Review of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) by Stubble S — 09 Oct 2010

This movie proves that merely putting elements of a good movie next to each other does not in and of itself make for even a mediocre film. In this movie, you get the great combination of special effects slash animation that is a fully CGI film, unexpected plot twists, moments of sacrifice and epiphany, engaging action sequences, space opera and soap opera.

And yet the overall effect is to leave you unmoved, uninspired, and, yes, a little cold on the inside.

I would like to posit that the biggest reason for this is due to the movie?s cosmology. It is stupid. Far from inspiring wonder, it turns something as vast and imposing as the created universe and makes it a claustrophobia-inducing tomb. No small feat but Final Fantasy pulls it off. You see, our souls are really extensions of this lame energy that resides in the center of our planet. In fact, this soul energy is at the center of all planets. That is right, in Final Fantasy people do not have transcendent souls but planets have souls -- a kind of supernatural gooey filling in the center. What is worse is that even if you die, your soul stays tied to the planetary filling.

What happens when the planet gets destroyed, you ask? Suffice it to say this is a major plot point in the film and if you care enough to know, then you deserve to watch it.

Final Fantasy would have earned a lower score were it not for its ground-breaking animation. Animation buffs do have a number of good reasons to give the film repeated viewing. But it also receives two marks against for false advertising having lifted the title from the completely unrelated video game.