Movies/Novels >> Movie 2 Summary

Movie 2’s Summary written by the talented Space Pig. Thank you SO much!

I saw the first film, and enjoyed it, but it covered so little of the story that the movie became slow in parts and felt longer than its two hours. Luckily, Death Note: The Last Name kicks the pants off the original film in every area. Pacing, acting, directing, Shinigami CGI, etc. Though 2 hours and 20 minutes long, the Last Name flys by half as fast as the first film.

“Last Name” is a practically perfect movie, unless you can’t stand it when movies change the story they draw their plot from. Yes, Last Name is drastically different then the manga and anime, but in a good way, rest assured. Here’s my summary (I might have forgotten some events or messed up the order, but I believe its very accurate overall.) Be warned: HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD.

The movie opens with a one second shot of Jealous’ face. It zooms into his eye and we witness the scene from the end of the first film where Misa is running from her stalker. As this happens, we see a stubby hand writing the stalker’s name into the Death Note. Then, the Death Note drops beside Misa. She picks it up and examines it, seeing the stalker’s name written. She’s obviously creeped out, and screams when she sees Rem (replicated through CGI ten times better then Ryuk’s from the first film) who tells her her life has been extended.

She looks scared, and Rem points at the notebook, saying, “the human whose name is written in the note will die.” She smiles and says, “Cool…” and the film cuts to an awesome opening sequence that visually recaps the first film and reads out every rule essential to the plot of this film, with “Dani California” playing in the background. It’s an excellent way to open the film.

After this, the scenery changes to Shiori’s funeral. Kiyomi Takada, an newscaster for Sakura TV, is there with her producer, Demegawa. (Fans of the manga will remember these characters from the second arc of Death Note.) They’re talking about what happened to the girl. The task force searching for Kira is also there, talking about the same topic. A limo pulls up, and Light and his father get out. Something fans will realize right away is that Tatsuya Fujiwara’s hair has been styled to look just like the hair in the manga and anime, down to the color. It makes him look a lot more like Light then he did in the first film.

Anyway, Shiori’s funeral happens, and during it, Light leans over to his father and vows revenge against Kira for taking his beloved Shiori away. Ryuk starts laughing, knowing that Light is Kira. Light hits him in the face under the pretense of scratching the back of his head.

They go back to the Task Force headquarters, where Light sits across L, who is playing Chess against himself. Light begins playing one side while L explains that he suspects him of being Kira, and one reason for letting Light join the task force is so L can investigate him further. Matsuda calls L a heartless bastard for saying such things, but Light tells him to lay off. He finds it amusing that L thinks this, and is determined to prove L wrong. L hopes he can, because he truly wants Light’s help in finding Kira.

At this point, it cuts to the Sakura TV headquarters, where Demegawa has just received the tapes the second Kira sent. He plans to play them the next day. At the same time, Takada is trying to convince him to let her be the anchor on the Kira news, because she’s been covering the Kira story the whole time. Demegawa says she’s not attractive enough and blows her off.

At this point, they the twenty minute scene where the second Kira’s tapes are played. It’s basically the same as the manga, but with a few key differences. Because Light has already joined the task force, he watches with L and the task force, and discusses with them that they need to get Sakura TV to stop broadcasting the tapes. Also, there is a Sakura TV festival going on during this scene, where Light’s sister Sayu is. Mogi rushes to the scene and tries to break up the crowd, which is chanting “Kira! Kira!” and is killed on the spot, as are three more police officers.

At this point, Light and L deduce that this new Kira needs only a face, and not a name. Sayu gets in front of the camera and starts screaming at Kira, calling it a murderer. We then see Misa, in a room with the Death Note, watching Sayu, about to kill her. But then she remembers the night she saw her parents slaughter, and stops, right as a bus drives itself through the giant TV in front of the festival.

Mr. Yagami gets out, in a helmet so his face is hidden, and breaks up the crowd. He then destroys the camera and shoots the cord giving feed to the station. He then goes in and forces Demegawa to turn off the Kira message, after making sure Sayu is ok.

Light tells the task force he’s going to go pick up his dad and sister. Of course, his real intention is to meet the second Kira, which the broadcast told him to do.

He arrives, and looks around for the second Kira, but to no avail. He finds his father and Sayu, and as he’s leaving, Misa spots him, and because she can’t see his lifespan, deduces that he’s Kira.

