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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
RELEASE DATE
11 July 2001
DIRECTOR
Hironobu Sakaguchi
STARRING THE VOICES OF
Ming-Na Wen, Alec Baldwin, James Woods
TAGLINE
“UNLEASH A NEW REALITY”
It was always going to be tough bringing a franchise like Final Fantasy to the big screen. Each installment of the mainline series of games contains a completely different setting, scenario and cast of characters. While the initial games focused on a more classic, trope-heavy style of fantasy involving crystals, prophesied warriors, looming castles and mages adventuring through dark forests on epic quests, Final Fantasy VI started a more modern trend of sci-fi fantasy, blending futuristic machinery and technology with traditional swords and sorcery.
The first title to get an official release in European territories was Final Fantasy VII, a classic cyberpunk adventure that spanned three discs on Sony’s PlayStation in 1997. Featuring beloved characters, the renowned ‘Materia’ system and a story and soundtrack that are still revered to this day, it brought the Final Fantasy series to a whole new legion of fans and had a massive part in making it the success it is today. In March 2020, the first section of the game was fully remade for the PlayStation 4 and dubbed Final Fantasy VII Remake, to critical acclaim. It was later expanded upon in 2021 with Final Fantasy VII Remake – Intergrade for PlayStation 5, which added visual upgrades and a new story involving Yuffie, a character from the original Final Fantasy VII.
While the eighth and ninth installments were also hugely popular, it was FFVII’s breakthrough that kickstarted the production of a movie adaptation of Final Fantasy. The man responsible for the creation of the game series, Hironobu Sakaguchi, took to the director’s chair to helm what was considered one of the most visually revolutionary films ever made at the time of release. Created entirely using computer graphics and a photorealistic style, it sought to blur the lines of animation and realism and tell a brand-new story with emotional heft.
“I told her that she wasn’t dying, just returning to the Earth’s spirit, to Gaia. She told me that she was ready to die. She said I didn’t have to make up stories to make her feel better. Only seven years old and ready to die...”
– Dr. Aki Ross (Ming-Na Wen)
Like the game series, the movie uses a new setting and characters, with only a few narrative links. The movie makes multiple references to Gaia – or the planet’s life force – a similar plot device used in Final Fantasy VII, where the evil Shinra Corporation are using massive reactors to drain ‘mako’ energy directly from the planet’s life force. It also contains a character called Sid (voiced by veteran actor Donald Sutherland), a tradition which has run through every game in the series, although the game character is known as Cid. The Cid characters in the video games are usually older than the core cast, and technically minded and wise. This is the case in the movie also, as Dr. Sid is helping the main character, Dr. Aki Ross (Ming-Na Wen), search for spirits: entities which can aid in a defence against invading phantoms.
Cloud and a Shinra reactor in Final Fantasy VII – © Square Enix
Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, the phantoms have ravaged most of the major cities of the world. These ghostly creatures have the ability to steal human life with a single touch, pulling their victims spirits from their bodies and ending their lives. Aki and a small band of soldiers known as Deep Eyes eventually team up and, with Dr. Sid’s help, they begin to search for spirits which he believes will ‘heal’ the planet and end the invasion of the phantoms.
Those looking for a traditional Final Fantasy experience might be disappointed at the direction the film took. In place of a sword and magic approach, the film delves into full-on science fiction, and maintains a fairly dark tone for the majority of its run-time. Steve Buscemi’s character, Neil, does provide some comic relief with his often ill-timed one-liners, but other than that the movie remains desolate and eerie. Sakaguchi often associated Final Fantasy with the evolution of technology, so in that regard the movie delivers on its namesake. When it was being developed, the character model of Aki was conceived as being the world’s first digital actress, with plans for her to appear in more movies after The Spirits Within, playing different roles.
Unfortunately, the film didn’t even manage to break even at the box office, and so the newly formed Square Pictures was disbanded and merged back into Squaresoft (which is now known as Square Enix). It had a lukewarm critical reception, with some seeing it as visually stunning but not engaging on a narrative level.
Aki Ross (Ming-Na Wen) and the Deep Eyes Squad – © Colombia Pictures
Gray Edwards (Alec Baldwin) and Aki Ross (Ming-Na Wen) – © Colombia Pictures
WATCH IT FOR
The haunting sci-fi atmosphere, the revolutionary computer-generated characters and the vocal performances.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children – © Square Enix
SEQUEL?
No sequel was produced, but, like the video game series, this was the norm apart from a few exceptions. Final FantasyX was followed by Final FantasyX-2 and Final FantasyXIII was followed by Final FantasyXIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. A collection of games followed Final Fantasy VII, and a number of titles such as Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics were set in the land of Ivalice.
This wasn’t the last Final Fantasy movie to be produced, however. Arguably the most popular title in the series, Final Fantasy VII, received a CG movie sequel in 2005, called Final Fantasy VII:Advent Children. In it, Cloud and his companions had to deal with a mysterious plague-like disease and a trio of strangers who sought to resurrect the malicious being, Sephiroth. Likewise, the 2016 title Final Fantasy XV was given a movie in the form of Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, whose events run concurrent...
