L: Change the World (L 之終章‧最後的23天)

Its been about a year and a half since I saw the first 'Death Note' movie.  I enjoyed it for its originality and characters, even if it was a bit overly complicated and confusing at time (perhaps cause i never watched the anime before).  I went back to see the sequel a few months later.  Apparently someone decided to make a spin-off using one of the main characters - the bizarre, quirky genius detective 'L'.

He likes to squat on chairs, type like a 5 year old and eat sugar like a crack addict smokes crack...  but he's a crime solving genius,  previously brought in by Interpol to help solve the 'Death Note' case...

If you haven't seen the 2nd one, stop reading, cause inherently this film's review, like its plot (even its title) is a giant spoiler...

OK?  The film get the '23 days' part in its Japanese/Chinese name from the fact that 'L' only has 23 days to live after the events of the 2nd 'Death Note' film...    hmm,  kind of an interesting approach to a story... the main character already knows exactly when and how he's going to die, and he knows he can't die before that day.  Well luckily for 'L', there happens to be one or two super evil plots against public safety that he has time to help out with before that 23 days runs out. 

In this case its not super natural note books, its something a little more 'normal'... bio terrorists...  and he must team up with a jr. high school girl and a 5 year old math genius to beat them.... 

The movie is relatively entertaining for what it is.  There are some laughs about the bizarre nature of 'L',  but its not a real stand-out...  the ending could have more punch, but I guess this is another case of Japanese movies not having a big enough budget for good story telling (see 'Yamato no Otoko' for a really good example of that...)    I'll give it a 4/10,  but if you really liked the manga or anime or previous movies,  you'll probably like it.