The first teaser for Netflix’s feature length remake of the very popular manga and anime series, Death Note, was released today, and hot damn did it stir up a lot of controversy.
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If you’re not familiar with the manga or haven’t seen the anime series (which you can on that other streaming service, Hulu) here’s the synopsis:
Light is an extremely brilliant but bored high-school student. Until the strange day where he accidentally encounters the Death Note; a mysterious notebook with the power to kill anyone whose name is written inside of it.
With the Death Note in hand, he goes on a personal crusade and moves to kill all evil in the world and become God. He does this all in his new name, Kira, and declares himself the law and justice of the world.
At first things go as he planned, and he moves toward making a ‘better’ world. However, things don’t go as he had anticipated as the relentless ‘L’ works to track him down, and arrest him.
The big issue, as is with Ghost In The Shell, is the complete whitewashing of the lead.
Since the manga and the anime series there have already been two live action movies and a live action television series and one of the big questions that has been asked, on the social media, is that with everything going on culturally in the U.S. why make the lead a white dude? This is a big conversation and a good one, and it should continue happening, being that there are baby steps being made to a more diverse ‘Hollywood’ but the journey is long.
Outside of that there’s not a whole lot to tell from the very short teaser. To see if it’s any good we’ll have to actually watch it when it premieres, August 25th, 2017.
The one thing that I loved, Willem Dafoe as Ryuk. It’s perfect casting. Another positive is the director, Adam Wingard, who’s directed some fantastic horror movies like You’re Next and The Guest.
I’ll watch it. I love the concept, always have, but I also understand the issues fans of the original have with it.
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