Reviews

This is trying to be a social commentary film but it lacks substance. From the start you don't care about either of the "main characters" (In quotes because after the first half we barely see them until the very end). It seems everything they do for the first thirty minutes of the film doesn't matter. The overall plot of the farm is never fully explained. It's a place where they harvest meat and milk via humans instead of animals. But why? Is it cheaper? Easier? Does it taste better? Is there a group of elite people who are willing to spend more money for human than cow? We never get an answer. At one point there is a phone call placed from an unknown caller to the man who runs the farm with what seems to be an angry caller on the line. We hear an exchange about how they've found a tooth in the meat. The owner apologizes and offers excuses and free catering to the next event. This seems like the customers don't know it's human, otherwise why be so upset? If you are buying chicken wings you know there will be a bone inside it, I would assume if you were buying pounds of human meat you might get a tooth or bone. Characters are introduced that we never really have met before and we're expected to care about them. Things happen but there is nothing behind it so it seems like it is all for shock, but I'm not shocked. The baby scene could be seen a mile away and still doesn't make any kind of sense to me. I guess that's why people think this movie is so creepy, but it isn't. There are about a million other problems with this movie, I'm not going to micromanage. I just wouldn't waste the time watching it honestly.

This one...it wasn't great. The positives? So I really enjoyed the character of Acht and wished he was in it for much more of the series. The animation, while not good at all reminded me so much of a video game from the early 2000's so the fight sequences were okay for me. The bugs had a very interesting look and were done well. I liked the idea of the plot, it was different and not something I've seen a lot of.

The negatives. The plot, while good on paper had some cannon ball sized holes in it. A lot of motivations seemed unclear, then there were what seemed to be major characters changing their minds mid episode about big things. I am still not totally sure what makes a character change into a Cagaster. Is it a virus? Is it contagious? Is it something already in your DNA? A combination of all of that plus other things? Ilie says she can turn a person into a Cagaster, then says she can see who will turn into one, then says she is afraid she will turn somebody into one and not know she's doing it? I'm kind of letting that one slip a little because I might just be dumb. The AWFUL dubbing. Man. It's not my favorite thing. My absolute least favorite thing was the nasty love angle they were going for. It's well established early on that Ilie is young. I believe she says she's 14? Or something in that ballpark. She is mostly friends with children and even by her design alone she looks young. Kidow is not 14. If he is then somebody in the character design department really messed up. It's very obvious through flashbacks and other characters that Kidow has been in this gig for a while and he's an adult now. If he were more of a big brother character that would be fine. But these two go from hot to cold over and over and over again and it's just weird and uncalled for. Like she is a child. He isn't. That made my skin itch. Honestly if I didn't like the bug's look and Acht so much as a character this would get a lot fewer stars just due to these two and the romance (?) between them.

The positives? It made me re watch the anime - and made me fall in love all over again with the original. The negative? Too numerous to list. Honestly I don't really mind the story as loose as it is, I feel like if all the characters were given totally different names it may have made more sense. As in it's still about a Death Note but just not Light vs L since these characters are not Light or L. I mean knowing they're trying to turn a multiple episode anime into a one off movie I knew going in they would skip over some things, it's just the things they didn't skip over had far too many changes, from character motivations, relationships, killing Light's mom? Mia is not Misa. Light Turner is just a little to pathetic and afraid to be the god of any new world. This L too emotional. Maybe he should have been E instead. One second they are saying things like "that's why I don't carry a gun" to literally chasing Light with a gun. L would never. Okay - so I'll take back my no positive things. I think Ryuk's casting choice was great. Dafoe makes an excellent god of death I think. AND (don't kill me) I do like the way the ending (not the very end - god no) but the end at the pier played out. Not in the terms of the plot, but rather the lighting and music and Mia's death scene. That was nice. Those are the two things keeping this from a total one star. Honestly ? I've read better fan fictions than this and I was so bummed. Maybe we'll get a better adaptation in another two or three years, since it seems like that's what they're doing anyway.