based on the anime..what would you do if you could kill anyone just by putting thier names in a book...this movie is a great little tense drama....

Interesting story, well-played, but the characters were all uninteresting and one-dimensional; they're given quirks, but they don't amount to much.

The concept is interesting and had potential for solid thriller (with interesting moral issues), but TV quality writing, acting and production values hurt the film. There are also some critical details about the way the police close in on the Light that were big problems.

Much more enjoyable than the anime ever was.

Duzo niezgodnosci z anime, ale film ma pewien klimat wyciagniety z anime. Niewiarygodne jak celnie w stosunku do mangowego odpowiednika dobrali L. ;) Bardzo dobrze zrobiona adaptacja.

engaging but shallow

Pretty silly and feels hastily put together, with little thought put into how well it flows... and some ridiculous CGI. It's not that original, not that impressive, and not very well developed. And yet, it's got a kind of charm to it that makes it watchable. It's weird enough to surprise you every once in a while but not so weird that it's absurd. The demon dude really grows on you, too. I really thought it was stupid at first, and I still do, but I'm actually looking forward to the sequel.

A magical fantasy police procedural. You don't get those too often! Kenichi Matuyama is charming and riveting as the master detective, "L". My only complaint is that the neverending stream of "rules" seem arbitrary, which relieves them of the gravity they aim to impose on the audience. Still, a thoughtful, mentally stimulating crime story.

19 mart 2011 & anime versiyonu ne kadar iyiyse film versiyonu o kadar kotu. ne kadar bosa yapilmis bir sey! oyunculuklar L disinda oturmamis bir kere.. gercekten zaman kaybi.

This would get a higher score if the makers didn't insist on having their actors resemble DRAWN CHARACTERS. It's a thing the Japanese do, that I have had enough.

The CGI is poor, the characterisations don't work anywhere near as well as they do in the manga, it isn't as gripping as it should be and the latter third of the story is really quite meh thanks to the changes in the plot but the first two thirds or so are still quite enjoyable. After all the core idea behind the film is really quite great (love the manga). It's just those blasted changes to the plot which messes around with who the characters are and presents a couple quite illogical moments.

I've only read the beginning of the manga, but I could tell that the manga was able to handle the genius-level thinking and strategy much better than the film could. The "rules" of the Death Note should have been explained better, as entirely NEW viewers will be easily lost. The CG for Ryuk looks awful and really takes you out of the whole experience; I wish they had taken a page from Del Toro's Pan's Labrynth (or Hellboy II) and gone with a realistic portrayal.

I was really expecting more from this.

lol

Really fun, Ryuk was cool to look at!

Amazingly this movie is much better than the manga it adapts from. The plot has enough weird twists and moves fastwards enough to keep it interesting.

Ryuk is the best character ever, he looks great in this. Pretty good film adaptation imo.

Poor attempt to make a real life movie out of the insanely good anime series.

Completely throwaway but has a certain charm I s'pose.

I liked this movie alot considering the changes that had to be made in order to fit the storyline. The actor whom plays L is fantastic right on the spot. He is L. Wasn't a big fan of Ryuk's CG I thought it could have been better.

Silly but still pretty watchable yarn about one effeminate youth trying to stop another effeminate youth from killing off criminals. It doesn't get much deeper than that, and that CGI is pretty dumb looking, but it kept me interested and engaged enough during its runtime.

Surprisingly interesting.

resmen diziden sogudum...

Watchable. I actually really like the crappy CGI.

I can't stand how anime is corrupted by real actor-movies

Entertaining if you are a fan of the manga/anime, but is too rushed to fully convey the suspense created in its original form. Matsuyama is L.

jap_eng; [Death Note];

The movie lacked the breath-holding suspense and tension of the comics, but Matsuyama's performance as "L" was wonderfully physical.