The one thing that I can say about Hollywood is that they don't overkill a movie series just to make money. (Yeah Right). I have said in other reviews how much I liked the Death Note Manga series, but when I went to see "L: Change The World" I was disappointed to find out that this movie was only about one character from the Manga series, albeit it was one of the movies main characters. The Death Note makes a little cameo as well, it is burned in the first few minutes of the movie, also making a five second appearance is the Shinigami Ryuk.
From that moment on this movie turns into an "end of the world" virus movie that has NOTHING to do with the death note. L (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) once again is forced to save the world, but he has only twenty three days to do this, he has written his name in the death note, and everyone who follows the series knows that once your name is in the death note that you will die in twenty three days. If you're wondering why he would write his own name in the book, you should go and watch the first two movies in this series they are so much more entertaining.
This movie has nothing going for it other then the fact that L is looking into finding out how the virus is going to be released. Dr. Kimiko Kujo (Youki Kudoh) works for Dr Kimihiko Nikaido (Shingo Tsurumi). When he creates a virus that can kill faster than any other one know to mankind, she decides she is going to steal it in order to protect the Earth. Of course she is easily duped by Daisuke Matoba (Masanobu Takashima), he wants to sell the virus as a weapon, and he uses Dr. Kujo to get it. Dr. Nikaido injects an antidote into his daughter Kimihiko (Shingo Tsurumi), he thinks this is the only way it will be safe, and it turns out that he is right when Dr. Kujo lets Daisuke Matoba into the lab and he kills everyone.
The virus was tested in a small Thai village and one lone survivor makes it back to Japan, he is a young boy (Narushi Fukuda) he isn't named until the very end when L names him Near. Again if you have read the manga books, that name will be familiar to you. When the lab is attacked Dr. Nikaido injects himself with the virus, he knows they will use his daughter to make him give it to the terrorists, he feels this is the only option left to him. The girl being told early on that if any thing happens to her father that she should go find Watari (Shunji Fujimura), and this is what she does. The only problem is that Watari has died. The boy also makes his way to L, because a man, F takes him from the village when it was destroyed. F is an operative of L's, and also is infected by the virus.
The story from here goes into more of a lighter side, this movie turns from the edgy side that once made it so gripping to watch, to something that tries to make you laugh. I found my self bored during this movie, there wasn't any battle of the minds here like in the other two previous movies, that is what L is famous for, and here there is nothing. A chase, a confrontation and no pay off. L does of course find the terrorists, aboard a plane heading to the States. They plan on releasing the virus there. L manages to make it onto the plane where he confronts Dr. Kujo. An antidote has been created thanks to Matsudo Koichi (Sei Hiraizumi) and L has several vials loaded when he gets on board the plane.
There is of course a silly pairing up of L and an F.B.I. Agent Hideaki Suruga (Kiyotaka Nanbara) that doesn't really make the picture any better. The Agent serves only as a decoy so L and the two children can make it across town. One of the things that the first two movies had going for it was the way that L outsmarted Light, here he is only a babysitter to two children I would have walked away from, it seems that he was outsmarted here.
I give L: Change The World a 1 and on my avoidance scale a 3 wait until this movie comes out on video and rent all three movies in the series. If you go see this movie it will be you that is outsmarted. Outsmarted out of the twelve-fifty it cost. Maybe if you follow the time lines of the first two films, this silly waste of a movie may make sense.
L: Change The World is not rated
Running time is 2 hrs. 11 mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment