Notable stars: Ming Na, Alec Baldwin, James Woods, Donald Sutherland.... Square.

Overall Rating: A (Lasting impression of the film.)

Artistic Integrity: A+ (Visual appeal such as set design, costumes, color coordination, etc.)

Sound Quality: A (music, ambient sounds, voice acting, etc.)

Meat & Bones: A- (All other aspects of a movie, such as plot, or ability to keep my attention.)

On to the review:
Why are you reading the words I typed when you could be in line right now to see this movie? It doesn't start for another hour? Get in line anyway-- You want to see this movie. I'm probably going to spoil everything so go now!

Why see it? Well frankly, it's the only great movie I've seen in a while. I was going to write movie reviews for Atlantis, Tomb Raider, and Cats&Dogs, but I couldn't really come to recommend any of them. All of those movies couldn't hold a candle next to The Spirits Within. (By the way, how much did they have to bribe Ebert and Roper for 2 thumbs up for C&D? Sorry... Mini-RANT.)

In every Final Fantasy, a fantasy starts anew. Thus it can be called a FINAL Fantasy. My point is that you don't need to know about the past FFs to get into this one. Each Final Fantasy plays off of each other in some way- such as the Chocobo -which kind of serves to tie the stories to each other in some way.

RANT: I'd also like to take this time to do a public service announcement/RANT. It has come to my attention of late, that some people like to take their children out to the movies, and this is perfectly fine with me. But when I was a child, there was a rule that all questions should be saved for the end of the show. This for some reason annoys when some one asks a question, especially one that can't be answered at the moment. Children aren't the only targets of this, but they are the prime suspects. Also, WHY would someone bring a baby into a PG-13 movie? (Some bring them into R flicks too!) Most babies don't like movies. It makes their tiny heads explode at one point or another, and usually it's usually an important moment. I don't want my attention diverted from a masterpiece to hear a punk toddler screaming it's lungs out. This concludes today's rant, now on to the review.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
A
L
E
R
T
!
!
!

Spoilers Ahead! If you proceed, you do so by your own free will, and herby will be prepared to spoil any vestige of surprise this film has in store for you.
|
|
|
V

Once there was an alter devoted to Lucasfilm and Star Wars... But it was abandoned for a long time, and it's creator, George Lucas, decided to mar it's memory by re-releasing Star Wars, not once, but twice... Both versions had spawned their own variants in wide and full screen... Did he stop there? No. He further defiled his own work by making Ep. 1 which took away all the magic of the first trilogy with one word; medichlorians.

And thus an age of despair began. But in the distance, there was hope; an alter different from all those before it- an equilateral four sided polygon with its sides set to 90 degrees. SQUARE. ->insert choir of angels here<-

I used to think it would be cool if Square or Namco did a real movie instead of just the short clips in their games. Can I get a hallelujah? Then I saw ADV's Tekken: the Motion Picture and Urban Vision/American Anime's Legend of the Crystals: Final Fantasy. To say the least, my faith wavered. Both were done with (sub par) animation, and their stories were a little weak.

Let me put your fears to rest -- the wait is over and was worth it. This is a movie with a lot of heart put into it, to say the least. In it, you will find all the elements that a good sci-fi fantasy story needs, and what's even more special, the science doesn't ruin the fantasy.

If I had to sum up the movie in one fragmented sentence, here is how it would go: A CG-based "Aliens" meets "Event Horizon." And while the ending isn't as bleak as either film, it does in a sad-reflection; all, save two, of the original characters die.

I personally saw a lot of similarities with this and FF7, which is no coincidence, seeing as this film was started near the completion of it. If there was a pivotal moment in gaming, I would say it would be the death of Aeris. And though not a direct correlation, one of my favorite characters gets killed-- Neil. I could see it coming, but I just loved the comic relief. These characters are so well developed that I actually came to like them, and care for them. I even liked the General. The characters had flaws, but on a basic level, that made them more real.

Put purely on an artistic scale, the movie will blow you away. Were you impressed with Shrek? This movie has a much more mature sensibility to it. The colors are a little more muted, but no less vibrant. That may sound a bit contradictory, but if you've seen the movie, you'll know what I mean. The whole cast did a wonderful job voice acting, too.

The story deals with ghosts from another planet-- and they can only be seen with special lights. The effect is spectacular when offset with the human characters. (This also would have worked out perfectly with the games and how the enemies popped out of nowhere.)

The human characters almost live up to the hype. Everyone knows what a CG person looks like, but in a few scenes (especially the kissing scene) one would be hard pressed to tell if they were human or not.

I wonder what the religious community will think about this film. On one hand it is very spiritual, but on the other, it's not built on the premise of a God as we know it. It is built on the foundation that there is a life force, Gia. And there are other Gias in the universe. Even the movie points out how radical an idea this is. But it does lend itself to some type of an afterlife.

Bottom Line: This movie has humor, suspense, intrigue, deception, radical concepts, etc. Go see it now if you haven't already.