So I can't actually go if it's on the Friday due to university and stuff so yay I get to miss out on the thing I was looking forward to most.

Sorry all.

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Aww man was hoping to meet ya BSX

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That's nice of you Pierre, but tickets are still quite expensive the morning after.

Looks like I'll have to refund my ticket. *sigh* Oh well, I'll just wait for the DVD Release...

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I'll need to wait for DVD release too because time things are just really annoying. If it was at 8pm? I'd be able to go see it. But because it's at 6pm, I can't go. Unless I get lucky with my timetable and discover that I have no classes or anything after half 3. I'll be lucky if I can make it in time though even then. :/

I was really looking forward to this. Why couldn't they have decided to show it at the Edinburgh one too? ><

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Can't skip a lecture? (Forgive me for suggesting)

Perhaps it was just my university but it was relatively relaxed and put an emphasis on self-teaching (i.e. home-reading assignments). The lecturers would emphasize that they didn't mind if you missed lectures, only seminars were mandatory, but it was your education you would be messing up. That said if you had a friend who could take notes it would help but eh perhaps unis were different.

For the record I'd like to state that I worked really hard in uni and graduated decently and only ever really missed lectures for family matters.

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What, they don't take MP3s/videos of the lectures?

I don't know if they do or not buuuuuut my timetable's free for the second half of Friday so I'll be booking my ticket tonight. Yay for being able to actually go in the end!

To be honest, I'd rather not miss lectures if possible so this is like Christmas to me when it comes to making me happy and excited.

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Oh Snap I do not hear such a truth!

Great news, I should probably book my ticket too but you really lucked out there.

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Just a heads up: There's a screening in Edinburgh on Monday, the 15th of October at 20:15.

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Mm, well the Glasgow one's far easier for me so I'll just be going to that one I think.

I'm excited for this!

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Me too picked up my ticket today.

Bit of an odd one out considering it's an anime festival yet Phoenix Wright is far from it but hey, appreciate it.

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I can't pick up my ticket until the day itself.

Will that be a problem?

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Hmmm part of me says unlikely.

If you are worried about it I'll buy you one next week and you can reimburse me on the day.

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So, can we expect somewhere somehow an English version of the movie?

Would be pretty sweet.

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You mean a dub?

I sincerely doubt we'll ever see something like that.

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I´d be fine with subs as well.

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Then what did you mean? Like an English Screening?

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What´s the difference? D:

I am living in Germany, so all I wish would be some way (perhaps on da dirty interwebz) to watch the movie with English subs.

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Sorry I wasn't sure if you meant an English dub or a screening in England.

Wasn't there a film festival in Germany with it? *vague memories*

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I dunno, to be quite honest, I didn´t really dig that many AA-News lately.

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Well, I'll see if I can find out somehow first.

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Yellow Magician I think managed to buy one online.

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Oh, well I ordered online but they won't post it. I have to pick it up there. That's why I was confused and stuff.

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I'm just posting to say I'll be going as well. I've been following the site for a while, but never bothered to sign up. I've also done an online booking and from what I understand it's no problem to pick it up on the day of the screening.

Oh hey well cool :)

I take it you guys can work your way to the GFT with ease?

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I've got a friend in Glasgow who's gonna help me out with the subway so I can get where I need to go.

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If you're arriving by train you really shouldn't need to, it's about 15 minutes on foot at most from Queen Street and maybe 20 minutes from Central.

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I'll also find my way there without any problems, although I wouldn't mind meeting a little earlier and then going there together.
Next question: How will we recognize each other when we meet? I don't really want to stand outside awkwardly and ask everyone if they're the people I'm meeting up with. Should we message each other with descriptions or agree on a meeting place and someone will make a pretty sign they'll hold up on the air? I might not have internet access from Wednesday onward, so a quick reply would be nice.

Well a big sign with an attorney's badge would be cool but can't guarantee we'd be the only ones with one seeing the nature of the event.
How are you arriving?

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I guess there'll be some way by which we'll recognize each other. I tend to get nervous about these things, but I'm sure it'll work out.

I was going to Glasgow for a few days to get a look at the university, so I'm staying at a B&B, which is conveniently just around the corner of the film theatre, so I'll have absolutely no problem unless I manage to be incredibly stupid.

Oh man, I just remembered this. And that I have a ticket. And won't be able to go. :\

Does anyone know of any way I can give my ticket to someone else? The order confirmation email I got says that I'd have to show my debit card along with my ticket, but I can't exactly let someone borrow my card for the day. Yikes.

