Taking place in 2065, Earth is devastated by the invasion of
strange, ethereal creatures that landed in a meteor. The creatures, known as
"Phantoms", appear to be beings of energy whose slightest touch can kill a human
instantly (they literally suck the soul right out of the human body). The
surviving humans live in protected domed cities, leaving the surrounding
landscape as a vast wasteland of corpses and ruined buildings. Dr. Aki Ross
(voiced by Ming-Na), a young scientist, has been studying the phantoms with her
mentor, Dr. Sid (Donald Sutherland). They want to collect a series of "spirits"
or phantoms that will help create an energy wave, which should cancel out the
phantoms. Aki was infected by a phantom during an experiment. Dr. Sid created a
special containment field within her chest that keeps the phantom under control.
However, Aki keeps having these strange dreams, night after night, where she is
standing on an alien planet, watching a massive battle between two races. She
believes that these dreams hold the key as to why the phantoms are on earth
in the first place.
However, the military, led by General Hein (James Woods), wants to take matters
into their own hands. Despite the fact that every direct assault on the phantoms
at the meteor impact site (which has become their home base on earth) has failed,
General Hein swears that the use of a new space-based laser cannon will finish
off the phantoms once and for all. Yet both Aki and Sid believe that such
a massive attack with a laser of that size and power would only wind up
destroying the very earth itself. Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi and
Peri Gilpin round out the rest of the voice cast as a squad of Special Forces
soldiers who aid Aki in her mission.
Visually stunning, with some of the most realistic-looking human figures to
date, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is an absorbing science fiction film
that was created completely through Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). The Final
Fantasy filmmakers put the CGI format to imaginative use.
The production design is astonishing in how it makes futuristic vehicles and
technology appear realistic; the machines were actually designed to be
functional devices, and not just pretty eye candy. And the opening scene, which
shows Aki on the hunt for a spirit in the ruins of a shattered New York City, is
haunting in its dream-like quality (and also a bit unsettling--the film, which
was released a few months prior to September 11, 2001, would eerily foreshadow
the real death and destruction on the streets of New York City, although from a
completely different cause). The phantoms
themselves are a credible, scary menace; but they are really no worse than the
most destructive of human emotions: pride, which leads to the kind of
self-righteous and ultimately specious acts that threaten both human and
alien life alike.
The DVD is superb. Final Fantasy is presented as a two-disc set, with plenty of
fascinating extras on the making of the film. In addition to the "making of"
documentaries, and extensive commentaries by the creative team, the DVD also
offers a "Final Fantasy Shuffler", which allows the viewer to act as a film
editor by re-working a scene from the film. Although Final Fantasy failed to
find an audience at the box office, don't let that stop you from seeking out this
fascinating and entertaining film. --SF