“Death Note” (** out of four) was a strenuously weird and uneven Netflix adaptation of a manga novel about a high-school student (Lakeith Stanfield) who stumbles across a mystical notebook that has the power to kill anyone whose names he writes in it; upon realizing its powers, he then sets upon a personal mission to rid the city of crime but this leads to him being targeted by the police and the criminal underworld. Odd mix of high-school melodrama, vigilante crime thriller, and criminal underworld story works best in its second half but takes too long to get going and too long to get where it’s going. And speaking of odd- check out Willem Dafoe who plays a goblin assistant to the kid named Ryuk! Stylish touches by director Adam Wingard and lively soundtrack helps.