Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
レイトン教授と永遠の歌姫Layton receives a letter from the famed opera singer, Jenis Quatlane, inviting them to see her newest performance. She also asks Layton, Luke and Remi for assistance in a mystery, saying her friend Melina died one year ago, but returned later as a seven year old girl saying she had found the secret of eternal life, and she also knew all the secrets that only the true Melina could know. Naturally, the case fascinates Layton and his apprentice, so they head to the Crown Petone opera house, but Remi stays in London, searching for some girls that went missing in there. The opera was about a lost kingdom, The Kingdom of Immortals; once, there was a beautiful queen that loved music. She was beloved by everyone in the kingdom. But one day, the queen became very ill. The people of the kingdom toiled to find a cure, but medicine couldn’t help. The queen finally passed away, and right after, the cure was completed: A potion for immortality. The people of the kingdom deeply lamented for the death of their queen. In order to the meet reincarnated queen again, they decided to become immortal, using the just-completed immortality nostrum. Abrosia's Kingdom is still somewhere in this world, waiting for its queen to return, and then, she will sing forever. After the spectacle finishes, a masked men appears, and proposes something to the audience: "Let's play a game"- he says- "The winner, will have eternal life. The losers, will have to die." It's up to Layton and Luke to enter in the game, and discover the secret of Eternal Life. (Source: Wikipedia)
Reviews
dominique39 - 2015-01-26 04:28:22
As time has seemed to tell, films and games don't tend to mix well. Film-based games tend to be rushed, cash grabs that don't do very well. The same can be said the other way around. However, the people in Team Layton went against this common trend, and made a fantastic film that deserves nearly the same praise as the series' games.
Back Story
Professor Layton is a game series developed originally for the Nintendo DS as another brain teaser/puzzle game to utilize the system's touch screen. However, that is only how it appears on the cover. Each Layton game has its own unique mystery to solve, with very deep and intriguing stories and every game. It is possibly one of the best examples as to why no one should ever judge a book by its cover, or in this case, a game.
In the chronology of the games (for those who have played it) It takes place prior to the original trilogy, but after the Last Spector (The first in the Prequel Series)
If you have not played any of the games, you don't have to worry, as each game is unique and has its own story, and can really be played without any prior knowledge, and really can be played in any order without ruining anything. The same rule applies to the movie.
Story
The Professor receives a letter from an old colleague who claims that a recently dead friend has become reborn again in a child's body, and asks him to meet with her so she can give him more details about the mystery.
That's essentially all I can say, without spoiling the movie for those who have never played a Layton Game (as once you see the "Layton Formula", you'll know essentially what will happen at most instances). The Movie follows the same formula as nearly all the games, but in a film format. This story is its own unique tale, and apart from the game series. For Layton standards, this is another fantastic tale to come out of the series. For a series that follows the same story formula nearly every time, you might think that taking out the gameplay feature would be a serious drawback and make it less interesting. You would be wrong, as this story is just as, if not even more captivating than the works in the game series, which is saying quite a lot.
Animation
The Professor Layton series, has a very unique art style. I'm not really an expert, but I would say the animation was very fluid, especially when it mattered most. The CG is incredibly well done, and only added to the work. Some of the scenes did seem rather lazy at times, could have added a bit more here and there, but really didn't distract too much. For those who have played the game, it looks exactly as the cutscenes in the game do. Down to just about every feature (just with some more CG here and there).
Sound
The music was incredible as always. The games have always been known to have really good soundtracks, and this film does stray away from that trend. I thought it was really cool that the film was able to tie in remixes of some of the game series' original works, including the "puzzle theme" that is played every time your trying to solve a puzzle. It was incorporated very well into the film, and really did add to every single scene.
For those who care, the dub is really good (the characters are played by the same ones as in the game series)
Characters
The series is very well known to have very unique characters pertaining to each story. The film is no different. Every character that pertains to the story is given the treatment they deserve and you really do feel attached to them all. To not spoil the film, I won't go into any detail on the characters in the film that aren't our main cast.
Layton is a Professor of Archeology and an expert puzzle solver. He acts as a gentleman in every situation, and is very refined and intelligent.
Luke is his apprentice gentleman and puzzle solver. He strives to be just as amazing as the professor in every regard.
Emmy is Layton's official assistant, expert photographer, and researcher. She also knows martial arts, incase Layton gets into trouble, as he does often.
Enjoyment
I really loved this film, I was really skeptical at first, as I believed the game-to-film trend would apply here to, and just be another rushed, cash grab. I was dead wrong. This film only adds to the series as a whole, and even as a stand alone, would do really well. It is definitely how the industry should adapt a game series into a film.