Final Fantasy : Les Créatures de l'esprit

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.

It's not very usual that a movie based on a game turns out to be a stunning movie. But Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, however, is just that. The incredibly realistic characters and beautifully rendered backdrops in this movie make it a fascinating work of CGI. Unfortunately, its story falls short of anything but a rather boring Sci-Fi plot, which I'm sure is what caused it to be such a failure in the box-office.

The Spirits Within follows a young scientist named Aki Ross, who shares a belief with her colleague Dr. Sid that with the collection of 7 spirits they can stop an invading alien race and save the earth. Being a fan of the video game series of the same name, I remember getting pretty excited for this movie when it first came out. After seeing it for the first time, I could not figure out why in the world they would call this movie "Final Fantasy". Aside from a few subtle references to characters and themes from the video game series, it does not contain enough blatant similarities to possess the Final Fantasy title, and I feel like this should have been a more important goal in directing this movie. It was a great choice to have done this movie in CGI rather than in live-action, as one of the most captivating things about the Final Fantasy series are its fantastic cinematic scenes. To have a whole movie based on the quality of an epic Final Fantasy cinematic really shows the hard work that goes into creating all of these scenes. Every model in the movie displays a high level of detail from the main characters to the ships that they fly in. The freckles on Ross's face allow for intense close-ups. The subtle movements of their facial structures make them more interesting to look at. It's an art form that was very well presented in this film. In fact, this was the first full CGI film to feature fully realistic characters, modeled to look like real actors. The fact that it is a computer generated movie allows more freedom to conduct scenes and also set camera angles in places that would be impossible to get if it were shot in real life.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within portrays a mastery of computer generated imagery for its time. It's a fine tribute to the wonderful cinematics of the Final Fantasy series. But it doesn't possess a very original plot line, which doesn't even portray enough references to be called Final Fantasy, and should have just been another Sci-fi called "The Spirits Within".

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.

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.

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.