Death Note

Name: Death Note
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Released: August 25, 2017
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 43
Cast: Christopher Britton, Jack Ettlinger, Jason Liles, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley

2017

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critics

See All

USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 409 Ratings

See All

3.2

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3.2	Your Score
3.2	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 409 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Movie Details & Credits

TV-MA

Warner Bros. | Release Date: August 25, 2017

Starring: Christopher Britton, Jack Ettlinger, Jason Liles, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, Masi Oka, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Michael Shamus Wiles, Nat Wolff, Natalie Moon, Paul McGillion, Paul Nakauchi, Shea Whigham, Willem Dafoe

Summary: A high school student comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone's name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life. [Netflix]

Director: Adam Wingard

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Crime

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 101 min

See All Details and Credits

Awards & Rankings

39	#39 Most Discussed Movie of 2017
78	#78 Most Shared Movie of 2017

Watch Now

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Paste Magazine Zach Budgor

Aug 31, 2017

Wingard’s Death Note moves like a bullet and doles out practical gore and overheated melodrama in equal measure. Read full review

IGN Blair Marnell

Jul 24, 2017

What’s frustrating is that with better lead performers and a tighter script, Wingard could have made a great adaptation. Instead it settles when it should have soared. Read full review

Slant Magazine Clayton Dillard

Aug 21, 2017

Whereas the more grounded scenes of Death Note anchor a startlingly bloody fantasy of power run amok, the scenes that fixate on super powers and code-busting seldom manage to rise above the realm of serviceable YA fiction. Read full review

The Hollywood Reporter Justin Lowe

Aug 22, 2017

Rather than relying on amplifying typical genre conventions, Wingard methodically lays the foundation to set up this particular Death Note adaptation for a potential sequel, but the outcome is more deliberate than inspired. Read full review

Variety Peter Debruge

Aug 24, 2017

The movie never quite reckons with just how twisted a concept it’s peddling, and that’s easily the scariest thing about it. Read full review

David Ehrlich

Aug 21, 2017

The only reason to take such a uniquely Japanese story and transplant it to Seattle is to explore how its thorny moral questions might inspire different answers in an American context, so for this retread to all but reduce America to its whiteness indicates an absence of context more than anything else. It’s the most glaring symptom of a film that utterly fails to investigate its premise. Read full review

TheWrap Inkoo Kang

Aug 21, 2017

The new horror-thriller is cheesy, asinine, convoluted and ludicrous. On the plus side, if your eyeballs need a vigorous workout, this will have them rolling nonstop. Read full review

SEE ALL 14 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

brunoalmiro

Aug 25, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ótimo... foda-se se e diferente do anime.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................… Expand

8 of 72 users found this helpful864

pitfiend

Aug 26, 2017

'Death Note' is by no means a bad movie, it simply takes the story in a different direction than the Anime series it's based upon. Although this interpretation isn't as gripping or engaging as the original battle of wits between the questionably moral protagonist and his ultimate antagonist'Death Note' is by no means a bad movie, it simply takes the story in a different direction than the Anime series it's based upon. Although this interpretation isn't as gripping or engaging as the original battle of wits between the questionably moral protagonist and his ultimate antagonist it is still an entertaining experience that is at least treating some aspects of the source material with respect. Acting was actually quite good but the wrong portrayal of the main character is inexcusable.… Expand

4 of 17 users found this helpful413

Dauntless07

Aug 25, 2017

It's worth a watch, but its logical inconsistencies may turn off fans of the original. It's not The Last Airbender or Dragonball Evolution levels of bad, but it does dumb down some of its source material to fit the 101 minute running time.
...
Part of the original's strength was that,It's worth a watch, but its logical inconsistencies may turn off fans of the original. It's not The Last Airbender or Dragonball Evolution levels of bad, but it does dumb down some of its source material to fit the 101 minute running time.
...
Part of the original's strength was that, although supernatural elements existed, there were clearly defined rules, and every move the leads took was intelligently calculated. These rules are changed in this adaptation somewhat, most notably, a specified cause of death now needs only to be "physically possible." By that logic, why doesn't Light just make one of his victims draw an exact copy of L's face and name? For some reason, this never occurs to Light, probably because he too has been dumbed down. What made him so interesting in the series, in addition to possessing a genius level intellect, was that he was a model student; not someone you'd suspect of serial murder. Here, they made him into a troublemaker from the start, and he makes idiotic mistakes like openly reading and talking about the notebook in public places. Heart attack is not the default cause of death as in the anime, resulting in an unnecessarily gory film. Misa wasn't a strong character in the source material, and I have no idea why they tried to make her a pseudo Lady Macbeth here. It's almost as if she's making Light do these things, rather than focusing on his descent to evil.
...
The setting change didn't bother me, because the story of Death Note could have happened anywhere. The characters, however, are often so different from the originals that I wonder why they bothered keeping their names. The real stars of the film are William Dafoe as Ryuk, (he's perfect in anything sinister to cartoony levels,) and Keith Stanfield as L, (he captures the air of his source character remarkably well.) The real problem is the short run time, which forces the plot to move at breakneck pace, and does not allow for the methodic intellectual chess game between Light and L. There's enough here to make me believe the actors could have made this shine through, but not with 1 hour 40 minutes. Instead of sequel baiting, perhaps more focus should have been placed on creating a better film.
...
All that said, I was still able to enjoy myself watching this film, and that's because the concept is really good. What happens when a teenager is given the power to kill? At the very least, we get an answer to that question when the power falls to a cringy punk. As you might expect by the run time, it starts going bad for him pretty fast. The effects were decent, though more practical effects for Ryuk would have been appreciated. The music was hit or miss. I think if they slapped another hour on to really develop these characters and the plot, or cut Mia's character entirely, we could have had a better film, but as is, it's passable. Average.… Expand