After this, there might be some more investigation chat, but after it, Misa goes to Light’s house, exactly like in the manga. The scene plays out almost word for word like the manga. She proves she’s the second Kira, swears devotion, Rem explains that Kira punished her parent’s killer, etc. When she finally leaves, Light is much happier. Now he can kill L with Misa’s Shinigami eyes.

The next scene is at the University where Light is studying. He’s in study hall, and sees L sitting behind him, munching on a lollipop. Light asks him if its safe to be out in public with a Kira that needs only a face on the loose. L says that only Light knows who he is, so he’s safe. L also has the ridiculous “L mask” that Near wore in the end of the manga, and puts it on as they walk around campus.

As in the manga, they run into Misa. She pulls off L’s mask playfully, and L looks angry for a few seconds, but then tells Misa that he’s a big fan of her CD. The scene continues just like the manga, with a big group of people crowding around Misa to meet her. L ducks away, and Misa shrieks, saying someone has touched her butt. L pops up again, saying “I, the world’s greatest detective, will surely find the culprit.” Everyone laughs. Misa leaves, saying goodbye to Light, and as L puts the mask back on, Light calls her. A phone L is holding rings. Light turns around slowly and sees he has Misa’s phone. L then informs Light that they have apprehended Misa on being the second Kira.

At this point, the film continues in the same way as the manga. L observes Misa as she is confined, and eventually, she gives up ownership of the note. Rem comes to Light and tells him what’s happened, and that she’ll kill Light if he doesn’t save her. Light comes up with his brilliant plot, burying the note in the forest. He gives Rem Misa’s notebook, and she flys off. He then tells Ryuk that if he says “I discard it,” that Ryuk should take away Light’s ownership of the note.

He goes to the task force, and puts himself in confinement like in the manga, and Light gives up ownership, as in the manga, and when the killings start again, Light is released. (They skip the part where Mr. Yagami threatens to kill Light and Misa in the car.)

When Light first goes into confinement, there’s a really great scene where Mr. Yagami goes and examines his room, looking for clues. He finds a thick book about justice, and flashed back to when he gave it to Light. He gave it to him when he turned 18, and told him that the book would help teach him what justice was. Mr. Yagami feels really guility, thinking that if Light is Kira, it’s his own fault.

Here’s where the film strays from the manga, but in a brilliant way that ties in plots from the second arc. Takada, the newscaster for Sakura TV, is the new Kira. She is now a character combining Higuchi, Mikami, and Takada, the latter two from the second arc. She begins killing criminals in much the same way Mikami did, though only the kinds of criminals the first Kira would punish. At one point, she kills the anchorwoman, who has been a complete jerk to her, by making her run in front of a truck on a date with Demegawa.

She becomes the new anchor, and back at the task force. Light and L are quickly coming to the conclusion of who the second Kira is.

L has become disheartened that he’s out of clues, and sitting alone on the staircase, sucking on a lollipop, sad. It’s a brilliant piece of acting by Ken’ichi Matsuyama, one of his best scenes in the film. Light is feverishly working on his computer, and discovers something. He goes to L and shows him that the new Kira is killing criminals in a pattern that suggest she takes much from the media, is a woman, and takes most of her information from Sakura TV.

L thanks Light for giving him clues again. I have to say, once again, that this is a great and tragic scene. We wee L and Light as true friends who trust and care for one another, and at the same time, we know Light is really Kira, wanting nothing more then to kill L. Anyway, they deduce it’s the new anchorwoman, Kiyomi Takada, and put cameras in her room.

At this point, it plays out nearly identical to the manga with them hunting Higuchi, but Higuchi is Takada and there is no Yotsuba group. They watch her writing names, and talking to an invisible entity, who L and Light deduce must be a Shinigami. They set the same trap they do in the manga—-doing a fake program on Sakura TV where an unknown person threatens to reveal Kira’s identity. However, since in the movie, Matsuda never went to Yotsuba and faked his death, the man behind the curtain is very different. It’s a hobo-ish man (played by Matsuda) who has threatened to release surveillance tapes of Takada writing names if she doesn’t pay him 5 million yen.

