QuickNavigation - FF Odyssey Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Last updated on 11/14/2007)

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By: wsim

Introduction

     July 11th, 2001. That's the day when Fantasy finally became reality to the hearts and minds of so many FF fanatics across the US and Canada. While many of the hardcore FF fanatics were going to see the movie right when it first comes out, you may wonder if Square was making a big gamble into releasing the Final Fantasy Movie across theaters around North America. The total cost of production for the movie was staggering though, as the development costs totaled well over the $130 million range which makes the FF Movie one of the most expensive movies ever made. Sure Final Fantasy and Otaku fans may dig the FF Movie but the question is, will the casual movie audience actually see the FF Movie? Well, I'm pleased to say that the FF Movie lives up to it's hype and while it may not be Final Fantasy like you all know and love, it's still an excellent movie to watch.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within takes place on Earth in the year 2065, a time where most of the world is in ruin and there are only a handful of survivors from the previous alien invasion of earth 25 years ago. FF: TSW is not a live-action movie, rather it's fully made up of computer generated characters and backgrounds which look simply amazing. This movie is a visual masterpiece that would please any casual movie viewer as well as the Sci-Fi buffs too and the movie is one of epic proportions. What can I say? This movie is a milestone, not in terms of the total profits from the box office or it's immense popularity but this movie is the first movie in the new era of cyberfilm, where movies are completely made by using fully rendered CG movements and animation in which they look almost real. The amazing backgrounds and the immense detail of the characters really amazes me
 but some characters are more real than others. Here's the list of characters in the movie and the list of actors who do the voices for them:

Cast

Full Story (Spoilers)

     The movie takes place on Planet Earth in the year 2065, in which most of the world is in ruin and very few humans exist. After the alien invasion of earth 25 years earlier, there have only been a handful of survivors and aliens still wander around the earth like there's no tomorrow. The story first starts out with Dr. Aki Ross searching for one of the 8 spirits which ends up with a struggle between herself and a group known as the "Deep Eyes", a group of futuristic warriors to defend the survivors of an alien invasion of earth. During this time period, humans live under large energy shields, which protect the largest cities such as New York and they only venture out occasionally, armed with guns and hi-tech armour to do battle with the aliens. Aki has dreams about the "aliens" almost every day, in which they do actually mean something. The reason being is because she was infected with a phantom in her body a long time ago and she lived because Dr. Sid created a membrane around the virus, protecting her from dying because of it. The alien invaders have the power to infect humans with a virus from them and during the course of this movie, there are many people dying as a result from it. Dr Sid, Aki's mentor, has been researching many different methods to wipe out the aliens over the course of his lifetime and he was developed many ways to protect from viruses. Unfortunately, Dr. Sid's methods aren't very popular with the rest of the world and the main villain in this story, General Hein strongly opposes them.

     Aki believes that by gathering up the 8 spirits of earth, or Gaia, as mentioned at times during the course of the film, she can defeat the aliens by channeling the eight "spirit waves". She teams up with Captain Grey, leader of the "Deep Eyes" group along with the "Deep Eyes" as well. While gathering the 8 spirits, Aki and her allies face several bumps along the way, she finds herself and her allies arrested from the evil forces of General Hein and his soldiers, as General Hein strongly believes that Aki is under the influence of a phantom virus and he believes that her ideas aren't correct. General Hein's main purpose over the course of the movie is to use his super-powerful Zeus cannon to wipe out the aliens, instead of Aki's method of collecting the 8 spirits. Dr. Sid and Aki try to convince the council of earth to prevent General Hein from launching the cannon as they believe it will injure and damage parts of the earth. The council postpones the launch a number of times until eventually, General Hein gets clearance to use the Zeus cannon to wipe out the aliens. Many of Captain Grey's friends die in this movie as a result of the aliens, in fact, only Dr. Sid and Aki Ross actually live till the very end of the movie.

     General Hein's Zeus cannon actually destroys what is believed to be the 8th and final spirit but then Aki has another weird dream again in which the 8th spirit came to her. Captain Grey sacrifices himself to save Aki and Aki finally channels the energy of the 8 spirits to wipe out all of the aliens and also restores life on earth as well. General Hein dies as well, when he overloads the cannon's power from shooting too many blasts from the cannon and the cannon explodes. In the end, Aki's efforts were a success, it resulted in the aliens being wiped out and it also resulted in a new life for the planet Earth. But it did come at a great, great cost, resulting in the deaths of all of the remaining survivors of the alien invasion, except for Dr. Sid and Aki.

