Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

There's something to be said about pushing the envelope. Pushing the envelope is a rarity in these cinematically deprived days, as if doing something radically different is akin to breaking the law. Final Fantasy, while not a truly groundbreaking film, definitely does strive for something that has never been attempted before: photorealistic computer-generated environments and characters. It definitely is a visually stimulating journey through the future, but the film was reckless. So reckless in fact, that years from now people won't remember Final Fantasy as being the pioneering film of its kind. Unfortunately, Final Fantasy lacks the character depth to be anything less than marginally forgettable.

Sure, during those couple of hours I sat in the theater amazed at the technical marvel that is the computer power. But at the same time I realized that all that computer didn't amount to a whole lot of brain power. And when it comes down to it, the movie was unable to grab me and pull me into the stunningly gorgeous worlds I was witnessing. That said, Final Fantasy's storyline isn't a complete waste of time. In fact, I admire the pacing of the film. It's a mature film in its slow, meditative way of looking at aspects of spirituality.

I'm torn between feelings on the film. I admire it for its courage, sympathize with the ideas it attempts to convey, but at the same time am sorry that they couldn't make it all meld into a comprehensible whole. The Life Force unfortunately wasn't with the scriptwriters, and because of that, Final Fantasy (and the film division of Square, for that matter) will melt away like a saddened spirit.

On a scale of 1 to 10 ghost worlds : 5