Why hate on Spirits Within?

[Ishin Ookami]

Personally I cant understand it. When I saw the film in theatre's it took my breath away. It was a masterfully edited, expertly directed, perfectly written cinematic film that actually gave you some food for thought.

A friend of mine makes a point by saying it wasn't a very "commercially entertaining" film such as mummy returns which was released at the same time. I'll agree to that statement, but also in the same regard cinematic classics like "A Christmas Carol", "King Kong" and "War of The worlds" weren't very "commercially entertaining" either. King Kong was something of a social commentary, the big ape was drugged, captured, taken from his island and turned into a circus exhibit until he escaped and was killed. The whole point of the film was clear, even to a five year old child as I was when I first saw the film. We initially saw King Kong as a monster, akin to godzilla. Yet the film shows humanity as being the true monsters, exploiting kong, then killing him. War of the Worlds took the sci-fi (aliens invade earth) genre that was theatrically popular at the time and injected it with some spirituality and Religious overtones. And while spirits within is a far cry from attempting to make social commentary on the same level as these two cinematic greats (the War of the worlds novel was originally launched as HG wells's critique against britain's savage colonization efforts at the time) It still manages to pull the heart strings and stir the thoughts from time to time. The opening fight in the church, showed that in this future world there was nothing sacred, with the statue of the virgin mary being shot to pieces just to gun down a few phantoms. This picture continued with Aki's recounting of a 7 year old girl, embracing death rather then hope. The characters were all well done and realized, nothing super fancy but I didn't feel as though I was watching a collection of pixels like I did with Advent Children.

also one of the reason's I suspect the majority didn't like this film was that most of them were turned on too final fantasy with Nomura's direction, and Spirits Within was Sakaguchi's baby. Sakaguchi imagines Final Fantasy mainly by fantasy, with Sci fi elements thrown in and deep subject matter such as the meaning of life, hope, tragedy, and moral character. Nomura on the other hand likes to infuse final fantasy with a vibe I find more parallels a anime version of Charlies Angels. Advent Children being proof of his style over substance attitude, whereas sakaguchi prefers substance over style.

In the end, Spirits within is a damn well made film that managed to pull on my heart strings and actually made me feel something for the characters. I found Sakaguchi's direction to run parallel to Hayo miyazaki in the ecological themes and the nature of his Apocalyptic plot twists. Even in the most light hearted of miyazaki's films, there is always a plot twist or two which takes a previously established happy and upbeat theme, and utterly destroys it with death, blood, and despair. Its an effective technique which when used Sparingly, establishes intense drama and tension, and I found sakaguchi used the technique admirably in Sprits Within. I don't give a crap that none of the game characters came in, or we didn't have any summons (though the Zeus cannon made quite the dramatic CGI scene I found), Instead we had complex themes, torn characters dealing with real life issues, and underlying themes of tragedy, hope, and love. This alone dwarfs the redundant girl on girl fight scene at the end Of Advent Children any day I find, and I personally really cant understand why there is so much hate towards this film.

[Winter Nights]

I feel your pain. I just watched TSW last weekend. I was actually shocked to realize that the animation was smoother and more fluid in TSW than in Advent Children. It was also alot more realistic in it's animation.

And I'm not even going to touch the fact that 90 minutes of fight scenes wrapped around a paper thin ripoff of it's prequel is "teh bes movy EVAR!!!!11", while a complicated and well-packaged story of spirituality "totaly sucks iz so gey!!11one!1". *sighs*

[Miriel]

It bugged me that Aki's hair was always swaying. This way and that, always drifting to and fro. It bugged.

Also, I would argue heavily against your comment about the lack of commericial entertainment in the original King Kong. When it was first released, it blew audiences outta the water, and for movie-goers of that time, it was spectacle unlike anything they had seen before. To compare TSW to one of the greatest movies of the 20th century is absurd.

The Spirits Within was alright. Certainly didn't live up to expectations, but it didn't blow hardcore like so many people complain that it did.

[Winter Nights]

I really wonder what expectations people had of the film. The plot of the movie was revealed really early in production.. All prelease trailers and behind-the-scenes videos showed exactly what type of movie it was. it was never a big secret that TSW was going to be a sci-fi flick dealing with aliens. And yet FF fans were shocked when they saw it, as if they felt they'd been cheated and lied to. All they had to do was watch a trailer and they'd have known what to expect.

[Miriel]

Yeah, but I think people were looking forward to a really great Sci-fi flick dealing with aliens.

I can't remember how high my expectations for this movie were. But I do vividly remember that I was sitting next to my best friend as she made out with her new boyfriend throughout the entire movie.

