Capcomâs had so-so luck with movies. That is, depending on your opinion of the Street Fighter movie, the Chun-Li picture, and the Resident Evil flicks. With the upcoming Phoenix Wright, n&eatcute;e Gyakuten Saiban, motion picture, that luck might be changing.
The movieâs most recent trailers look fantastic.
Maybe, Iâm the eternal optimist, but I feel like Iâm continuously writing âthis game movie might be goodâ articles. Sadly, those movies end up being rotten, and so could this, too. The Phoenix Wright movie, however, has a handful of things going for it.
One being that the actors, such as Hiroki Narimiya, actually look like the characters. Theyâre not doing cosplays or impersonations, but rather, they look like live-action versions of their Gyakuten Saiban counterparts. This isnât always important, but the trailer doesnât feel like the filmmakers are trying too hardâeither to be realistic or simply be a cinematic version of the game. Make no mistake, this movie is Phoenix Wright
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The movie doesnât sound dumbâa big plus for a game movie as most game movies sound utterly inspid. It is set during this decade. With a dramatic increase in crime, the legal system has been changed so that court cases must be tried in three days. There are neat flourishes, such as how evidence is presented, via holograms. Apparently, itâs even possible to chuck the holograms at each other.
Feature films and books are able to be both silly and serious at the same time, brutally funny and brutally violentâditto for video games. Yet, when video games (and, in the past, comic books) are turned into movies, filmmakers tend to lean more to the silly side, resulting in stupid movies that never feel like thereâs much at stake. Itâs as though the filmmakers think that just because players have extra lives or can restart games, that they donât care about dying. Everything becomes trivial.
Another thing that Phoenix Wright has going for it is that Takashi Miike is directing it. Miike has made a lot of great pictures. Heâs also made a lot of crapâI mean a lot. And he apparently views directing as a regular job; he is a gun-for-hire. Even as a gun-for-hire, heâs turned out some brilliant, edgy pictures. If the Miike who directed Ichi the Killer shows up, Phoenix Wright could be a very interesting movie. If the Miike who directed Yatterman shows up, then, well, yeah
Earlier this year, Miike described the movie as a âvery light comedy.â And this trailer looks nothing like a âvery light comedyâ.
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A key thing for Phoenix Wright is that Japan is making this movie. While the lead characterâs name has been localized to âPhoenix Wrightâ, he is âRyuichi Naruhodoâ in Japanese, and the games always feel like theyâre Japanâs take on not only the U.S. court system, but also American lawyer dramas. If the movie was made in Hollywood and completely white-washed like Akira, much of that cross-cultural interplay would be lost, and weâd be left with another kooky Hollywood legal movie.
Court room dramas often make good cinema. Even if this is a âvery light comedyâ, the trailerâs sinister edge gives me hope, and it should give you hope, too. And so should the judgeâs beard.
Culture Smash is a daily dose of things topical, interesting and sometimes even awesomeâgame related and beyond.
(Top photo: æ±ćź/Capcom)
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