L: CHANGE THE WORLD : This spin-off, based on the movies of the popular manga series Death Note, tells the story of the famous detective L after wrapping up the Kira Investigation. Faced with the death of his assistant and good friend Watari, L solves countless more cases on his own, and soon faces a brand new case that could be his most difficult yet: stopping a corrupted group of scientists from
wiping out mankind with a lethal virus.
The legendary detective is back with a movie to call his own in the latest spin-off of the popular Death Note manga and anime series. I was excited to hear that L would get to take a final bow after the Kira Case came to a close, and I finally got to see it this month.
This time, L's intellect is put to the test when a team of environmentalists decide that mankind deserves to die after destroying the planet and waging pointless wars. Their weapon of choice is a deadly virus created by crossing strands of Influenza and Ebola. The virus was concluded extremely deadly when the virus was tested as a war weapon on a small village, leaving no survivors but a mysterious young boy, who is sent to L for protection after he is named a witness to the horrific events.
L's next house guest is a junior high school student named Maki, who delivers the bottled virus to L by orders of her father, who asked that the vial be delivered to Watari for protection. The pursuit is on after the scientists show up at L's headquarters searching for the virus.
The only content to be worried about in this movie is the violence; the scientists' plan for "cleansing the earth" is important enough to them that they'll kill anyone who gets in their way. The virus infects immediately through skin contact, and it is suggested the virus is airborne as well. The symptoms are, of course, everything that comes with Influenza and Ebola, and you know you've been infected when bleeding boils begin to pop up on your skin. We see this happening to the village named the virus' testing grounds; if you're not dead, you're nearly dead. It ends up a literal eyesore.
L's next task? Making sure the scientists don't come up with an antidote, stating, "If you have control of a virus and its antidote, you're invincible."
Ken'ichi Matsuyama returns to his hit role as the charming Japanese crime-fighter in director Hideo Nakata's new production. The film originally intended to take place before the Kira Case began, to convey the events when L and FBI agent Naomi Misora worked together. Hideo Nakata, director of the Japanese horror hit Ringu (which later inspired 'The Ring'), wanted to explore "L's human side" in the film, so the plot was rewritten, and L was given a chance to interact with the child co-stars of the film.
I was very impressed with this movie, seeing as usually spin-offs don't really interest me very often. Any fan of Death Note will want to check this one out, and any fans of L will want to twice as much.
Overall Rating:
/ 5
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