Puyo Puyo (film)

Puyo Puyo (also known as Puyo Puyo: The Movie) is a 2003 live action/computer-animated comedy film directed by Kenneth Branagh and based on the video game series of the same name developed by Compile (later owned by Sega). It stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matthew Broderick, Helen Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, and Owen Wilson. It is the first live-action/animated film produced by Gingo Movies, and the first of two live-action/animated Puyo Puyo feature films. The film centers on a young female spellcaster who plays creatures against other people in order to defeat the Dark Prince.

After having the release date changed three times, Puyo Puyo was theatrically released by Universal Pictures on March 14, 2003 in the United States. Although the film received generally negative reviews from critics, it was a box office success, grossing $189.4 million worldwide on a budget of $60 million. A sequel, Puyo Puyo 2, was released on April 8, 2005.

Plot
In a mysterious continent located on planet Earth known as "Madou", Arle Nadja (Jennifer Love Hewitt) was doing some magic training in the Magic Academy, but when she tried doing the magic she has done before, she wanted to perform a new kind of magic. Later that night, Arle and her yellow rabbit-like companion Carbuncle (voiced by Ayame Kizuki) tried doing some new magic abilities. Eventually, she has learned a spell known as "Owanimo", which converts four or more similarly-colored creatures known as "Puyos" into pure energy. This has caught the eye of pretty much everyone in Madou, including the Dark Prince (Owen Wilson), in which he learns Owanimo against one of his comrades of the underworld. The next day, a gigantic screen resembling a jumbotron rises from the ground and shows the Dark Prince announcing that there'll be a tournament for those who learned Owanimo known as the "Puyo-Popping Tournament". Everyone heard about this announcement, including Schezo Wegey (Matthew Broderick) and Rulue (Kirsten Dunst), and also Arle Nadja. Knowing this, she plans to use this spell to defeat the Dark Prince, but must first battle many other opponents.

The next day, the tournament starts off with Round 1, where Arle Nadja goes against her first opponent, a tea-drinking skeleton named "Skeleton-T" (voiced by John Oliver), who claims that his tea will give him enough power to defeat the Dark Prince. Then, after a Puyo-popping battle, Skeleton-T was beaten. Arle Nadja (along with Carbuncle) later beaten Draco Centauros (Helen Hunt) in the second round, Momomo (voiced by Nolan North) in the third round, and Saturni (Hayden Christensen) in the fourth round. Afterwards, Arle and Carbuncle take a break and eat some curry, but when Arle overhears Schezo Wegey learning about her magic powers and getting his hands on them, she then calls Schezo out for his remark about her magic powers. Schezo, however, wonders why Arle would call him out for talking about her magic powers, in which Arle believes that Schezo's a pervert, much to Schezo's annoyance.

When Round 5 of the Puyo-Popping Tournament started, Arle and Carbuncle beaten Sasori Man (Verne Troyer) in the fifth round, then Owlbear (voiced by Alex Rocco) in the sixth round, then Kikimora (Rosie O'Donnell) in the seventh round, and then Lagnus the Brave (Curtis Armstrong) in the eighth round. After beating the aforementioned four, the gigantic screen rises from the ground again and shows the Dark Prince telling Arle Nadja that she has won the tournament, but she wasn't done yet, as she has to go against four more opponents in Lyla's Ruins. Arle accepts the challenge and goes to Lyla's Ruins to face against Zoh Daimaoh (voiced by Brad Garrett), Schezo Wegey, Minotauros (voiced by Patrick Warburton), and Rulue in a game of Puyo Puyo. After successfully beating them one by one, Arle opens a portal to the underworld and enters it, where the Dark Prince was waiting for her. The Dark Prince tries to make a dramatic entrance, only for Arle to call him out for his entrance, which angered the Dark Prince. He later states that the tournament was all part of his plan to bury Earth with lots of Puyos because he wants to use the Owanimo spell at his advantage. Arle wouldn't let the Dark Prince do that kind of thing, so a Puyo-popping showdown between Arle and the Dark Prince ensues! After beating the Dark Prince at his own game, Arle remains victorious, saying that all of this Puyo-popping warfare is finally over! With the Dark Prince stuck in a Puyo pile, Arle and Carbuncle leave the Dark Prince behind and exit the underworld, hoping that none of the nonsense done by the Dark Prince will ever happen again.

In a post-credits scene, the Dark Prince still was stuck in a Puyo pile, four of his comrades who were unseen until the post-credits scene (Incubus, Succubus, Demon Servant, and Titan Guard) asked the Dark Prince if he forgot about them, in which the Dark prince replies that he doesn't have time to use them, not until the next tournament.

Live action actors
More to be added
 * Jennifer Love Hewitt as Arle Nadja
 * Matthew Broderick as Schezo Wegey
 * Helen Hunt as Draco Centauros
 * Kirsten Dunst as Rulue
 * Owen Wilson as The Dark Prince
 * Hayden Christensen as Saturni
 * Verne Troyer as Sasori Man
 * Rosie O'Donnell as Kikimora
 * Curtis Armstrong as Lagnus the Brave

Voice actors
More to be added
 * Ayame Kizuki as Carbuncle
 * John Oliver as Skeleton-T
 * Nolan North as Momomo
 * Alex Rocco as Owlbear
 * Brad Garrett as Zoh Daimaoh
 * Patrick Warburton as Minotauros

Development
In February 2000, Universal Feature Animation, Gingo Movies and Amblin Entertainment officially announced a live-action animated film adaptation of the Puyo Puyo video game series as a joint venture with the series' developer Compile, although Variety noted that this was "after months of speculation". The success of both the direct-to-video anthology film One Weird Afternoon and the Puyo Puyo TV series, according to Gingo and Universal Animation CEO Michael Wildshill (who also executive produced the show), "validated" the idea of creating a feature film. In September 2000, Kenneth Branagh was reported to direct from a script by Tim Hill. In February 2001, it was announced Jennifer Connelly was in talks to play Arle Nadja, however, these did not pan out. By April, Jennifer Love Hewitt joined the project to play Arle Nadja, and Matthew Broderick signed a week later.

Filming
Principal photography began in Vancouver in April 2001.

Animation and visual effects
The visual effects are provided by Rhythm and Hues, Universal Digital Images and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).

Music
The film's score was composed by Christopher Lennertz.

More to be added

Release
In the United States, Puyo Puyo was originally scheduled to be released on September 27, 2002, but was pushed up to April 18, 2003. The film was then pushed back to March 14, 2003, with The Whackems: One Big Movie taking its April 2003 slot.

Home media
Puyo Puyo was released by Universal Studios Home Video on VHS and DVD on August 19, 2003. Special features include a behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, a music video, and many others. It was later released as a double feature with its sequel on Blu-ray on September 21, 2010.

Box office
To be added

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 26% based on 124 reviews with an average rating of 3.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The cast of Puyo Puyo perfectly put some efforts for their performances. However, that does not save the movie in general from a bland plot filled with cheesy, formulaic jokes as your typical video game adaptation." On Metacritic the film has a score of 32 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Sequel
A sequel, Puyo Puyo 2, was released in 2005. A third film was planned, but cancelled after the poor critical and financial results of the second.

Main transcript
To see the transcript of the film, click here.

Trailer transcripts
To see the transcripts for the trailers of the film, click here.