Ace Attorney (film)

"Turnabout Trial") is a 2012 Japanese legal comedy-drama film, directed by Takashi Miike and based on the Capcom video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

In the film, rookie defense attorney Phoenix Wright takes on a series of court cases, culminating in one that pits him against Manfred von Karma, a prosecutor who has remained undefeated throughout his forty-year career.

Facing off against his childhood friend Miles Edgeworth, Wright manages to prove that Mia was murdered by photojournalist Redd White, and Maya is declared not guilty.

After the case, Wright reveals to Maya, who gets hired as his assistant, that he decided to become an attorney after a childhood incident where he was accused of stealing money and Miles and Butz defended him.

Yogi was involved fifteen years prior in the "DL-6" case, concerning the death of Gregory Edgeworth, Miles's father, who was shot dead in the courtroom's evidence storage.

These pieces of evidence are used to incriminate von Karma, who suffers a nervous breakdown in court and is arrested for murder and conspiracy, resulting in the judge acquitting Miles of all charges.

Maya takes a leave of absence so she can return home for further training as a medium, while Miles and Wright continue their careers as prosecutor and defense attorney, but this time as friendly rivals rather than enemies.

For the soundtrack, Endō chose to use various themes by Masakazu Sugimori from the original video game and re-arranged them for an ensemble consisting of a string orchestra, an oboe, a clarinet, two French horns, a trumpet, and a choir.

[19] Travis Hopson of AXS described it as "the perfect example of an adaptation done right, capturing the frenetic and confusing storylines while remaining fresh and engaging enough for newcomers" and achieving "a certain level of greatness.

"[23] Jay Weissberg of Variety referred to the film as a "dull production" that was "criminally long and generally lacking in [Miike's] playful visual hyperbole.