Takada can’t kill him with the fake name, so she goes to the station to kill him. It’s been evacuated, and the task force corners her. They all touch the note seeing Rem, and when Light does it, he gets all his memories back. To regain ownership of the note, he kills Takada with a piece of the note in his watch, just like he does in the manga. They go back to headquarters, where they discuss what has just happened. They see the 13 day rule that Light had Rem write in the book, and deduce that Light and Amane can’t be Kira. L still isn’t fully convinced.

Misa is released, and Light tells her to go dig up the Death Note in the forest. She does, and regains her memories, then proceeding to read a note that Light left her, telling her to kill L with the name she saw when he appeared at the university.

L later decides that they need to test the notebook, by giving it to a death row inmate and having him/her write the name of another inmate, and seeing if he dies 13 days later. L has Mr. Yagami and the rest of the task force, except Light and himself, go to Washington D.C. to test the notebook.

When L and Light are alone, L announces that he’s called Misa to come to the headquarters, where he will prove she is Kira. He says he’ll sacrifice himself. Misa will have the death note, see his name, and write it in. If he dies, Misa is Kira.

Rem watches all this in horror, and realizes the only way to save Misa’s life is to write L’s name into the Death Note. She curses Light Yagami for tricking her like this, and writes in L and Watari’s name. As Misa and Watari walk in, Watari dies. Light looks at L, smiling, and says “Checkmate.” L falls to the ground, clutching his chest. He can’t believe he miscalculated like this. L dies, and Light walks out with Misa, after examining the ash formally known as Rem, who died because she extended Misa’s life.

Light writes down his father’s name in the death note, who will die after bringing Light the other note. Misa is shocked at this. Light says he doesn’t want to do it, but sacrifices are necessary. Later that night, Mr. Yagami comes into the large lobby where Light is waiting, and Light says he’s sorry for what’s about to happen, but hopes his father understands.

Mr. Yagami opens the briefcase. It’s empty. He tells Light he’ll never understand. Light looks shocked as the rest of the taskforce walk out, standing on the balconies and staircase. Then…L emerges, alive and well.

The look on Light’s face is priceless. He’s just as confused as the viewer at this point.

L reveals that the task force never went to America, but stayed and watched. L also reveals that he wrote his own name in the note, so he would die peacefully in 23 days time, so when Rem wrote his name in, it had no effect. L holds up the death note with his name, and through clever camera angles, we never see the full name, but you can easily see that it says “L Lawliet.”

L also replaced the note Misa had with a fake, after the first day she wrote names. On the second day she wrote names, the task force monitored her and told Light the criminals she wrote were killed. Light is furious, and tries to write their names into the secret compartment in his watch.

Matsuda shoots his watch, and then his knee. Light gets up, laughing, and tells Ryuk to write their names down. Ryuk instead writes in Light’s name (just like in the manga) and Light dies in his father’s arms, telling his father he was just trying to carry out the justice his father had taught him.

At the end of this scene, someone asks Mr. Yagami what he’ll tell his family. Mr. Yagami says he’ll say Kira killed Light, and that it’s the truth. (This is a truly excellent line.)

Two weeks later, L dies peacefully, while eating chocolate, a picture of Watari next to him. Mr. Yagami talks to him before his death, and L says although he never knew his parents, Mr. Yagami was an excellent father to him. Along with the audience, Mr. Yagami tears up, and salutes L as he walks out of the room.

One year later, Mr. Yagami and his family are remembering Light, all three of them very sad. Only Mr. Yagami knows the truth, and he’s as sad as the others.

Ryuk flies around Tokyo tower, and the film cuts to the credits that grove to “Snow ((Hey Oh))” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

It’s an excellent film, not to be missed. The acting is excellent, and I truly liked the ending much better then the manga’s ending. For one, Light doesn’t get to a point in the film where he’s a cold, heartless bastard who the audience wants to see die. Fujiwara adds an incredible sympathy to Light, and the scene where he dies is hard to watch because of it. When we want to see Light die, the ending is fairly lackluster. In the movie, it delivers in an incredible way.

Ken’ichi Matsuyama once again steals the show as L, and does an unbelievable job in every last shot he’s in. Erika Toda also is excellent as Misa. She makes the role more mature, and Misa is much more likeable then in the manga.

I can’t wait to see this “spin off” with L coming out next year. Judging by this film, it will be excellent.