Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The third and final film in the DEATH NOTE trilogy isn't quite as good as the first two films: they were back-to-back thrillers that slotted perfectly together into a quite wonderful double bill. This is more spin-off than sequel, with the fantasy trappings relegated to the sidelines and the emphasis on a traditional thriller centring around L's final 23 days on earth. Much of the plot centres around the outbreak of a highly contagious virus, reminding me of the Dustin Hoffman starrer, OUTBREAK. L is the protagonist thrown into this slightly predictable plot and much of the film's charm comes from his character.This is the film that seeks to humanise L so that he becomes more than just a series of quirky gestures. The third quarter of the film basically departs from the thriller aspects and just focuses on our hero hanging out with a couple of kids and getting involved in society. Kenichi Matsuyama is absolutely wonderful in this role and his presence alone kept me glued to the screen when otherwise this would have been nothing more than a forgettable, convoluted thriller. RING director Hideo Nakata enjoys playing up the grisly aspects of the virus outbreak, with lots of bleeding pustules and eyeballs, and throws in a couple of stand-out moments along the way (L's way of boarding the airliner and the village set-piece are highlights here). Although the supporting cast is populated by strong actors, none of the other characters are ever more than one-dimensional so the film's a bit frustrating in that respect. To be fair it's not a great film at all really, but it is a watchable one – and most of that is down to Matsuyama's presence.

This film had f**k all to do with Death Note whatsoever. It felt like they just slotted a few of the characters and a few references into a completely unrelated script. If they'd have treated the movie separately it might have been better but as it stands it's just a blatant excuse to cash in on the good will generated by the first 2 Death Note movies which I thought were excellent....It's a shame because I like the director, Hideo Nakata, I thought the Ring movies were great, even the US remakes were alright and the direction here is not the problem. The problem is branding the whole thing to rope in an established audience to generate some cash....Come on, please don't treat your punters with such disrespect....Now, I have nothing more to say on the subject, thank you move along.......

Well you don't have a clue about the original storyline! Simon may have some stuff wrong, except in the original anime/manga L died before solving the Kira case, he didn't get 23 days, he didn't survive but Kira did, and burning the death note never would've happened prior because he didn't know about the kira case or death note so saying it's a prequel would also be false. In the anime it was never destroyed, especially when L was alive. L DIED! This is a changed storyline that didn't coincide with the original, but if events happened differently. You have no idea what you are talking about if you never even saw the anime!

Living up to the excellence of Shusuke Kaneko's Death Note films was always going to be a daunting task. The makers of this film responded to this challenge by avoiding it.The film's prominent ties to its predecessors, most notably the inclusion of several characters and events from them, are entirely superficial, and I was left with the distinct impression that Nakata's primary desire was to make a bioterrorism thriller, with the Death Note movies and the character of L serving merely as convenient springboards.After going to the trouble of hiring several actors to reprise their roles, (Such as Erika Toda as Misa, Asaka Seto as Naomi Misora, and Shunji Fujimura) their characters are criminally underused. This is not just lazy, it is cruel. It's the equivalent of dangling food in front of a starving dog only to pull it away after only letting them lick it. Even the unperceptive viewer can tell these are blatant attempts to fake a connection which is essentially nonexistent.The sheer magnitude of neglected opportunities to capitalise on the wealth of plot and character established by the Death Note films is staggering. A event as stupendous as Kira's reign of death would have a lasting effect on society; the Death Note films show the beginnings of this, with people divided over whether his actions were right, and many supporting him to a religious degree. Yet in L: Change the WorLd, its almost as if none of it had ever happened. Life goes on as usual, with scarcely a mention of the monumental upheaval the world has just undergone. This also could've provided many interesting possibilities, such as the Kira cult becoming involved in the plot, or characters such as Misa and Ryuk playing new roles and continuing to develop. Apparently, Nakata couldn't care less.What's more, he can't resist falling back on his roots as a horror director, and is determined to scare the audience with the victims of the virus. Unfortunately, the result is corniness rather than adrenaline. The rest if the time, he's either plodding through the drama on autopilot, or inserting light comedy in a haphazard manner.The writing isn't much better. The script is brimming with trite clichés, yet is oblivious to this and makes no effort to put a fresh spin on them. It has some admirable aspirations, namely its attempts to explore L's human side, and capture the topical issues of terrorism and the Bird Flu/SARS scares in the same way that its prequels addressed justice and the death penalty, but in execution it fails. Overall, it largely plays like amateur fanfiction, overusing the surface strengths of the originals (namely L's eccentricity) while losing its deeper strengths. Interesting ideas are left to rot on a compost heap of generic characters, messy plotting, and lame attempts to emulate the excesses of the typical Hollywood action movie.To his immense credit, Kenichi Matsuyama lifts L above this malaise and squeezes a river of blood from the stony script in his typically witty and charismatic performance. Once again, he embodies the character down to his finest mannerisms, and makes like he just crept off the set of The Last Name. True, his English skills are modest, but this is actually believable; I met many Japanese people who spoke in this way during my time in Japan.Sadly, however, much the use of English throughout the film is reminiscent of the Heisei Godzilla series in its grating inanity. Also, the Japanese performances outside of Matsuyama range from decent, (Fukuda Mayuko as Maki) to downright cheesy. (Most of the villains) Even Erika Toda as Misa had none of the spark Kaneko drew out of her in the prequels during her brief cameo.Even Death Note veteran Kenji Kawai's score, while certainly not bad, is a far cry from his work on the previous films, though largely because he's mostly forcibly limited to low key background music and the long periods of sluggish silence Nakata so adores. He finally finds a chance to shine towards the end, where he provides two impressive pieces; an epic cue that accompanies L's arrival at the climax, and a melancholy piece that fits the fittingly touching conclusion nicely.Cinematography is also a step down, losing the smooth, rich clarity of the Death Note movies for a dry and altogether bland visual style.Thankfully it's not all doom and gloom; there's some good apples among the piles of rotten ones. As mentioned previously, the ending is suitably poignant, though the tears it almost brought to my eyes are due primarily to my love of and familiarity with the character. I also laughed aloud at several of L's displays of quirkiness, and flushed with joy at the rare but delicious moments of Death-Note-style "intellectual pwnage." The opening title sequence is slick and classy, capturing the feel of its predecessors wonderfully.The FX are strong for a Japanese film, and are actually slightly more advanced than those of the first two films. The destruction of the infected village is vivid and impressive, and the practical effects for virus's symptoms are mostly well done. Ryuk's execution via CGI during his brief appearance is about on par with his previous incarnations.But you know something's wrong when your counting the good moments rather than the bad ones.In the end, the film's highlights are like sweet chocolate chips in a bitter and mouldy cookie. It succeeds as fanservice and as cold commercial calculation, but fails as art, entertainment, or storytelling. It's an awful shame, because with the ingredients left by its marvellous predecessors, it could have been truly great.