Review of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Review Summary

Capsule Review
July 31, 2001
Edited: August 28, 2017


by: Steven Sweeney


Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Wow, this looks great! Plot? Don't worry about it... doesn't this look great?

Steven Sweeney has written 6 reviews, with average style of 4.00 and average substance of 2.83 The reviewer's previous review was of Swordfish.The reviewer's next review is of The Agency.

This review has been read 1337 times.

 

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Product Summary

Name: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Publisher: Production Company: Square USA
Author: Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi
Category: Movie

Year: 2001



Review of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Final Fantasy is another movie, like Tomb Raider, that is based on a video game. Like Tomb Raider,it features a beautiful girl who has the brains and the instinct to save the world.

The film is entirely done with computer animation, so in essence, you're watching an hour and a half cut scene from a video game. Really, that's what this felt like to me.

First, the good. The animation is very, very good. There were one or two scenes where I wasn't 100% sure that what I was watching was done by computer. It kind of reminded me of Starship Troopers: the Roughneck Chronicles, only better. I can't recommend this movie highly enough for its visual appeal.

Now, though, the bad. ...well. There really isn't anything bad about it. I have no real complaints; so let's say, the mediocre. The plot and writing didn't do much for me. Nothing about it really sticks out as being bad, but nothing sticks out as being great either. The plot is a vehicle for the animation - if it didn't have to be there, I don't think it would be.

The characters are like the plot - ok, but nothing special. Everyone is super-competent and heroic, etc. There are no dramatic flaws, and really, there's no character to the characters.

Also, I really would have liked a lot more backstory. I know enough that the movie makes sense, but I feel a little cheated - I feel as though I've watched the climax of a trilogy, rather than a stand-alone movie, and I would have liked to see the good stuff that came before.

Finally, I should mention the sound effects and music. I did not like the music. I found it overdone and melodramatic. At one point, I really think a blinking sign saying "Dramatic Scene!" would have been more subtle. The sound effects were pretty cool. Nothing exceptional, but nice all the same.

In the end, there's just not that much to say about this movie. It's visually amazing, but everything else is pretty bland.

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