Death Note

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Year:	2006
Country of origin:	Japan
Director:	Shusuke Kaneko
Genre:	Live action anime
Starring:	Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Asaka Seto
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758742/
Tagline:	The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
Favourite line:	N/A - Subtitled

Live action version of an anime classic, this is entertaining, if not altogether flawless.

The plot:
A young man, Light, picks up a notebook from the pavement and discovers that any name he chooses to write in the book, the person will die within seconds.
To start with, he jots the names of criminals, delighting as news reports come in of mass, unexplained deaths of the criminal fraternity but, as the spotlight turns on the cause, and the authorities begin to close in, this new found power begins to overwhelm him so that, before long, he is prepared to kill anyone that may get in the way of his crusade.

An intriguing notion, stacked full of moral ambiguities, this is challenging on an ethical level, which is all to the good.
Adapting an animation for live action was always going to be tricky, and the creators here made a strange decision: make everything live action save for one character. True enough, the character in question is supernatural (not going to give details, for fear of spoilers) but still, he sticks out like the sore thumb of a Death God.
Effectively boiling down about 12 episodes of an anime, this has the feel of something episodic, as new characters appear sporadically throughout, usually briefly, before being killed off, lending it the air of an elongated TV episode rather than a movie proper.
Still, the leads were efficient enough, and the plot held sufficient intrigue to keep you watching.
An interesting experiment, then, though not without it's problems.
Liked it, though.