Last weekend I finally got to watch the live action adaptation of Ace Attorney, a movie which I have been dying to watch since it was announced last year. Here’s my mini-review of it, please note it contains some slight spoilers if you haven’t watched the movie or played the first Ace Attorney game!
Ace Attorney is based off a Nintendo GBA/DS game of the same name, which features rookie lawyer Phoenix Wright defending his clients against a rigged trial system which favours the prosecution. Imagine Law and Order, but with funky hairdo’s, and alot of finger pointing and shouting. The recurring theme of the game is the ‘turnabout’; Phoenix is routinely forced into a situation where it looks like his client is guilty, but somehow miraculously turns the argument around and uncover the truth at the same time.
First of all, the movie is a nigh-perfect representation of the game itself. In fact, it’s so close, those who haven’t played the game will most certainly miss out on alot of the puns that were created as part of the game’s transition to a movie, and as such might be confused as to why certain things are the way they are. The characters in the film almost have the same slapstick quality as in the game or what you would expect from an anime, and if you’re not used to this you’ll probably find it really weird.
If you have played the game though, then you’ll know the story already, with no added surprises. The movie focuses mainly on the 2nd and 4th cases of the game, and you’ll be pleased to know that all the major plot points from the game are present in the film. Certain things in case 2 had to be condensed to save some time (such as the role of April May being replaced by Redd White instead), but that’s an acceptable trade off given they had a lot of material to fit into the movie. Edgeworth’s trial and the DL-6 case takes about half the movie’s running time, and they pretty much nailed every single detail and fact from the game.
My only criticisms are minor, and they are mostly related to things that you’d pick up if you’ve played the game.
- There’s no Oldbag whatsoever, not even a cameo.
- The scenes where Phoenix is in seemingly deep shit, about to lose with no way out. Yep, I’m talking about this:
In the movie we get alot of mumbling (the Japanese equivalents of “um”) from Phoenix (Hiroki Narimiya), which does feel rather awkward at times.
- The movie never brings you to the emotional highs of the ‘turnabout’ moment which the game does so well. I’m talking about the parts where Phoenix goes from certain defeat to having his opponent on the run. Maybe it’s because that intense “Investigation – Cornered” track is missing?
- Edgeworth’s character isn’t developed as much as in the game, since the 3rd case is skipped, there’s less time for him to star as a prosecutor opposite Phoenix. He’s never quite made out to be the untouchable arrogant bastard that he is in the game, and is portrayed as more of emotionless and ice-cold person than he is. He never gets to do his amazing animations either:
As such when the 4th case rolls around and he’s the defendant, his turn doesn’t have that same kind of impact that it did in the game.
These minor things don’t stop Ace Attorney from being a good movie though, and it still stands as the best game to movie adaptation ever made. I think it shows that all it takes for a good game movie is respect for the source material, such as Takashi Miike has proven with Ace Attorney. This is definately the first video game movie made for people who have played the game and it succeeds on that count, but a clear downside is that it may slightly alienate people who haven’t played the game. If you can appreciate the over-the-top acting at times, I think you’ll still enjoy the film regardless.
My hat goes off to Takashi Miike. You have accomplished what many have tried and failed to do in over 30 years of modern cinema, and that is to bring a video game to the silver screen with dignity. Bravo!
Animated GIFs from Court-Records