[Winter Nights]

I dunno.. It was certainly alot deeper than your average sci-fi flick dealing with aliens. I think most people weren't expecting a movie dealing spirituality and faith. Which was always odd to me, considering how close that plot was to elements of the "golden child" game, FF7. Sakaguchi just took those elements and infused them with some reality, to express his own faith more deeply. The aliens were really just a plot device.

That was the only thing that took me by surprise about the movie. I left the theater feeling that my expectations were fulfilled. Was it as action packed as I though it would be? No, but the story didn't require it to be.

[Ishin Ookami]

Like I said, people were expecting nomura's action packed formula, while sakaguchi likes to be complex and tricky with his plots. initially the film was about combating the aliens, but towards the end it became something more, a character study in obsession, faith, courage, hope, and life. Look at all of the games nomura has directed, and they all end with some sort of beautiful and ambiguous CGI scene that looks good but doesn't mean a helluvalot. While Sakaguchi prefers more mellow, poetic, and emotionally driven moments. I think that is part of the reason people felt so betrayed.

And also, I think the media need to be a bit more responsible in their approach to this movie. Video game magazines raved about the film before, and during the release. After the film bombed just about every publication suddenly did an about face and started making jokes about the film bombing. OPM reviewed the DVD very highly, yet 1up, which archives articles from Ziff Davis publications has none of the articles or press related to spirits within, which considering all the good press they were generating about the film before and during, Is very puzzling.

Also, I would argue heavily against your comment about the lack of commericial entertainment in the original King Kong. When it was first released, it blew audiences outta the water, and for movie-goers of that time, it was spectacle unlike anything they had seen before. To compare TSW to one of the greatest movies of the 20th century is absurd.

Kong was very high tech for its time, without a doubt. But the story itself was a powerful one that was more thought provoking then sensationalistic as was the 1953 version of War of the Worlds, and Spirits within. also the reason I mentioned those two films was that both have recently gotten high tech makeovers from hollywoods top talents, but both jackson and spielberg forgot to include the weighty subject matter that made both films classics in very much the same way square jettisoned anything resembling a coherent plot for Advent Children

[Winter Nights]

I should note that the earliest article for FFVII for PS1 in the OPM archive is a review dated 05/09/2004. I don't think 1up is actually archiving their entire line.

[Ishin Ookami]

I should note that the earliest article for FFVII for PS1 in the OPM archive is a review dated 05/09/2004. I don't think 1up is actually archiving their entire line.

Really, Ive come across SNES reviews on 1up.com and was under the impression that the website was a work in progress considering the history of all their publications.

[Winter Nights]

Well, my point is that while they do have reviews and such for older games.. They seem to be new articles, not copies from backlogged issues.

[?????]

The themes of the movie were actually quite similar to FFVII, what with the Lifestream and it getting taken over and all. I'd hardly say that Nomura lacks depth, either. Sakaguchi is a bit more subtle, but to accuse Nomura of preferring style over substance nearly amounts to slander. He simply chooses to incorporate more aesthetic elements.

Though honestly, The Spirits Within isn't nearly as bad as most people complain it is. It's actually a decent film. It isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, though I don't know what people were expecting it to be.

[RaidenWeb17]

They're phantoms, not aliens. Extremely different. Sorry, I just had to point that out.

[ffxfreak93]

those phantoms are cool because if they touch you your dead!!!!

[Winter Nights]

They're phantoms, not aliens. Extremely different. Sorry, I just had to point that out.

Actually, they are both. (SPOILER)They are ghosts of dead aliens from a planet that was destroyed during a war.

[Vyk]

I think it honestly wasn't all that Final Fantasy. Great movie. Great plot. But it should have been called something else. I'm probably going to help further your argument that people were expecting a more Nomura approach. But Sakaguchi wasn't all about subtlety. The mechanics in the game, as mentioned, were similar to 7's mythology. But the plot reminded me more of FF8. Very political. Most FF games are about a struggle against a corrupt force. There's a bad guy. And either he's in a seat of power, or he HAS power(s). And there's those fighting against him. In TSW the struggle itself was more in the background, and in their minds and the system than anything you could really see. Yes there were fights against phantoms. But the closest thing to a bad guy was the general. And there was no real rebellion against him or anything. None of this really means its bad. It just wasn't Final Fantasy. And when people say the fans felt cheated. Those are Final Fantasy fans, expecting a Final Fantasy movie. Final Fantasy doesn't have to be action-packed. But they are adventures at least. This movie wasn't adventurous. It was a thriller. The Parasite Eve fans and those that enjoy all of Square as a whole, or games as a whole probably enjoyed the movie in one way or another. I did. But I still say it wasn't very Final Fantasy. So it's more false advertising than cheating us of a good movie. 'Cause it was good. I just couldn't compare it to any of Sakaguchi's Final Fantasys any better than one could compare it to a Nomura Final Fantasy