6 of 13 users found this helpful67

kylebrockmann

Aug 28, 2017

Atrocious acting, blasé over-excited cinematography, camp and tawdry dialogue, godawful storyboarding and knuckle dragging narrative crafting, the on-screen chemistry of a rock and another rock on a shelf and those rocks are several inches apart sharing a frame - barely - hallmark of how badAtrocious acting, blasé over-excited cinematography, camp and tawdry dialogue, godawful storyboarding and knuckle dragging narrative crafting, the on-screen chemistry of a rock and another rock on a shelf and those rocks are several inches apart sharing a frame - barely - hallmark of how bad actors can make good actors appear bad when they aren't responding one to the other from the same dimension, an okay performance by Keith Stanfield given what little they gave him and a shrine to the unlikeablity of Nat Wolff who if the stars hopefully fate it will forever bubble like a wet fart in made-for-tv B to C Grade obscurity. And I won't hate on this by comparing it to the source material because that hasn't poisoned the well, it's a listless and pastiche execution of a film without a soul on its own merits without even beginning a comparison.

Maraget Qualley is a stunner though, and it's a crying shame her acting is limper even than her Kristen Stewart prototype; I might not have made it to the end without at least her to look at.

I'm giving it 2 because the visual style was at least a little appealing even if the dark, blurry close-up shots of the characters were an eye-watering failed landing at atmosphere.… Expand

5 of 5 users found this helpful50

eagleeyeviking

Sep 27, 2017

Rushed yet restricted, Netflix's "Death Note" is a terrible adaptation of the manga series. The real world implications are under-explored, the twists are rushed through, the compelling psychological battle between L and Light is non-existent, the side characters are poorly written, theRushed yet restricted, Netflix's "Death Note" is a terrible adaptation of the manga series. The real world implications are under-explored, the twists are rushed through, the compelling psychological battle between L and Light is non-existent, the side characters are poorly written, the cinematography looks cheap, the soundtrack is intrusive, the ending is abrupt, there are plenty of plot holes, the acting is wooden, and the list goes on.… Expand

6 of 6 users found this helpful60

Xargon_

Jul 1, 2019

Light, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. .

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Relenita

Aug 26, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Okay, where to start with this. Take in consideration that, while I'm a fan of the original, I was expecting a revamp of sorts. At least the psychological warfare between two geniuses who held extreme points about what Justice is.
This is NOT what you find here.
The characters are sloppy: Light only uses the DN to get his dreamgirl and then for the **** of it. There's no debate about what's fair and who decides fate. He's not a genius, not even clever and for the most part of the movie he's manipulated by everyone until the last 10 minutes of the movie for reasons I still don't get.
L, oh my God L. He's sloppy, childish and emotional. He faces the public and acts so irrational it's funny until you realize he is just another boring character.
Mia/Misa is... smart. At least she tried, but she's so ready to betray Light -Just as Light, so there's that- it's infuriating.
The ENTIRE PLOT hold itself on a contradiction: The rule is you must know the name and the face of someone for the DN to work, right?
And Watari's real name isn't Watari. So who can explain me why the Death Note worked while using a fake name to order Watari to get L's real name if the Death Note STILL killed Watari after using the alias and not the real name?
What's the point?!
That makes L lose control. The pace of the movie is wonky: Guy gets book, gets girl, tries DN on bully, kills two people, JUMP INTO THE FUTURE WHEN KIRA ROSE IN POWER, and skips for... a month? A year?
And L appears.
It's a terrible movie.
The main conflict from the original is absent and if you are looking for something good to watch, go see the anime.
Don't waste time here… Expand

8 of 10 users found this helpful82

SEE ALL 119 REVIEWS