Dreadfully Boring

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Oups ! I have forgotten this DVD but after watching it, i could have left it on the shelve. Sure for a 100% computer generated animation, it's beautiful and even today, the movie hasn't been matched (see « Tintin » for example). For a person existing only from 0 and 1, Aki is a stunning numerical woman who acts better than living ones (Kirsten Stewart for example). But, that's all! The movie is a melting-pot of already seen sci-fi movies, especially Aliens. The story is an unintelligible quest, filled with pseudo science. After a good start, this is only a shoot-them up that happens in a bleak earth. In a way, the movie really shows us the future of movies !

While it's a technical triumph, it's not a compelling story. It is head and shoulders literally beyond what Robert Zemeckis gave us in The Polar Express (2004). The faces and hair look very realistic. It'll be some time before it's surpassed by the likes of Avatar. It all boils down to the faces. My biggest compliment is that they look human.The story is that in the future, the Earth is invaded by a strange race of ghost like phantoms. The only way to survive is to live in cities surrounded by shielding. The phantoms are a mystery that is never quite explained satisfactorily. It's a mystery that nobody really cares about except maybe the people who play the video game. While the action is pretty good, the story always gets into the way. Sometimes it left me scratching my head.

I have to be perfectly honest with you fellow IMDb reviewers. I went to the movies with a girl I was getting lucky with. We went to watch this movie because it had a long duration and because I had to warm things up with her. She ended up liking it very much and I almost fell asleep. But don't get me wrong, the movie isn't bad at all. It has a charming lead female character, an interesting plot, spectacular f/x, and it tries to follow perfect the best of the video game.The problem in my opinion with this movie is that it looks a lot like the video games. The animation is really great but it isn't something you haven't seen before. It feels like a video game, and it lacks of that special punch some movies of these kind need.I recommend it strictly for fans of the video game.

Final Fantasy, as many know, is a series of video games that has spanned over two decades and is arguably the most successful video game franchise of all time. Final Fantasy (the original) was released in 1987 and since then 13 games have been released, including one sequel as well as countless spin-offs and two in-development projects. Growing up with Final Fantasy I grew to love everything about the series. The stories, the game play, everything little thing. When Squaresoft (now Square Enix) released Final Fantasy VIII I was given a copy for Christmas '99. It was the first FF game that I played through entirely and since has been my favorite of the FF games. I've played em all, beat em all and loved em all.When I first saw the trailer for this film my first thought was (I was only ten) "OMG! MOM! WE HAVE TO GO AND SEE THIS!" On the day of its release, July 11th, 2001 I believe my mother took me to see this at the beautiful Cinemark in Moosic. Even at that age I wasn't deceived by Hollywood in that they merely took the name Final Fantasy in order to market a product that had no relation to its source whatsoever.The movie follows Aki Ross, a scientist in a future Earth inhabited by Phantoms. Phantoms are alien like creatures. Remaining survivors live in "barrier cities" as they struggle to save humanity and the planet. In certain Final Fantasy games, especially FF VII, saving a dying planet is the main problem you face. Oddly enough this is the only relation The Spirits Within has to the Final Fantasy gaming series. Also there is a power hungry military man named Hein who is dead set on using a space cannon to destroy the Phantoms. Problem with this is the cannon would cause extreme harm to the planet and probably kill it but he's from the military so we can excuse him for lacking intelligence or humanity.Like I said before, the creators of this film only took the name Final Fantasy to help sell this movie to fans of the series. As a stand alone film it is exceptional in its class of CGI/sci-fi blend. Unfortunately I have to give this film a low rating because of its failure to rely on source material or follow any story in the FF galaxy. Even the story to FFX (which IMO was the weakest of the games) would have served this film much better. I always think about Stephen King's novels when I watch this movie. King has written very, very great novels in his time but the majority that are made into films are just crap. Why, because they don't follow the story of the original and they try to make it "Hollywood-style" and it just doesn't work. If a book is a national bestseller, why change it for a movie? If a game is an international bestseller like FF, why make a movie called Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within if the film is devoid of any spirit that was within the games? A five for a film that is great on its own but with a name of something entirely different.