Review of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) by Douglas W — 26 Feb 2012

From one of the groundbreaking video game companies that created my favorite game series, comes one of the groundbreaking films of it's time. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is one of the first films on the market to create fully computer rendered, realistic characters and environments.

A bit a head of it's time, but it was a spectacular vision to behold. The story really bears no resemblence to any of the games that I'm aware of, but there are similar themes present to those from Final Fantasy 7.

That being said, I am glad they went with an original story rather than trying to adapt one of the games. As a writer, I would not want the task of trying to adapt a game with 40+ hours of story driven gameplay to a 2 hour film.

However, the story we are presented with here is not that engaging or all that deep. It also tends to be a bit more convoluted than it needs to be. The characters are all well portrayed and watching them move within and interact with their environments is a little odd at first because the lines between animation and live action have been blurred more than normal.

The writing is passable and the pace is a touch on the slow side for csual viewers. This really is all about the visuals and while they are impressive to look at, there just isn't the story backing to make this a truly memorable viewing experience.

Recommended for Final Fantasy fans, even though it really has nothing to do with Final Fantasy, and for those who are looking for a visually interesting movie.