Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

I can't quite imagine who thought this movie was a good idea. Logically, some movie executive must have okayed the project, and presumably someone actually looked at the script. I just don't know what they were thinking when they gave it the green light. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is nominally connected with the extremely successful Final Fantasy role-playing video game franchise. However, despite the video games' reputation for complex characters and intricate plots, we have none of that here.

The movie follows the quest of Dr. Aki Ross, the attractive young female scientist (you know the plot is going to be bad just from that phrase) who is searching for the seven "spirits" that will rid the earth of an alien infestation. The usual compliment of stock characters is along for the ride, including the wise old mentor, the attractive male lead, the arrogant and foolish military leader, and a few wise-cracking sidekicks.

The Spirits Within really only has one thing going for it: special effects. At the time it was released, the movie represented an advancement in realistic computer animated characters. For the most part, the people are fairly realistic. You know they aren't real people, but they look and act enough like real people so that it isn't distracting. As is always the case, the effects don't look as good now as they did when the movie came out, but it's still not too bad. However, a little eye candy was never enough to sell a movie with a plot this bad.
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