Gyakuten saiban

I had the privilege of seeing this film in Tokyo while it was still in theaters. Having played all of the Phoenix Wright/Gyakuten Saiban games, I was very familiar with the source material. That being said, it easily introduces all of the characters in a very succinct manner, and their personalities show through brilliantly on the big screen.

The summary: Ryuichi Naruhodo aka Phoenix Wright is a struggling defense attorney who works for the Ayasato law firm. After a shocking murder, he finds himself in the high court defending a client against murder... pitted against a prosecuting prodigy... who just happens to be a childhood friend. The twists and turns of the case lead Naruhodo into an investigation of a long-closed case which is very relevant to current events.

For fans of courtroom drama or mystery, it's a very suspenseful and very clever murder mystery, but if you've played the first game, you already know how it turns out. For once, a director chose to go with the original story rather than trying to go off in a strange direction or "re-imagine" the details that people know and love (yes, I'm looking in your direction, Michael Bay), though some elements have been absorbed into one story to make sure the entire story takes place. All of the cases from the game are referenced, though not all of them are fully played out on screen (time constraints). Additionally, there are no clever "wink wink" moments to future games in the series, thank goodness.

Purists will be happy to know that some of the musical numbers come straight from the game, particularly in the courtroom, and the "floating box" evidence presenting element from the game is preserved as a very cool holographic system.

If I may level one criticism, it's that just like the game, the "investigation" portions tend to drag, but the courtroom scenes will have you sitting on the edge of your seat, pointing dramatically and shouting, "IGI ARI!" -- OBJECTION!

The Phoenix Wright games are a series of clever, wildly entertaining mystery adventure games in which a defense attorney must trip up witnesses with clever deductions on the evidence he finds himself at crime scenes. The games have weird, eccentric characters with odd hairstyles, prosecutors dress like 18th century poets, the courtroom follows no sane rules, with the judge constantly and prematurely about to declare Wright's client guilty before someone shouts or bursts in or Wright shouts OBJECTION.

The movie emulates not just the formula of the game but its over-the-top wackiness. Wright's hair appears to have been vaselined during a windstorm.

Many characters look like they're badly disguised as other people. The courtroom audience is dressed for a hip New Year's Eve party.

This emulation is a double-edged sword if you know the games. Miles Edgeworth is dead-on, but Phoenix Wright's hair is mainly wrong, and the character is too boyish and not square-jawed enough. A less literal version probably would have worked better, but the attempt is certainly an interesting and quirky one.

The bigger problem is the characters. The movie gives us the same thunderous moments, crazy graphics, and sudden plot terms, but it is less successful at bringing the characters to life with life actors than the game was with still images and text dialogue. Characters like Maya and Gumshoe have gone from being interesting characters to props. And while the movie is humorous, it is never as funny as the game.

Still, at its best, as in the final courtroom scenes, the film delivers a strong concoction of mystery, drama, and surprise. I'd recommend the games over the move (the movie's a 7, but the first game is a 9), but I'd still recommend the movie.

I understand how many people who aren't familiar with the Ace Attorney franchise could watch this movie and be utterly confused and weirded out. However, if you have played the games (or just the first one), I think you will enjoy this film immensely, as I did.

Ace Attorney is a movie about a young lawyer named Phoenix Wright who, after the death of his mentor, must unravel a conspiracy that stretches back to a murder that took place over a decade ago. The characters are quirky, the story is insane, and the references to the franchise are in great abundance. It's not supposed to be realistic.

Here is why it is such a good adaption. The film took liberties with the story in order to condense it down into a 2 hour movie, but they did so effectively and kept the spirit of the games alive. Because of the differences in scenes and dialogue (while keeping the same core story), fans of the games can watch it and still be enthralled, despite knowing the outcome. And the movie is hilarious. As I said before, they make a ton of references to cases they do not showcase specifically in the film. Throwing confetti out of a garbage bag. The appearance of the Blue Badger. Everyone in the courtroom falling over from the sheer force produced in Phoenix's "Objection!" These iconic aspects of the game have been creatively implemented into the movie.

The acting is over-exagerrated, but to me at least, that made the film even funnier. Honestly, the casting, costumes, and make up effectively bring the characters to life. You recognize them instantly, and their weird mannerisms and personalities are amazingly written (save for maybe Maya, who seems a bit too serious in this movie compared to the game).

It's a fun ride from beginning to end for fans. If you haven't played the games, I don't know what to say. Buy yourself a DS and get to it.

