Sigh Fi Sadness (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (DVD)
Date:	26/11/01 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: some great CGI, some decent action, design

Disadvantages: cliche ridden script, un-original, some ropey CGI

A glance at the early footage from this film and quite a big deal was made over the fact that actors could soon be a thing of the past as Final Fantasy heralded the arrival of photo realistic animation with unmistakeable human characteristics. Well a picture can impress but until you see the thing in movement then I think you?ll agree that the likes of Tom Cruise don?t have anything to worry about just yet.

You see Final Fantasy was a huge box office turkey considering the high expectations it had before release. It struggled to make over a third of its initial budget back in the US release and soon disappeared in the UK as well. The reason for this can easily be targeted. It appears the makers were concentrating on the visuals they seemed to forget about the script.

The year is 2065 AD and the last remnants of mankind are in a battle to take back earth from alien invaders who have the ability to reach into a body and take away the soul leaving a lifeless corpse. Led by a strange dream and guided by her mentor, Dr Aki Ross may be the only one who can find the key to save mankind from extinction. Of course there are others who?d prefer to blast the threat into kingdom come. Aki finds herself allied with a bunch of soldiers in a bid to combat the threat and search for a series of spirits.

The problem with the story is that is incredibly complicated and doesn?t really explain itself. Some films give you ample information to fill in the blanks but Final Fantasy assumes you must be in tune with its take on sci-fi. Sadly I wasn?t and had no real clue about what the spirits were and why they were important. It seems like a religious subplot was being played out but for the makers and not the audience. It also doesn?t help that the characters as a whole are pulled from the book of sci-fi clichés. Aki is an interesting character but the soldiers are made up of the brawny, handsome love interest. The headstrong female soldier in a male dominated wor
ld and the technician who?s a bit geeky and the comedy relief. There?s also the well-built soldier whose family was wiped out by the enemy so he has a personal vendetta. Naturally the human opposition comes in the form of a commander who lost his family to the enemy and has a giant chip on his shoulder. All he needs to seal the deal is a pencil bar moustache.

As far as the visuals go, well for the most part they are outstanding works of CGI. This applies to the backgrounds and worlds created, the atmosphere is very stylish and at times you?d swear it wasn?t CGI. But you don?t want to see the film for the scenery. The characters themselves have their plus and minus points. From a distance they move in a realistic way but up close the lip synch is false and the movement is very computer like and stiff. Some of the facial expressions are well done but all the time you know you?re watching CGI when you also know they makers were going for realistic characters. The voice talent behind the characters is solid with the likes of James Woods, Ving Rhames and Donald Sutherland providing their tonsils to the cause. Alec Baldwin seemed to dominate the summer season of films with voice work and commander type roles so as the love interest he is good although if I were Ben Affleck I?d be wondering where my paycheck was for likeness rights.

Past the complicated story there are some decent moments of action even though they offer nothing original. Lines like ?Fire In The Hole!? don?t do much to help the cause and we?ve seen a lot of mass destruction before in the real world. Still a lot of crash bangs in a sci-fi environment can always be entertaining and it?s one of the only things that make the film worth watching.

What I liked about the film was some of the quieter moments where some grand ideas were aching to get out. I liked some of the silent environments that allowed the atmosphere to grow to almost 2001 proportions. You can see that some of the d
ream sequences were meant to be something you?d never seen before. Thank god for Elliot Goldenthal?s score, it is simply a triumph and offer some exciting moments mixed with majesty and tense scary themes.

Ultimately Final Fantasy is worth a look but nothing more. It?s a case of all style and very little content. It amazes me that over 100 million dollars was spent bringing this to the screen and about $100 was spent on original script ideas. That?s what let?s the side down. This is a film that was sold on visuals in the trailer, sadly it didn?t fool the public this time.

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