Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

I never played the computer game, and knew nothing about it. I was drawn to this film because of the bold animations, but didn't expect the film to do anything for me beyond simple entertainment. I was pleasantly surprised. The excellent voice talent and stunning animation allow Final Fantasy to drawn you in just as well as a live-action version would have. It is very easy to forget that the characters you are watching are animations, and the action is CGI.

A meteor has struck the earth, carrying with it phantoms who strip away the life energy of whomever they contact. Dr. Aki Ross and her mentor Dr. Ced are locked in a stand-off against the earth's military forces, whose solution to this invasion may be worse than the invasion itself, and the mysterious phantoms who seem to have no specific purpose and can not be fought using conventional means. Following up on a quasi-mystical theory of Dr. Ced, they set out to collect 8 living spirits which must be used to harness the life force of earth itself in defense of the planet.

This film is dark and beautiful, with each scene a masterpiece of animated art. It feels less like a computer game than an immersive experience in an alternative universe.

A fast-paced action film, Final Fantasy blends elements of folklore, science and animated battle sequences into a satisfying, well balanced and well paced film. It is probably the most thoughtful computer game -inspired film I have seen.

Just to clear up a couple of points:-

a) This is a FILM, not a computer game. b) CGI people don't look or move exactly like real people. That stated, Aki Ross is still a more convincing character than ANYONE played by Keanu Reeves.

Final Fantasy is misnamed; there's little about the story that is "final", nor is it especially fantastic, but what it IS is a pretty decent mystical-science fiction (no, NOT "sci-fi" space opera) yarn. Possibly owing to the real inability to successfully portray facial expressions in the CGI characters, the mood throughout is sombre and hard... so rather more like real life than your average Hollywood space-opera swashbuckler. Frankly, because this story actually tries to make a POINT, it probably disappoints the type of viewer who would like a film like "Aliens". The overriding message is simply that brute force is no use without understanding, and that's a timeless message that many cultures would do well to think about.

And, of course, this film is just BEAUTIFUL. Probably best watched while tripping on acid, if the truth be told.

7/10 and a future classic, as far as I'm concerned. This film will be remembered long after things like "Starship Troopers" have been forgotten.

I don't know why nearly all the critics bashed this film. I thought it was great! The main reasons people have dogged it is because they don't follow the plot and they don't think the animation looks real enough.

I did not have any problem following the plot. The second word in "Final Fantasy" is a description of the type of movie this is. It deals with the supernatural. The spirits, or "essences" of earth are gathered to fight the alien gaia, as the arms and weapons used against the alien spirits are ineffective and in fact destructive.

This movie introduced me to the concept of the gaia, which I believe is a great metaphor for understanding how all life on earth shares a common spirit. I don't truly believe there is a gaia, and you don't need to either to enjoy this film. But perhaps some found that this conflicted too much with their beliefs.

Now as far as the animation, this is the most realistic portrayal of human characters to date generated by a computer. If you watch some anime films, where there is a lot of action, they will show a frame for a long time with only the mouths moving. People enjoy these animations. Then why is this movie criticized so heavily for not looking real enough? It's rather ironic. You should watch this movie expecting an animation, not a full-feature film with real actors.

One explanation for this reaction is that, like figures in a wax museum, characters that look too real but are not creep us out because they remind us of dead people. But perhaps this is fitting for this movie, because the soul of the earth is sick and life on the planet is reaching its end.

In any case, I enjoyed this movie, and I liked the message. If you like animation and enjoy a good fantasy story, you will like this movie.

Different from movies like Advent children. I can see the fact that the planet has energy life like the one in final fantasy vii, but it honestly would have been better to just name it differently. The film is not bad at all, sci fi, apocalyptic and tragic with beautiful graphics but the story is too hard to follow (aliens that you don't understand if are bad or just a plague, or what's the point of the 8 spirits) and leaves you without answers at the end. Worth a watch maybe. For me 7.5.

Wow, I guess there is SOME hope for video game adaptations. While not a direct translation of the Final Fantasy video game franchise, it is written by the series creator, whose name I cannot remember. On top of that, his video game company branched off into a film company (Square Pictures) just to go and make this movie. At least one can't complain about the handling of the material.

But the big question here is: Do these guys know anything about film-making? Maybe. Maybe not. Truth be told, they don't need to. The beauty of this movie is that it does something new. It blends the world of video game technology and storytelling with the art of film-making. It cuts corners on film-making, but its uniqueness makes up for it. I will admit that I'm a gamer, so I appreciate what was attempted here. What we get out of this movie is an impressive display of what animators and video game technology can do together. I know there are other CGI movies out there, but, unless I am mistaken, they have all followed the over-the-top cartoony path. This is where Final Fantasy stands out. The animation is swelling with reality. From a technical standpoint, this is a gem, and a reason at the least to give it a rent.

The storyline is subject to much scrutiny though. It's not for everybody. This IS a film of Japanese origin, so anime fans will be right at home with it. For the mainstream audience, however, that remains to be decided. Although the script was revised to suit North American localization (and done very well might I add), it still is very Japanese in style, albeit with a bit less surrealism. It's fast-paced and a bit abstract at times, but it is coherent.

In the end, I would say that one should rent this just to see the technological achievement at the least. It's safe to say that all would agree with that point. Depending on the person, you may get into the storyline as well. Either way, you'll walk away with at least part of you satisfied.