Before writing anything else, let me indicate that among the GeekDad team, I am probably the least qualified person to write about videogame-related subjects, but I will give it a try anyway.
My last weekend, for most of it, was dedicated to building a giant Lego Earth Globe. Once I finally and painfully managed to complete the Southern Hemisphere, my wife thought it was a good time to take a break and go to see a movie.
We are lucky enough to live across the street from the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, currently showing independent movies from all over the world, usually off the film industry mainstream. Naturally, my geek wife thought of taking me to this new Japanese movie called Ace Attorney, the adaptation to the screen of the famous video game Phoenix Wright.
Having – by accident – watched the movie adaptations of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, I walked in there with very little hope. To be honest, it was mostly because I had no clue who directed it and what to expect from the movie.
This two and a half hour movie is in fact directed by Miike Takashi, the Japanese Director, mostly known for his fairly explicit violent movies. Once again, my ignorance in the area made sure I came to the movie with a completely open mind, which is hardly the case with mainstream movies and their unavoidable trailers.
The movie was shown in Japanese with English subtitles but it was fairly seamless from the beginning until the end, either because of the good quality of the subtitles or simply because images usually speak better than words, and in this case they surely did...
So, without using fancy movie critics' terms, I simply found this movie amazing, from the video game references to the crime investigation scenario. All the video game characters checked in, from Miles Edgeworth to Mia Fey, and Phoenix's famous haircut was duly honored as well.
It is simply so rare to find a movie which can mix together a real thriller and references to a game without making it boring and predictable, and in this case all the ingredients for success were there. From action scenes with high quality computer graphics to steampunk masterpieces, I felt in geek heaven and spent half the movie thinking that I must write about it when I got home. Eventually, finishing the Lego Globe took over but I am definitely catching up now. I cannot say much more than that without spoiling it for you.
While it is hard to indicate yet where and when most of you would have the chance to watch this movie, there are plans for a worldwide release, so I would therefore strongly advise you to chase it as much as you can, starting here on the movie website.
So for those of you who tend to doubt the movie choices of your wife, think twice: geeks are closer than you think.