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Have you tried calling them and cancelling it? That way I guess it gives them another ticket to sell on the day.

Though I don't think the thing has sold out.


Also I'm gettin pretty excited about this, I will be wearing a Vivi T-shirt



On the day to recognise me. If I happen to meet any of you (particularly BSX since I'm not sure who else is attending) perhaps we can share a drink or some food after if there's spare time I'll be attending with 2 pals so can join us =D

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Mmm, well I won't be turning up until around 4pm at earliest as I'll be with a friend until then but once I'm there, this sounds good!

I'll be wearing a red hoodie probably. Maybe I'll have a piece of paper or a sign or something that says "Court-Records" too but I dunno.

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Ok so figured I'd try and type up a quick review of this having been fortunate enough to catch it.

Where to start hmm....well it was certainly an excellent film, hell I'd even say it's an amazing film. It follows the basic plot points of the first game focusing on the second and final cases (though the interim cases and first tutorial case get brief mentions which are nicely handled and hilarious) with minor changes like cutting out some small characters (sorry April May fans) and changing them around slightly.

Guess I'll get the criticisms out of the way first. Some of the characters aren't quite....representative of their game equivalents and this is particularly noticable in Maya considering her screentime. Not much of her perky character shines through and instead the direction opts to come down hard on the tragedy style of her where she never really seems to recover well from her sister's grim demise. Hell I only really think she smiles at the very end and tends to play a "guilt tripping" role throughout the film due to her utter sorrow at her sisters loss which is kinda a shame.

Another unusual change is Redd White, to coin BSX's description of him he is a very "Ozzie Osborne" White complete with dark hair curtaining his face and a big black coat. He is also a very subdued and devious individual with little of the amazing extreme flamboyant flair of the original Redd White at numerous points I'd hoped he'd throw the coat away revealing his Pink suit and massive bling on his fingers but it's not to be. It's unusual just because I wonder why they did such a thing, they change his role notably in the film from CEO to reporter as it better suits the slightly modified plot so perhaps the look was just not fitting but I still feel it's a bit of a shame.

My friend also commented that Gumshoe wasn't too great but he largely had an issue with the fact the actor who played Gumshoe doesn't exactly convey the same 'aura' and 'force' that original Gumshoe had due to the actors physical proportions. Not really something that can be helped given the cartoony nature of Gumshoe's original design but they clearly convey his dedication to Edgeworth and his eagerness to do his job.

Mannfred Von Karma is also portrayed in a slightly more positive light, greeting Phoenix with a respectful handshake and a compliment before the trial. He also does less intimidation of the judge in this one and while he does impose upon the judge to make commands of him he doesn't outright force the judge to make decisions as much and faced with Phoenix's buffoonery it's rather reasonable his requests at the point in time.

These characters in particular aren't played dead on like the games but overall the costumes and characters are played magnificiently particularly Larry (who generates a laugh in almost every scene he shows his face) but Edgeworth and Phoenix also do a wonderful job.

Right onto the actual material.
The film was magnificient with little segments that appeal to everyone. Comedy is rife throughout the film as should be expected with some blatant laugh-out-loud moments. In particular Lotta Hart's testimony had a moment that left the audience in tears, but the comedy runs throughout the entirety of the film. Yet the film manages to be so much more than a simple buffoon comedy and perform some severe mood whiplash at various points throughout the film. In particular note is Yanni Yogi's segment which goes from severe comedy (as Phoenix questions Polly) to the most intense tragedy as Yanni reveals his backstory. This segment is handled masterfully and tastefully fully conveying the intense sadness Yanni felt in the past. Hell it even incorporates what I'd call the tiniest tiny drop of J-horror at one point but overall it elicits extreme sympathy for Yanni from the audience. Minor details are also changed to allow an action sequence where Yanni fights Gregory though BSX was disappointed they removed the significance of Earthquakes to Edgeworth. All in all the film supplies a lot for your money.

The direction and trappings of the plot are also wonderfully done in fitting style with intense projection technology portraying the courtroom evidence and scenes giving actual meaning to Phoenix's deskslams and Edgeworth's fingersnaps (seeing as the technology is somehow triggered by cues like these) and the film doesn't hold back at all in expressing itself. This is a wonderful thing, it'd be easy enough for someone to do a more subdued take on the AA franchise with somewhat darker serious courts but in the end it would be detrimental for the film and detract from the spectacle of court which is played up so much tickets are required to view a courtroom sequence in the same manner of fairground shows.

