live up to the excellence of shusuke kaneko death note film be always go to be a daunt task . the maker of this film respond to this challenge by avoid it . the film prominent tie to it predecessor and most notably the inclusion of several character and event from them and be entirely superficial and and i be leave with the distinct impression that nakata primary desire be to make a bioterrorism thriller and with the death note movie and the character of l serve merely a convenient springboard . after go to the trouble of hire several actor to reprise their role and ( such a erika toda a misa and asaka seto a naomi misora and and shunji fujimura ) their character be criminally underused . this be not just lazy and it be cruel . it the equivalent of dangle food in front of a starving dog only to pull it away after only let them lick it . even the unperceptive viewer can tell these be blatant attempt to fake a connection which be essentially nonexistent . the sheer magnitude of neglected opportunity to capitalise on the wealth of plot and character establish by the death note film be stagger . a event as stupendous a kira reign of death would have a lasting effect on society while the death note film show the beginning of this and with people divide over whether his action be right and and many support him to a religious degree . yet in l represent change the world and it almost a if none of it have ever happen . life go on a usual and with scarcely a mention of the monumental upheaval the world have just undergo . this also could have provide many interesting possibility and such a the kira cult become involve in the plot and or character such a misa and ryuk play new role and continue to develop . apparently and nakata couldn not care less . what more and he can not resist fall back on his root a a horror director and and be determine to scare the audience with the victim of the virus . unfortunately and the result be corniness rather than adrenaline . the rest if the time and he either plod through the drama on autopilot and or insert light comedy in a haphazard manner . the write isn not much well . the script be brim with trite clichés and yet be oblivious to this and make no effort to put a fresh spin on them . it have some admirable aspiration and namely it attempt to explore l human side and and capture the topical issue of terrorism and the bird flu or sars scare in the same way that it prequels address justice and the death penalty and but in execution it fail . overall and it largely play like amateur fanfiction and overuse the surface strength of the original ( namely l eccentricity ) while lose it deeper strength . interest idea be leave to rot on a compost heap of generic character and messy plotting and and lame attempt to emulate the excess of the typical hollywood action movie . to his immense credit and kenichi matsuyama lift l above this malaise and squeeze a river of blood from the stony script in his typically witty and charismatic performance . once again and he embody the character down to his fine mannerism and and make like he just creep off the set of the last name . true and his english skill be modest and but this be actually believable while i meet many japanese people who speak in this way during my time in japan . sadly and however and much the use of english throughout the film be reminiscent of the heisei godzilla series in it grating inanity . also and the japanese performance outside of matsuyama range from decent and ( fukuda mayuko a maki ) to downright cheesy . ( most of the villain ) even erika toda a misa have none of the spark kaneko draw out of her in the prequels during her brief cameo . even death note veteran kenji kawai score and while certainly not bad and be a far cry from his work on the previous film and though largely because he mostly forcibly limit to low key background music and the long period of sluggish silence nakata so adores . he finally find a chance to shine towards the end and where he provide two impressive piece while an epic cue that accompany l arrival at the climax and and a melancholy piece that fit the fittingly touching conclusion nicely . cinematography be also a step down and lose the smooth and rich clarity of the death note movie for a dry and altogether bland visual style . thankfully it not all doom and gloom while there some good apple among the pile of rotten one . a mention previously and the end be suitably poignant and though the tear it almost bring to my eye be due primarily to my love of and familiarity with the character . i also laugh aloud at several of l display of quirkiness and and flush with joy at the rare but delicious moment of death note style intellectual pwnage . the opening title sequence be slick and classy and capture the feel of it predecessor wonderfully . the fx be strong for a japanese film and and be actually slightly more advanced than those of the first two film . the destruction of the infected village be vivid and impressive and and the practical effect for virus symptom be mostly well do . ryuk execution via cgi during his brief appearance be about on par with his previous incarnation . but you know something wrong when your count the good moment rather than the bad one . in the end and the film highlight be like sweet chocolate chip in a bitter and mouldy cookie . it succeed a fanservice and a cold commercial calculation and but fail a art and entertainment and or storytelling . it an awful shame and because with the ingredient leave by it marvellous predecessor and it could have be truly great .