I wouldn't call myself a fan of Miike. Actually with "Audition" I might have started with one of his most wicked movies, very disturbing and very different and I might not have been open to that. This on the other hand (must be the tenth movie of his I have watched to date, not a lot if you consider his output!) is very easily accessible.

And that rings true, even if you're not familiar with the source material this is based on. I myself didn't know the game and haven't played it yet. But the essence of the movie is a courtroom thriller with a few twists. And it has a very wicked sense of humor, which might not be to everyones taste. If you don't like the first 5 minutes, don't bother watching more. Otherwise it'll be a hoot (and those hair styles ... awesome!)

I'm incidentally a huge fan of both Miike and the Ace Attorney game series, but I believe people who want to see this film, are mostly Phoenix Wright fans, so I'll try to review the movie from this point of view, to show fans what they need to expect.

Adapting a game like Phoenix Wright might seem easy at first, but in fact, it's something you have to be careful with: the game is basically like a comic book, a series a images well put together, with often intriguing, other times funny but never uninteresting dialogues and characters. Like a comic (or even a novel for that matter) most of the world is created by the reader (or in this case the player) who links these dialogues and images in a way, to create a motion picture in their mind. I loved exploring the crime scenes, and such (=the non scripted parts of the game), but it's the story and the characters that had a bigger impact on me. Each player has a different way of imagining this world while playing the game, and for that the film has to work in a way that it ruins the least amount a fans' expectations. Every single imagination can't be pleased, but this film tries its hardest.

First, what I liked about the film, is the attempt itself to create a Phoenix Wright movie. Second, the fact that this "distopic absurd world" of the source material is portrayed in the movie without the creators shying away from ideas that an average human being would find acceptable in a video game, but not necessarily in a film. In fact, that is a very strong aspect of the movie: it has a world without rules, limits, it's crazy, dark and fun, just like the game. It doesn't want to be just a movie, it wants to be THE Phoenix Wright movie. In other words, one of the films biggest values, is that it wants to translate the least amount of video game logic to film logic. It embraces video game logic, plays with it, and uses it to show the craziest ideas on screen. I mean for example by the trials with holograms, which is of course not like that in the games, but the idea is brilliant, because it translates the game's epic moments perfectly, when somebody pulls out the definitive evidence and shows it to the court. Third, the film is not only made by somebody who knows the source material throughly, but from the film's attitude, is a big fan of it as well. The most possible elements are compressed in these 90 minutes to please all the fans' needs: for example some unexpected characters from the series make short appearances (which, I'm not going to tell you of course) and many similar surprises..

All that being said, the movie has a few downsides for me: First, the Gumshoe character: I love him in the games (my second favourite character after Godot) and I'm sure many of us do, but he had a lot less screen presence that I wanted him to have. Because of that, his style, his whole presence could not be felt as much in the film as in the game. Also, I think it was bad casting: although the actor does a decent job, they should have gotten somebody with a bit more weight on him to do it, after all he's the big guy in the games. Second, even if I didn't care as much for the Maya character in the games, as much as for several others, I always loved his relationship with Phoenix. Here, the chemistry between the two can hardly be felt, Maya seems more like an assistant than a true friend/partner of Phoenix. Also, I think bad casting here as well, since I think the actress was a bit too old for the role, but that wouldn't have been a big problem if the chemistry between the two worked. Third, the judge character. In the game we discover two sides of him: a strict (but old and tired of it) and a humorous naive judge (the way I see it). Here, I felt that he is left only with the first, and frankly least interesting side of him. And here again, I know this is tiring, but I think the judge having hair was a bad decision (I'm sure many of you think of this as astonishingly stupid nitpicking, but hey, the bald bearded guy: it's one thing that made him memorable for me, and if you make him have a beard, then cut his hair as well) Last, but not least, is a key scene which has been slightly modified by the writers. I'm not going to say which scene it is, all I can say without spoiling is that this key scene, was moved to another location in the film (the location in the game was one of the aspects which made it great). I think it was an easy choice, but they might have had a reason for it.

Although I devoted the bigger paragraph to negative aspects, I wouldn't call them flaws, more like things, ideas I would have done/solved differently. To end this all, and to clear all misunderstandings (if any happened): i loved the film. I think it's an absolute treat for fans, and a very well made piece of work, in terms of cinematography, screenplay, direction and everything else. Although I thought that the problems I had were worth mentioning, they didn't affect my viewing, since I was blown away by seeing Ace Attorney as a movie, and I thoroughly felt that only passion has been put in the making of this film and little to no laziness, which is sadly rarely the case of films nowadays. Does the film work? Absolutely. And that is what matters.