The Best Video Game to Film Adaptation

by Piyoz on Jul 15th, 2013

Movies based on video games are a strange practice. Much like film, video games are an audio and visual medium. Both have cut scenes, action sequences, and (where applicable) character development and exposition.

In theory, it should be an easy process. Yet what do we see? Tomb Raider? Mortal Kombat? Street Fighter? A Mario Bros. movie so terrible that it’s legendary? What’s going on? Why aren’t there any good, nay…decent video game adaptations out there? And I don’t mean Wreck-It-Ralph, either. I mean directly taking a video game property and turning all or most of its assets into a feature length film. It’s not like taking lengthy Harry Potter books and cutting out the fat. It’s not like taking silly action comics from the 1960’s and making global summer blockbusters. Movies and games aren’t that inherently different. It shouldn’t be this hard! What are they doing wrong?

My faithful readers, I believe I have found the answer.

Gyakuten Saiban is a 2012 film adaptation of a Capcom game series of the same name, which in English-speaking territories is called Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Takashi Miike directs this live-action retelling of the first, second, and fourth court cases of the first Ace Attorney game. So this primarily deals with Phoenix’s first case, the death of Mia Fey, and the arrest and acquittal of Miles Edgeworth. The movie spends most of its time delving into the depths of the infamous DL-6 case, with gritty visuals and serious dialogue and character work.

As an adaptation of the original game, Gyakuten Saiban does a wonderful job. However, when making a movie based on some other work, the top priority should always be to make a worthwhile and entertaining product. For its own purposes, I believe Gyakuten Saiban is a genuinely good movie. I could sit down with my friends who have never played the games, and I believe that they would enjoy it.

What makes this movie so good? Let’s look deeper.

For starters, the art directors decided to keep all of the character designs from Ace Attorney. That’s right. So Phoenix’s spiky hair, Maya’s spirit medium clothes and Magatama, the Judge’s epic beard, Larry Butz’s ridiculous hair, and Lotta’s Japanese fro are all present and accounted for. You’d think that seeing such crazy outfits in a live-action movie would be out of place. But somehow it isn’t. Each character retains their very unique design that imbues in them their personality and that translates so well into film. Everything from Edgeworth’s stoic pose to the Blue Badger’s cute antics contributes to the wide cast of characters on screen. If everyone in the courtroom were dressed in boring, gray suits, the viewer might confuse people and forget who they are. By giving everyone outlandish hair styles and bizarre clothes, you can point out exactly who is who when needed.

Another great accomplishment for Gyakuten Saiban is tone. In short, tone is the impression that a story gives off to its audience. Comedies have lighter and less serious tone. Action stories have a faster and more intense tone. Realistic drama may have a slower and darker tone. The tone of a work is what you remember feeling after watching/reading/playing something.

The special thing about the Ace Attorney games is their variety in tone. I mean, the stories involve murder, conspiracy, death of loved ones, depraved criminal masterminds, and a suicide at one point. The meat of Ace Attorney’s plot is pretty heavy stuff. But all that is counter-balanced by simple, situational humor and colorful, animated Japanese cartoons. There is comic relief when the story gets too dark. If there weren’t you’d probably want to kill yourself while playing.

The movie hangs on to the tone of the games. The visuals of the movie are dark and gritty. Mia is killed at the beginning and scrawls the name of her beloved sister in blood as her final act. Maya and Phoenix deal with the loss of a beloved older sister figure. Yanni Yogi experiences great physical and emotional pain to exact revenge on those who wronged him. And for every sad and raw plot element, there is something equally uplifting. Stupid jokes here and there. Maybe it’s Larry’s silly antics in the courtroom. Or maybe the fact that they cross-examine a parrot.

As a fan of the first Ace Attorney game, it made me very happy to see that this film did nothing to compromise the source material. Phoenix is still the same bumbling novice. Mia is still the guiding light. Maya may not be very silly and childish, but she stills helps Phoenix around town. Miles Edgeworth is still a stiff, laborious prosecutor. Manfred von Karma, Dick Gumshoe, Lotta Hart are all how they appear and act in the game.

What does this movie do differently? Not a lot. In Ace Attorney, the details of the DL-6 case go on and on for hours. The movie only has so much time, you see. We are introduced to only the basic facts about DL-6, Mia’s death, and Miles Edgeworth’s father. There isn’t much space left for Misty Fey or Robert Hammond’s back stories. The writers omitted enough to fit the plot comfortably into two hours. But they also added a little more drama to the Yanni Yogi flashbacks. And it will tear your heart out.

In conclusion, the reason that this Gyakuten Saiban movie works is that its top priority is not simply to take characters and items from a game series and shove them into a movie. You may please viewers that way, but that’s not how you make a watchable product. Gyakuten Saiban‘s top mission is to tell an interesting and engaging story and to do it with style. Seeing as the original game did this already, to move this into another medium probably wasn’t that much of a challenge.

Gyakuten Saiban is the only video game to movie adaptation that really has its head on straight. Yes, it’s a movie about Phoenix Wright. But it does not put being a Phoenix Wright movie before being a good movie. It can be enjoyed as a stand-alone film as well as retelling the story of Ace Attorney. It’s dark and gritty, but not without its moments of light-hearted humor. Every character is identifiable and unique. The story and locations are all right there as you remember them. Because Ace Attorney is so story-driven, this adaptation had its work cut out for it.

Did you enjoy any of the Ace Attorney games? Go watch this movie. Even if you don’t know a thing about this game series, I believe you would still enjoy watching this movie for its own merits.

What are your thoughts? Did you see this movie? What do you think of video game movies? Let us know with a comment in our forums!

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