Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

It is the year 2065 and Earth has been invaded by a race of phantom-like aliens that kill with a single touch. Under the tutelage of Dr Sid, young Dr Aki Ross is searching for spirits that can combine to counteract the life force of the aliens – a situation made even more urgent by the fact that she is infected by the aliens herself and experiencing strange dreams as a result. Ross joins the elite military unit Deep Eyes to finish her quest, but General Hein is determined to convince the ruling council that the best solution is the use of a weapon that will destroy the aliens despite Sid's protests that it could destroy the Earth in the process.

This film got a lot of publicity about the fact that it was billed as the film that would trigger a whole new type of movie – those with no human stars (well, apart from their voices). Sadly this seemed to be all the discussion about the film amounted to and I think it put people off that nobody talked about the plot or whether it was any good or not – I know it put me off from bothering to go and see it. Another thing that put me off was that most people just assumed it was a kid's film because it was animated and was quickly dumped in matinee slots – even when I saw it on TV it was in the slot on Sunday afternoon used for mostly kiddie fare. Anyway, let me just say that I have no knowledge of the games, never played the games and will likely never play the games but I had no problem picking up the rough story (even though I'm sure the wider FF universe has so much more story in it that this film does). I would have quite liked a greater understanding of the story, the characters and the aliens but it did enough to support the film's plot as was.

As a sci-fi film it works reasonably well but is not as intelligent as it clearly needed to be to support the story – if it had only aspired to be a good guys/bad guys story then fine but it wanted more and it isn't well enough developed to do it. I still enjoyed it to a certain degree but it is evident from the film that the script writing and plotting took a backseat to the development of the computer graphics. Of course these look great for the most part and the film has delivered a visually impressive series of spaceships, desolate cityscapes and blobby aliens. The only things that don't work (ironically enough considering the film's boasts) are the human characters. CGI has yet to manage to make characters that look and move as naturally as humans – we have seen it in Matrix Reloaded, Blade 2 and also here. Admittedly it matters less here because we can get used to the characters looking like effects (unlike, say, Matrix 2 where we are not meant to notice the difference between real and effect). Suffice to say though, that this is an animated movie rather than the movie that triggers the onslaught of computer generated characters in films.

The voice cast are pretty good and they do well to add a bit of a human touch to characters that, for all the money spent on them, still look and movie like computer game characters in an expensive cut-scene between levels. Ming-Na hardly has that distinctive a voice and she is rather bland at times but she does OK. Baldwin is a strong voice and suits his character well. Sutherland is always welcome despite his small role and typical roles are filled by the likes of Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Keith David and a typically untrustworthy performance from James Woods.

Overall this is an OK sci-fi film but not any more than that. The plot is OK but it isn't as good as it thinks it is and certainly isn't good enough to support the slightly complex themes/ideas that it wants to deliver. It is good for older children and teenagers (who will happily ignore the plot details) but outside of that sci-fi fans may find it a bit lacking in bite and generally to be more about the graphics than anything else.

I've waited for this one for quite a while, as have most of Square's fans. There is a lot riding on this film, including the future direction of CG in movies, the proud heritage of a name brand, and the chance to release a worthwhile movie during a string of bad summer flicks. So, does Final Fantasy live up to it's hype?

Mostly.

First, the bad. No, it has nothing to do with the games other than name, but then the majority of the storylines of the games had nothing to do with each other, either. The plot is not necessarily original, with marauding aliens nearly vanquishing humanity while a desperate band of outsiders hold the key to winning (tired sci-fi, to be sure) and even the animation has it's faults, mostly with the mouth movements and a few emotions lacking, as the eyes and lips, and even hair had detail but no-one's cheeks or throats moved, giving the characters a bit of a puppetry feel at times. The movement of humans in CG is still not quite fluid, but getting much better. Also, the movie slows down considerably during the last twenty or thirty minutes, which is perhaps necessary for the plot, but the change in pace was notable, even with the awe that the movie's end was aspiring too.

But enough nit-picking.

The Good. The imagery in this movie is startling, imaginative, complex, even awesome at times. It's amazing that while the machines, vehicles, and mechanics in the movie are so realistic and detailed, so too are the organic forms such as the alien presence (sometimes seemingly more fluidly animated than the humans!) and the incredible landscapes. It is obvious how much imagination went in to so many aspects of this movie. The soundtrack, while not exceptional, is very complimentary and captures the dark feel with the fast action and triumphant climaxes. The characters were distinct, like-able, and voiced very well (even if the digital mouths don't quite match up most of the time). The emotional scenes, while certainly not perfect and a bit awkward, should be given grand credit for achieving the level they do convey. If you let yourself go, it's not impossible to be entranced by all that this movie actually manages to pull off. If nothing else, then the effects alone are worth seeing, if the somewhat hokey spiritual elements of the plot turn you off. (If you consider the Force to be hokey, don't bother.)

The Surprising. Well, I was a bit put off by the simplistic way the characters would look at each situation and then spell it out to the audience, though there is more to the plot than casual sci-fi fare. Because of this, the dialogue was a bit goofy at times, but at least it usually fit the characters. But every good thing you've heard about the quality of the CG work in this movie is true- it really is a site to behold, if nothing else than for the effects. As I mentioned earlier, if you consider how much this movie is trying to do, it's amazing that it pulled off everything nearly as well as it does.

So, I think that most will be pleased, some will critique it heavily on the negatives and not be as impressed, but the bottom line is that it is definitely worth seeing. Quality work in most areas, even story and screenplay in my opinion (though that's certainly the most debatable point.) I left the theater without being disappointed, something I cannot say for the majority of cinema fare.

It's a pity this movie failed at the box office, because in my opinion, it's really good. It combines combines the classic dystopic sci-fi future with a scorched Earth, a few heroes struggling against enigmatic aliens and a corrupt military force, action style sequences that are at times quite intense, and the typical slow-paced Asian movie storytelling. Add to this a rich amount of influences from the FF games, including eight mysterious spirits that must be found in time or the heroine will succumb, as well as a lot of mythological references that must be taken for granted rather than analysed to bits if the viewer is to find any pleasure in this film.

The trouble is that the FF video game fans wanted a story based on the games, or on their particular favourite in the series, and were disappointed with both the story, the setting and the characters. The average sci-fi movie fan, though, who ought to have loved the wicked general (excellently voice-cast by James Woods) and his huge space cannon, as well as the 'Aliens' styled surroundings and technology, was put off by all the talk about spirits and world souls. Leaving for a few of us who went to see the film with no real expectations, to enjoy it.

Because it is a good film. The animation is, for the most part, excellent, even if some scenes have a too blatant 'look what we can do' boast to them. Particularly all the scenes of Aki's hair waving in the wind. Personally, I didn't think the story was either too slow-paced, nor too weird. It works well, especially if you like Asian movies. For the European and American market, though, there's probably not enough action and too much talking.

If this movie had been released this year, it would probably have been given a better reception. The thought of fully computer animated films isn't as new and strange anymore, and with films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ring and Hero, the west is opening up for the Asian way of telling stories. I hope to see more films like this, at least if they are this well made. 9/10

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.

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.