Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Director
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Country of origin
USA/Japan
Format
Film
Running time
102 mins
Year
2001
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
By Jongle
28th Apr 04 A flash of light, a woman walking on water and an earthquake begin the biggest anime film to come from the USA (under Japanese direction). The date is 2065 AD and the Earth is in trouble. Humanity is on the brink of extinction. 34 years ago (2031), a meteor (the Leonid meteor) collided with the Earth, releasing thousands of aliens. However, these are no normal aliens, as they are 'phantoms' - the spirits of (unjustly) dead aliens. These phantoms have overrun the planet, killing any living creature with a spirit, by basically sucking the life out of them with a single touch. Few cities survive; those that do are dubbed 'barrier cities', as they prevent any phantom spirits from entering. The cities are led by a single council, and have average departments such as military, which plays an important role, headed by General Hein (voice of James Woods). Based on the biggest RPG to be released on the Playstation 1/2, Final Fantasy is a CGI science fiction action film which will keep you on the edge of your seat. Dr. Aki Ross (Ming-Na), a young, innovative scientist and protege of the revered Dr. Sid (Donald Southerland) have set out to secure 8 spirits, which, when put together create a wave of energy which could neutralise all of the alien spirits on the planet. This search leads to a political battle and a race against time, the council have given Aki a time limit to get the spirits and try the wave, and if the time is used, they will go ahead with Hein's idea of using the Zeus Cannon, one bad ass space cannon which can practically obliterate anything. Hein has convinced the council that by using the cannon on the nest of the phantoms - the meteor, they will all die. By giving Aki and Sid more time, Hein gets frustrated and begins to go to lengths to stop them, taking it to the extent of allowing phantoms into a barrier city. As Hein puts his dastardly plan into action, Aki, Sid and their acquired help - a commando team comprising of Captain Grey Edwards (Alec Baldwin), Neal Fleming (Steve Buscemi), Jane Proudfoot (Peri Gilpin) and Ryan Whittaker (Ving Rhames) have a perfectly placed 5 minute dialogue before non-stop action to put everything into perspective for the viewer. This conversation they share in a prison cell really helps explain everything unto this point. From hereon it gets serious. The action doesn't stop until the end, and the graphical quality is truly amazing. Its now one rough ride from the prison cell to the meteor itself - will Aki be able to use the wave on time? Will Hein get to pull the trigger on the Zeus cannon? Will the worst-case scenario come into action (phantoms kick everyone's ass)? In conclusion, it's a great film, the animation and CGI graphics just show how big the budget was. The story has a bit of everything, the plot twists are enthralling, the CGI is so good that each piece of stubble on Grey's chin is different, each individual pour is visible on Aki's face, graphically there is no film better (I really can't stop going on about it, yes, its that good). The transition from video game to film was amazing; Hironobu gave the name Final Fantasy something to be proud of. 9/10
-- Jongle 28th Apr 04
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