nearly inside out. The script, credited to Charley Parlapanides, Vlas Parlapanides and Jeremy Slater, is a snarl of loose ends and half-explained devices, but Wingard executes it with style, especially where LightвЂ™s remote executions are concerned, orchestrating elaborate Rube Goldberg-like sequences (reminiscent of the вЂњFinal DestinationвЂќ movies) for each of the kills. In any case, Light concocts a clever scheme, masking his remote killings as the work of a vengeful deity named Kira, in order to throw off authorities. ThereвЂ™s no explanation why Light was chosen, but he doesnвЂ™t put up much resistance to the idea of managing his own death god -В when in fact, Ryuk often seems to be the one manipulating him. Still, despite a run on Adult Swim, this is the first time вЂњDeath NoteвЂќ will register on the radar of most Americans, and rather than comparing it to the Japanese source, theyвЂ™ll most likely be reminded of Richard KellyвЂ™s 2001 cult classic вЂњDonnie Darko,вЂќ from which director Adam Wingard (вЂњYouвЂ™re NextвЂќ) has taken a page.Д¬learly, thatвЂ™s the stylistic template the helmer had in mind, conjuring a similar adolescent Goth/outsider vibe around tortured high school brainiac Light, whoвЂ™s just finished doing a classmateвЂ™s homework when the clouds darken over the schoolyard, a supernatural wind blows and the book tumbles from the sky to land at his feet (not as dramatic as a fallen jet turbine, but itвЂ™ll do).

#WILLEM DAFOE DEATH NOTE MOVIE#

That may be the reality of what вЂњDeath NoteвЂќ is selling, but the movie never quite reckons with just how twisted a concept itвЂ™s peddling, and thatвЂ™s easily the scariest thing about it.ДЇirst published in 2003, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi ObataвЂ™s pitch-black manga previously inspired three live-action movies, an anime series, several video games and an entire line of macabre merchandise.

#WILLEM DAFOE DEATH NOTE UPDATE#

When Light uses the book to get the girl, enlisting the help of his beautiful/morbid classmate Mia (Margaret Qualley, channeling Kristin StewartвЂ™s tortured вЂњTwilightвЂќ persona), вЂњDeath NoteвЂќ devolves into a supernatural - and super-gruesome - update of the old Leopold and Loeb paradigm, where two young people use their self-anointed superiority to justify murder.

But thereвЂ™s a sinister appeal there, especially as the main character, Light Turner (вЂњPaper TownsвЂќ star Nat Wolff), tries to employ Ryuk in the most righteous way, identifying and eliminating the worldвЂ™s most wanted criminals. The book comes with a crazy number of rules, dizzyingly complicated to keep straight, and also with a freaky death god named Ryuk, who looks like a demonic, Tim Burton-ized version of Willem Dafoe (so it stands to reason that they cast Willem Dafoe to play him).ДЄs wish fulfillment goes, вЂњDeath NoteвЂќ is about as dark as it gets, indulging the fantasy of taking bloody vengeance on the high school bully, or punishing the sleazy local crime boss who murdered your mom (perhaps a bit less typical, in terms of your average teen grudge). Manga fans already know the drill, but for the sake of newcomers, NetflixвЂ™s new вЂњ Death NoteвЂќ adaptation refreshes the story of a sinister leather-bound book that gives its keeper the power to kill anyone on earth, simply by writing that personвЂ™s name and the desired cause of death in its pages.

Willem dafoe death note