It's safe to say that the Netflix adaptation of Death Note didn't exactly hit the mark and it ended up being a polarizing film. A lot of you already know by now that the 2017 American adaptation drew massive criticism from avid fans of both the manga and anime series due to its writers' decision to take a different route storywise and the once-promising project turned into a lackluster flick which is mediocre at best when you look back on it now.
Co-screenwriters Charley and Vlas Parlapanides recently spoke with ComicBook.com and revealed the exact reason why they opted to alter the film's story instead of staying faithful to its source material. Vlas explains: "I think that Jeremy Slater did a good job, but, he had a very specific mandate and we're disappointed by the reception because we wanted to, again, give the fans something that they would like, but we also understand where they were coming from."
Parlapanides added that the change was also influenced by director Adam Wingard. He said: "There was a Japanese film. There was...the anime. So, that story had been told. So that's why the director said, 'Hey, we've seen this story, let's try to do something different.' But again, sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you give people something they want, sometimes you don't."
Now, if it wasn't obvious enough, Hollywood needs to put an end to its attempt of making adaptations of anime classics like Death Note. I mean, mad props for their willingness to take huge risks but their track record hasn't been so great and I personally believe that it's time to accept the fact that they'll never be able to pull off a decent live-action adaptation based on popular anime titles. If anything, we should just let the people who know the product better to do the job.
The American live-action adaptation of Death Note is still streaming on Netflix if you'd like to give it another try.
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