Phoenix Wright movie coming from the director of Ichi the Killer and Audition? Human minds are unprepared for this wonder

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All those bad video game movies? They don't matter any more. The world is a beautiful place

Game movies are usually a huge pile of rotting crusty dump. I know that. But it doesn't matter any more. Because if a recent quote is to be interpreted as I believe it is - and I'm 99.99999999notenoughninesintheworld% sure it is - then we could soon be in for one so good that it'll instantly wipe away all the bad karma from the likes of Resident Evil and Double Dragon, leaving the planet pure and fresh once again.

Because following previous rumours, said quote implies very heavily that a live-action Phoenix Wright movie is indeed coming, and it's coming from Miike Takashi, the director of extreme cinema classics such as Ichi the Killer, Audition and the Dead or Alive trilogy. Read on, and I'll explain why that's a very, very good thing.

Speaking at Cannes tothe Huffington Postabout his new film Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Miike mentioned his next project. Which is, and I quote:

"a very light comedy... a court drama, based on a video game, the Nintendo game DS"

Any objections to me making a guess at what it's going to be? Thought not.

While most know Takashi from his violent, brilliantly-executed, psychological gore-fests (and a really brief cameo in Hostel), he's one hell of an eclectic director, and a perfect fit for Phoenix Wright. Whether he's slicing them in half or not, Takashi Miike handles exaggerated screwball characters very well indeed, and crucially he handles them with respect. If you've seen his brilliant musical-zombie-comedy-family-drama The Happiness of the Katakuris you'll know exactly what I mean. In fact if you haven't, here, watch this. It's my Tuesday gift to you:

He's also done kids' films, most notably The Great Yokai War anda filmbased on the '70s Yatterman anime, and directed a couple of episodes of the Ultraman Max TV show.

Basically, if anyone canbring the cartoony wit of Phoenix Wright to live action, it's this man. As a colleague on a sister magazine said to me upon hearing this news, if anyone can make hair work at 90 degree angles, it's Miike. And it's true.

Commence celebrating, There's a very high probablility this is going to be awesome beyond the capacity for human thought.

May 24, 2011

David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.