Professor Layton never fails to amaze

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva is an experience. If you think the games are good, you’ll find the movie topping them. It was a crazy journey from even before the beginning til the very end!

From the first time I found out that a Layton movie was in the works, I was ecstatic. Then the trailer came and it looked good. Thanks to Encore Films and Golden Village Pictures, I got a chance to go for the preview and I was pleasantly surprised to see so much marketing done for the film. Posters were seen everywhere, hanging mobiles at GV counter areas, the washrooms had these posters (–>) as well! The only thing missing was a Layton cut-out standee for me to grab home…

All in all, the hype was definitely there, so I was already pretty psyched up for a good time. Being a fangirl of the Layton games, I was pretty moved to see my beloved characters on the big screen. The movie didn’t disappoint either. The traditional 2D animation blended greatly with the 3D cell-shaded landscape and all the action sequences were exciting. Characters were quite well-played, though the most memorable one for me was the gung-ho Detective (omg, the hair!). To me, Layton is like a combination of Sherlock Holmes plus MacGuyver plus a British knight (analyze+invent+tea+sword skills). Frankly speaking, the soundtrack made this movie. Without the beautiful score to bring scenes to life, the movie would’ve been less majestic. A Layton movie isn’t complete with puzzles and bizarre events. The implementation of puzzles in the story was brilliant, and the moments of “What the?!” really outdid the games. Lastly, the story was engaging. It started as a mystery, into a suspense thriller, then ended an epic adventure. One would be surprised at the ample action in a detective movie, but it makes the movie never boring.

Overall, I found the movie satisfying and though it wasn’t as deep as the games, it was very entertaining. Fans of the series will love to see their favourite characters and puzzles on the big screen, others who decided to give this film a try will have fun too. Be sure to stay back during the credits!

Check out their official website(Jap).

Subtitled Trailer

You know you’re a Layton fan when you collect these toys!
(Left) Figures sold for the launch of the movie.
(Right) A detailed Layton figurine from Revoltech. Very, very cool!