However another worry I had was whether the film would be worthwhile to someone outside the AA fandom and while there's plenty of little things there for AA fans to enjoy like confetti post-case (including a potential 'sequel teaser' or cameo in the credits, me and BSX are undecided on what it is) I was fortunate enough to have a friend there who hadn't played a single game.

"I was expecting a bad video game movie, I was not expecting that" he said, naturally I asked him how the film held up as a mystery, seeing how I knew the plot I couldn't really gauge it on this level. He claimed it was a very clever trick the director had done in that what is a relatively simple mystery is hidden by the sheer intensity and spectacle of everything going on around it. So perhaps the sheer extremety of the courtroom sequences was intended to hide the mystery with plenty of razzle dazzle however it all meshes together wonderfully with nothing feeling like a big-lipped alligator moment throughout. As a layperson he said the film was awesome and I'd say that's pretty good for hopes of DVD sales since it isn't exclusively fan appeal.

In conclusion I feel blessed this film even came anywhere near our shores, aside from Maya's rather tragic demeanour I'd say the film is a must-see for any fan of the AA franchise as I doubt you'll be disappointed with what Takeshi Miike is offering.


Favourite moment: Probably Lotta Hart's cross examination

Best Quote:

Edgeworth: I have not violated the law.....perhaps it has violated you?
Phoenix:

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Personally, I found your criticisms to actually be the highlights of the movie. I can't stand Maya, but I found the movie version to be very tolerable, and a bunch of the inconsistencies with the game can be stemmed from the fact that games and movies are different mediums and what qualifies as good story telling in one doesn't work in another. Would I have liked it if they changed the games to be like the movie? Likely as not. But as a standalone piece? I loved it.

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I kinda agree with both of you on the Maya front, although I'd liked her to be a little less tragical. But I do have a friend who is probably as big an AA fan as me, and he wanted her to be her perky game self.

Although I must say I'm VERY happy with the way they handled White. In the game, he's an unimportant one-case character who kills one of the most important characters in the entire series.

In the movie, they realized this and at least didn't pretend like he was a bigger man than he was. He was just another piece in Karma's chess game. A mindless, literally disposable minion of his. I liked that, it felt much more realistic and much less forced than on the game.

Regarding Karma, though, the movie almost made me sympathize with him. I wanted to hate him like I did in the game thanks to Takumi's excellent characterization... But the movie just didn't let me. He was much more human in it, and that, in my opinion, is a huge pity.

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Well sure I guess that's something yeah I'm not exactly a pro reviewer but figured I'd write it up anyway. DeMata's convenient follow up post indicates that the Maya thing is purely a matter of preference, Maya bothered me a bit in the games too but I wasn't sure I was happy with the full swing to sorrowful sister they did, even if it's a more realistic stance for someone who lost their last known family.

Though yes I felt the film was fine overall, but I reckoned some people might object to character seeming OOC from the game but the personalities all fitted their role in the film fine.

@DeMata

Sure yeah in the end White is a small minion who commits a despicable act it's just pure preference that I liked his old glamourous self but his costume change matched his new role, minor thug. On an amusing note, possibly to reflect his glamourous capitalist nature or whatever I think his actor had a particularly western face (hasn't looked up the exact actor) so thought he was played by an American.

Though yes BSX said something similar about how he didn't want to hit Von Karma in the face anymore compared to back then. Also bizarrely of note, when Von Karma breaks down they play Apollo Justice's Objection theme. I didn't quite get all the sympathy about Von Karma and they never really fully explained the whole adopting Edgeworth and shuffled off the taser thing without confirming it to be him (least as far as I saw).

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Funny, I too found White to be quite Western. I liked that. He was a good original character, IMO.

All in all, my only problem was Von Karma. Apart from that, I felt the movie to be near flawless. No other objections ;)

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The thing I liked the best about movie White was his breakdown scene. Since he had changed so much, I had no idea what he would do, and I was absolutely off-guard for his sudden spewing of Kyushu dialect. XD

Edit: which leads to the question, how did they render his sudden change in language in the subtitles? (-> I wrote my BA thesis on English translations of Japanese role languages using the Ace Attorney games, so actually academically interested!)

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In my screening they portrayed Lotta's dialect with Z's instead of S's and her trademark y'all. However I don't really recall anything funny about Redd's subtitles.


Oh for a small bonus thing the dude introducing the film revealed something to me. In Japan apparently you should never give someone a clock as a gift as it is an indicator they will be attending a funeral/dying soon. XD First I'd heard of it but it applies straight to Mia.

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