The Fantasy Ends (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (DVD))

Member Name: 3rd Rock Satan

Product:	Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (DVD)
Date:	08/06/04 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks stunning

Disadvantages: Tired plot

Despite the film being based on the ever-popular Japanese RPG series that has had a long running history on a number of consoles, most recently the PS2, and the fact that it boasted the most sophisticated CGI ever seen in a film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within stung the bank pockets of Square Studios when the $137m film grossed just $37m in the States, £2m in the UK and ended its theatrical run with a meagre $61m to show for its efforts. It seemed that the audiences actually paid attention to the critics when the argument of ?style over substance? was levelled over the film, pretty to look at but not much there beneath the glossy surface.

It does seem, judging from the premise; this seems to be the case. The year is 2065 and, like most futures in films, the Earth is a desolate shell of what it once was lying in ruins and the small segments that are still standing are dreary, depressing areas protected by barriers. These barriers are to keep out the ?Phantoms? that have been waging a war against Earth for a number of years and, the clue is in the name, the Phantoms are sneaky blighters, which can rarely be seen by the naked eye leaving humans in constant fear.

As the war goes on the Earths council, probably made up of the finest politicians, military and celebrities known in that time, are facing two options to eradicate the Phantoms. The first is to aim a massive gun at the main problem and blow it up, as proposed by General Hein (James Woods). The other is put forward by researchers Aki Ross (Ming-Na) and Doctor Sid (Donald Sutherland) who put forward the idea that by collecting eight spirits they can contain and eradicate the Phantoms from Earth without any negative effects. As ever in these situations the council are undecided and so, while General
Hein plots against Aki, the woman in question continues her quest to find the two missing spirits. This is not aided by the fact that she herself is infected with a Phantom and has these weird dreams involving the back story of the Phantoms and how they came to Earth in the first place. She is, however, aided by a few soldiers. Captain Gray Edwards (Alec Baldwin), of whom she has a romantic link with masked with dislike, Officer Neil Fleming (Steve Buscemi), Officer Jane Proudfoot (Peri Gilpin) and Sergeant Ryan Whitaker (Ving Rhames). All very humdrum but if you are not too picky about wanting to watch a deep, philosophical film then you wont go far wrong with watching this, it?s certainly not original but it is interesting enough to go along with for an hour or so.

The main draw to the film is, of course, the incredible CGI animation which, at times, even puts the mighty Pixar at shame though it isn?t really fair to compare this to a Pixar film as this is very much grounded in looking ?real? (or as real as a film can look based in 2065) and it does it extremely well. The character animation, an integral part in any animated film, is spot on the characters are not humanly realistic but its about as near as it can get. Aki?s hair, a much talked about point in the film which must be a first as it doesn?t involve nipples, is a testimony of painstaking animation processes, each strand flows naturally corresponding to each movement and it really does look real. The rest of the characters all look the part too but don?t have as much care lavished upon them as they all have the short cropped hairstyles and the other lead lady has her hair very firmly tied back but that?s hardly surprising because the film could have taken another four years to make if they all had the same amount of detail as Aki. The rest of
the film shows the same standard of presentation and, although the environments still bear the stereotypical run-down future Earth of several shades of grey, they still look suitably detailed. The effects, especially the abundant explosions, are pleasing to the eye and do actually look fairly real and the transparency effects on Phantoms is also worthy of note. It is hardly surprising that the film was four years in the making when the animation is at such a high standard.

While the animation may surpass anything seen before the main criticism is that the rest of the film doesn?t. This is slightly unfair as there are worse Sci-Fi films out there (Battlefield Earth anyone?) but it is true that it doesn?t sparkle as much as it should. As said the story has little imagination and coupled with a romantic sub plot between Aki and Captain Edwards it seems another carbon copy of the standard sci-fi film. However, that said, the plot is entertaining enough and trying to implement more interesting elements such as Gaia helps maintain a sense it is at least trying to add something different other than the usual fair of pistols blazing. Though there are plenty of guns in it too.

The characters, while excelling in looks, don?t excel in characterisation. It doesn?t help that the script isn?t the best around and it also doesn?t help that the clichéd stereotypes are all around the place. For example, General Hein is portrayed as the typical bad guy, he?s got the short slicked back dark hair, narrow eyes and permanent scowl/smirk and not forgetting the flowing black coat and elevated vocabulary. Not just that but, as ever, he is hell bent on proving he is right despite the obviousness of blowing up the Earth in the process. Then there is the team that Aki rides along with. We have the caring but firm Captain, the wise cracking male officer, the ass ki
cking cyber female (though still with reality sized breasts, well done), the beefed up black guy and the old and wise researcher acting like a father to Aki. This has the obvious drawback of the lack of empathy for the characters if/when they meet their doom and with little or no back story for each one, General Hein is significantly underdeveloped in this area, it doesn?t give much dimension to each character. However this is, in essence, an action film and so it doesn?t need deep characterisation plus even if the script is underdevopled and the plot basic you wont be paying much attention to them anyway thanks to the animation. All that said the voice acting is generally fine. There can be no real Oscar winning performances in this but each actor contributes well. These are not big name stars, Alec Baldwin and James Woods will be the most recognisable, but that is one aspect of animated films, the fact you don?t need the big names to make it work though it does help in the box office receipts department.

The sound in a film is just as important as anything else and in this case seeing as such time and care has been paid to the animation then the sound shouldn?t be left out. Overall it pays off. Sounds are, for the most part, clear and crisp and the soundtrack, while not overly enthralling, matches the mood nicely. One grievance I do have are the character voices. This may be the TV I was viewing it on or the film itself but the voices tend to be very quiet to the point of being inaudible and this is when nothing else is making a sound. You really do have to turn up the volume at some points in the film to hear what they are saying only to turn it back down when the action sequences start. Sticking with voices the lip-syncing is pretty much flawless which really does make a difference they is nothing more annoying in live action or animation TV or films
when the dubbing is all wrong.

Watching this film is entertaining enough it looks excellent and, thanks to a racy plot and minimal dialogue, should just about keep you awake while watching it. However you really cant help but think that, in the four years being made, if they tweaked the script a bit and added a bit more reason to the story that it could have pleased the critics and audiences more than what it did. I myself was quite pleasantly surprised that the film didn?t turn out to be as bad as expected and, although I really only watched it for the animation because I don?t really have much interest in the whole sci-fi film lark, I did end up watching it all the way through to the end (which is incidentally semi corny but thankfully doesn?t go overboard) so it must have been doing something right.

For fans of the games and fans of sci-fi films this isn?t a must see film and your view of the games, whether you like them or not, will not be changed by this film. However for fans of films in general this remains an important film to see if only to see the gorgeous animation. It may not have come to the point where real actors are going to be replaced by digital animation (as the hype surrounding this film first suggested) but this film sets a whole new bar for CGI animation that has to be seen in motion to be believed. You may not care much for the story or characters but give this a chance and you may like it.


FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN IS

A new leader in CGI animation
A film worth giving a chance to
Just about credible

FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN IS NOT

>A new leader in storylines
Going to replace real life actors
Going to be the next Star Wars

Summary: