I wish I had seen this much earlier XD ...but yeah...if you haven't watched it yet (though I don't think any FF fan would have missed it... I went crazy when it was released >_<) and if you're looking for a Final Fantasy feel, forget this....I felt like I was watching an ordinary science fiction movie... the only difference is that it has "Final Fantasy" on the title...
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within tv Review
Story & Characters
Well, kids, for those of you who have seen "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" may feel free to skip this section, lest they wish to relive the pain they went through the first time they saw that monstrosity on TV or, even worse, in theaters. You needn't read what you already know to be the disappointing, yet painful truth.
The plot for "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" fell faster than Rosie O' Donnell through a paper floor. The plot provided a decently good presentation and a formidible start, but by the end of this horrendous movie, it was very evident that the creators and producers focused more on the artwork than their April Fool's joke of a story, a trend that seemed to follow with the next couple of Final Fantasies thereafter. Too many people walked out of the theaters the day they went to see "The Spirits Within", movie-goers, gamers, and die-hard Final Fantasy fans alike walked out the theaters at the end of the movie, wishing they had left sooner, if they hadn't fallen asleep in the middle of the movie. This one took a bullet, ladies and gentlemen, and we were all crying for it in the end. Well, those of us who were awake to see the entire thing. Lucky dogs, you.
Rating:
Art
This movie boasted state-of-the-art animation that has yet to be surpassed by Pixar or any other comany. Character animation was done with the effect to seem as realistic to actual humans on screen as computers were capable of making them, and they pulled it off. Those not paying enough attention, at times, could swear they were watching a live-action movie. The art and animation was absolutely stunning in this film. This sort of animation has yet to be duplicated, but may be matched or outdone with "Final Fantasy: The Advent Children", although Square has a tall order to fill in order to match their first creation. Square would do well, however, not to abort the story for artwork as they did the first time, especially when handing the cast of Final Fantasy VII. I'm sure the gaming world will live if Cloud Strife isn't animated the way the characters of this abortion came out, if the storyline is sacrified.
Rating:
Sound
The soundtrack and acting was bland and common, something you would find anywhere else. Boasting Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, and Donald Sutherland as their aces in the hole, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" contained a number of nobodies doing an acceptable job at best (maybe that would explain why none of the voice actors have been seen in any major movie, or a great many B-budget movies, either. Hmm...). Sound effects were rendered well, but were hindered by a sound track nobody cared too much about. Guess that's what happens when you put so much work into an abortion. Well, at least the three men I stated above can still find jobs.
Rating:
Presentation
Square set out to create a visual masterpiece when they created "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", and they did just that. Unfortunately, that's all they did. The character design and animation, as stunning and unsurpassed as it is, could not save this bomb from dropping on the box offices. If you own a copy of this movie, demand your money back. If you've never seen it, don't even worry about renting it. If you have a friend who really wants to see this movie, if he drove a truck through your living room and didn't give you a dime to pay for repairs, the holiday season is upon us (this is being written on 11/8/04, to clear up confusion. ^.^;;), and here's an opportunity to get back at your friend. Other than that, save yourself the five dollars, go out and pick up a used copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII, and do something constructive with the two hours you were about to waste and could never have back. You'll thank yourself for it, one of these days.
Until then, keep your eyes open for "Advent Children". With a whole lot of luck, the next Final Fantasy movie will clean the wreckage "Spirits Within" left in its wake.
Hmmm...maybe we need a little more than luck will be needed to fix that one...
Rating:
Final Verdict
4.33 (below average)
Reviewed by MightyLuBu, Nov 09, 2004
Comments
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Jormungand Nov 09, 2004
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Droknar Nov 10, 2004
While I agree that the voice acting wasn't necessarily the best, and it has nothing to do with the Final Fantasy genre, I don't think it was as bad as the reviewer said. I've seen far worse plots than this (The Bruce Campbell flick "Bubba Ho-tep" and the Snoop Dogg crap-fest "Soul Plane" come to mind). As a whole the idea for the story was a good one. The ending wasn't quite what I was looking for, but it still fit fairly well. Don't sell out the movie if you haven't seen it. If you can disconnect the title of the movie from your assumptions of its premise based on the video games, you can probably enjoy the movie a little more.
I'd probably give the movie a 6 or 7 out of 10.
Most likely the title was Square trying to capitalize on the FF fan base to boost their ticket sales. -
MightyLuBu Nov 12, 2004
I agree, Droknar, that the plot of this movie wasn't the worst thing ever, either, and you've most certainly hit some bad movie plots there. :) Which is why I didn't give the story a 1. It's just that when you stop caring about a plot in the middle of a movie because it's no longer interesting, then you have a bad movie. Disconnecting the idea of this movie being a Final Fantasy movie may save it only slightly, but in the end you could call the movie whatever you want and the end result will be the same: you've taken a movie with all the potential in the world, focused all your time and energy on the visuals, and left everything else for dead.
Oh well. Like I said, hopefully Advent Children won't blow like this one did.
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owaru Nov 20, 2004
i liked the games better
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MightyLuBu Nov 21, 2004
I agree. Then again, who didn't like the games better? Oh well, like I said, let's wait for Advent Children. Hopefully that'll be better.
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DragoonzDead Feb 15, 2005
i like Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children so much than Fainal Fantasy : The Spirit Within
because there's no relationship with the game -
DragoonzDead Feb 15, 2005
i like Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children so much than Fainal Fantasy : The Spirit Within
because there's no relationship with the game -
DragoonzDead Feb 15, 2005
i like Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children so much than Final Fantasy : The Spirit Within
because there's no relationship with the game -
angelxxuan Elite Member Sep 29, 2007
it's sad that ff would attach itself to spirits within..the movie was great and had a pretty good plot but really I agree I was slightly disappointed when I did see spirits within...they should have mentioned that in the trailers then maybe, just maybe, people wouldn't be so upset about it not being based off of ff
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nainoi 12wk 5d ago
My favorite anime.
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