ACE ATTORNEY
“DEFTLY RECREATES FAMOUS SCENES FROM THE GAME.”
YEAR 2012 / CERT NOT RATED [IMPORT] / RUNTIME 134 MINS / DIRECTOR TAKASHI MIIKE
Watching Takashi Miike’s take on Capcom’s famous lawyer, you begin to wonder why we haven’t seen other attempts to bring this courtroom drama to life on screen before or since this movie hit Japanese cinemas ten years ago. Perhaps that’s because few filmmakers other than the guy behind Japanese horror classics like Audition and Ichi The Killer have the larger-than-life attitude needed to bring the absurdity of this world to life.
This is a brave adaption of the entire
first game (apart from the middle case) over two hours, but it all comes together to create a story firmly focused on the relationship between defence attorney Phoenix Wright (played by Hiroki Narimiya) and rival prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Takumi Saito).
HE’S ’WORTH IT
Once childhood friends, they’re on opposite sides of the courtroom when the movie begins – though all that changes later on when Edgeworth is himself
arrested. Which means a lot of development in a short time, ol’ Edgy going from ruthless prosecutor to unlikely ally as Wright ends up helping him find out the truth behind his father’s death.
The movie deftly recreates famous scenes from the game with the gravitas needed to pull them off. The instance when Phoenix crossinterrogates a parrot is arguably funnier here than in the games, as even the actors struggle to keep a straight face in a scene that must have been a nightmare to recreate, yet somehow it all works. Sometimes, sincerity is all you need to adapt a videogame.