The courtroom drama is one of the stronger genres in film history, with titles like To Kill A Mockingbird, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Witness for the Prosecution, and may more. Sadly, it's not what it used to be. New examples of the genre are few and far between, with movies like The Lincoln Lawyer, which came out earlier this year, reminding us that there's still potential for tension and character-building in a court setting. The problem is that a poorly executed courtroom drama is about as exciting as a piece of stale white bread. So leave it to Japanese director Takashi Miike to spice things up a bit.

Twitch has premiered the first trailer for Gyakuten saiban, an adaptation of the popular Nintendo DS game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Check it out below.



I don't speak Japanese so I really have no clue what the hell was going on in that trailer, but I will say that it didn't look anything like any courtroom drama I have ever seen. From holograms to people throwing virtual screens at each other, I get the sense that the movie will likely be quite the unique experience. Miike has never been one to bow to the conventional, and it would seem that this film will follow that pattern nicely.

The film stars Hiroki Narimiya,, Mirei Kiritani, and Takumi Saito. While the movie will hit theaters on Feburary 11, 2012 in Japan, you'll probably have to hunt it down on home video if you want to see it here in America.