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After Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
comes another film adaptation of a computer game: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. This time entirely computer-animated in a stunning
photorealistic style?
It is 2065 and Earth is a wasteland except for a few survivors whose lives are continuously
threatened by an invading phantom menace. Dr. Aki Ross (voiced by Ming-Na), a brilliant young scientist, together with her mentor Dr. Sid (voiced by Donald Sutherland) are on
the verge of finding the invaders' secrets. These will somehow save the planet and Aki who is also infected by a phantom. Working with them towards a peaceful end is her
friend Grey Edwards (voiced by Alec Baldwin) and the Deep Eyes military squadron. But General Hein (voiced by James Wood) wants the phantoms destroyed at all cost even through
means which can be disastrousfor Earth. Will Aki, Grey and Sid have enough time to gather thespirits needed to disarm the phantoms before Hein carries out his cruel plot?
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is the first film to use computer generated imagery actors. This is a breakthrough in the film industry and the technical
wizards have mastered the explosions and clanking machineries. The hair movements of Aki, the details of her face are almost real that you can suspend disbelief she's a
computer image. But there is still a lot to be desired in the facial expressions and lip movements of the characters. Based on Hironobu Sakaguchi's computer game series Final Fantasy,
Reinert and Vintar create an apocalyptic story with hyperReal characters. It's a pity that the script falls short of the technical skill. The story is convoluted and viewers
can hardly identify with the characters. The theme song at the end is quite moving.
Final Fantasy happens
in a totally different world where there are different norms and values and yet it tries to present the values of love, friendship, sacrifice, life and death. The protagonists
believe the only way to disarm the enemy is to know their secret and befriend them, and that all living creatures are groaning until they return to the spirit of Gaia. Coming
from a Japanese director who does not profess to be a Christian, it is a wonder that he acknowledges the presence of spirits and that there is a Spirit that unites us as one.
Isn't this similar to our concept of God who holds everything in his hands?
(Date reviewed: July 13, 2001)
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