Movie Impressions

     While the plot may be simple, the storyline of the movie is pretty good but it's more than just your typical Sci-Fi flick. The visuals are excellent, as you all know already but another thing that makes this movie so great is how well the characters were represented in the movie as well. Dr. Sid and Aki Ross were probably the most detailed characters in the movie, as their roles in the plot are very significant.

     Too bad the movie doesn't go too much into detail about Grey's and Aki's relationship to each other. There's a bit of romance in this movie, but not very much though, as Grey and Aki never really came together and the storyline barely focuses on their relationship between each other. That's not really important though, but it would have been nice if the movie actually explained their love and relationship for each other a little more. General Hein had a decent personality as he was cold-hearted and evil, just what you would expect from a typical villain in any movie to date.

     The details on the characters are amazing, Dr. Sid probably looks the most realistic out of them all, he almost looks just like a real old man! The environments and settings are pretty well done as well as it really shows viewers the corruption and the dying state that the world has come to.

     One complaint that I had about the movie is that the storyline may seem to simple for some and certain characters don't have a real purpose to the movie but otherwise, the movie is still great overall. The music of the movie is pretty good, while not the typical classical FF tracks you know and love, the music still fits the dark mood of the film quite well and it's your standard hollywood flair when it comes to music though. As for the voices and the lip-synching, it's pretty good but it could have been a little better in my mind but it's still not bad though. The voices for the characters really reflect on their personality very well and you can instantly tell from their voices what their character is like. For example, Aki is a very strong-willed and determined person, very confident of her ideas and methods to reach her goal while Dr. Sid is a caring and passionate man who cares about Aki and the fate of the planet as well. The lip-synching ain't perfect in this movie but it's not bad though and most of the movie seems to take more of a dark feel, rather than a happier setting.

     But all I can say is that this movie is DEFINITELY a must-see if you're a Sci-Fi fan and for people who haven't played the FF games before, this movie is still a good movie to watch, awesome visuals and a decent storyline make it a good movie to go see one of these days. The movie has some good sound effects as well and it will keep you to the edge for your seat for a fair amount of the movie. The movie isn't that long, about an hour and 40 minutes or so but it still manages to go by pretty fast in my opinion, at least this movie doesn't make you bored or want to sleep like some of the other Sci-Fi/Action Movies in the past.

     I was pretty pleased with the FF Movie when I got out of the theater and I believe that it does live up to it's hype. There is plenty of suspense and drama in this movie, while it may not be a lot, it's just enough to keep excited and it will satisfy your needs for action as well. There are some pretty nice effects when the characters are using their hi-tech weapons and guns and it's some pretty nice visuals for any movie goer to see. Some people may complain that there is too much Sci-Fi and not enough Fantasy but that's because this movie takes place in a Sci-Fi setting.

     With such a big budget and with some of Hollywood's top acting talent doing the voices for the characters of the FF movie, this movie should do very well at the box office, it's one of those movie milestones or shall I say, "revolutionary movies". This movie will define a new era in movies in which there will be more fully computer generated movies in the near future. The FF movie is the first of the upcoming "Cyberfilms" to come, while the movie has a couple of minor faults, as in too simple of a storyline to some people and some limited character development, this movie is definitely a good movie to see with the casual movie audience in general. So if you want a decent flick to see this summer, the FF Movie will satisfy your needs and leave you wanting for more. So go ahead, see the FF Movie, I'm sure you will enjoy it. I know that I did, I would give it a 3 1/2-star rating in my opinion. It's a good flick to see folks!

Ratings (Compare w/ others)

PLOT:		The plot in this movie is a little bit on the bland side, it's not bad but it's nothing truly special.
ACTING:		Voice acting in this movie is pretty good but it does lack at times though.
VISUALS:		Best part of the whole movie, amazing details and CG backgrounds make this movie a real visual treat to watch.
MUSIC:		Unfortunately, the music in this movie isn't that great. It's pretty bland and some tracks are decent, but it offers nothing new.
DRAMA/SUSPENSE:		There is plenty of action and tense moments in this film. Even though the storyline is a bit bland, there is plenty of good old Sci-Fi action to keep you interested.
OVERALL:		Even though the plot and the music are bland, the movie still has plenty of amazing visual treats and action sequences to keep you interested for the most part.

The official trailer can be downloaded at the movie website.