L: CHANGE THE WORLD (Japan, 2008)
Directed by: Hideo Nakata
Starring: Kenichi Matsuyama, Mayuko Fukuda, Shingo Tsurumi, Youki Kudoh, Sei Hiraizumi, Tatsuya Fujiwara
The two DEATH NOTE movies that sold-out lightning fast at last year’s New York Asian Film Festival, introduced movie goers to L, a teenaged, goth version of Sherlock Holmes with a killer sweet tooth. After the DEATH NOTE flicks became mega-successes at the box office a sequel was needed, but no one was quite sure how to do it. Enter Hideo Nakata, director of iconic Japanese horror film, THE RING. His idea was to tell a free standing L story set in the last 23 days of L’s life which are alluded to in DEATH NOTE 2, but never shown. The result? This bright and shiny techno-thriller, a Tom Clancy flick for sugar-shocked teenagers that runs fast and smooth on eight, chrome-coated cylinders.

Somewhere in Thailand an engineered virus causes the populace of a small village to erupt in killer acne that melts their skin. It’s the latest toy on the weapons black market, something that terrorists can give each other for Christmas, but there’s only one problem: the virus has mutated and the antidote no longer works. The village is wiped out with a firebomb, but one little kid escapes. He’s a carrier and he makes a bee-line for Tokyo, running from a gang of eco-terrorists who want to save the environment by wiping out the world’s biggest polluter – mankind – using the virus still lurking in this kid’s veins. Once in Tokyo, L takes the kid under his wing and vows to use the last days he’ll spend alive protecting him from the people who want his blood. What follows is a breathless cat and mouse game between L, the terrorists and the police, all of whom want the kids for their own reasons. 

Deliciously ridiculous and ridiculously delicious, Nakata’s film delivers straight-up thriller energy, given a wild spin by their association with the gothy, creepy DEATH NOTE series. L remains one of cinema’s greatest creations: a hunch-backed gargoyle who is constantly scarfing down candy and is always one step ahead of his enemies. A box office hit in Japan where it made over $30 million and cemented Kenichi Matsuyama, who plays L, as a matinee idol, it’s a big budget treat for tired, sun-fried summer brains.