Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)—A Disappointing Debut for The Very First CGI Actress

It must be my lucky day because I’m once again talking about a video game franchise that doesn’t know the meaning “final”. That’s right folks, it’s Final Fantasy! For those who don’t know, Final Fantasy is one of those franchises where every installment tells its own story. And fortunately, since this movie is an original film and not based on any of the games (unlike a certain Final Fantasy movie), you can go into it without being a Final Fantasy fan. The bad news? This movie’s entire existence is a stain on the Final Fantasy legacy.

Dr. Aki Ross (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) is plagued with the same dream every night. A dream where she stands on an alien planet as an invasion takes place. While on a mission on Old New York City, she is extracted by a tactical squad led by Captain Gray Edwards (voiced by Alec Baldwin) when they’re surrounded by phantoms. It’s revealed that she has some history with Captain Gray. She meets with her mentor Dr. Sid (voiced by Donald Sutherland) where she finds out that the phantoms can be defeated by gathering eight spirits to release an energy blast. Dr. Sid proposes this idea to the leadership council against General Hein (voiced by James Woods). The council accepts this proposal and Dr. Ross, Captain Edwards and his team travel to Earth to find the spirits while Hein schemes at convincing the council to destroy the phantoms with the powerful Zeus Cannon.

So, this movie was special because it was going to revolutionize the acting industry by introducing the very first CGI actress. And who would that actress be, you may ask? Why none other than Aki Ross! She was supposed to be an actress that will take on the roles of other characters (despite being a character herself). If you ask me, this was a very revolutionary, albeit unoriginal idea. We’ve seen Bugs Bunny play different characters in Looney Toons films, or Barbie being credited as herself in every animated Barbie movie. But unlike the aforementioned characters, Aki Ross was designed to look as human as possible for this concept to be taken seriously and not just for kids’ media. Now why didn’t Aki Ross become the next biggest name in Hollywood? Simple. This movie flopped. Hard. As in it grossed a paltry $85 million on a budget of $137 million.

Now let’s talk about the writing. It’s nearly non-existent. Characters will spout exposition at a moment’s notice. For example, Aki Ross and Captain Edwards keep referencing to give us insight on why they’re acting so cold and even openly hostile towards each other. But since we have no idea what they’re talking about, we don’t give a shit. It’s nearly as egregious as Anakin and Obi-Wan’s notorious elevator scene in this travesty. And the other characters? They’re not even characters. They’re just stock NPCs (non-playable characters) with one dimensional personalities. I couldn’t even remember their names, that’s how forgettable they are. So imagine my complete apathy when they die in the second act. Hell, even our main cast doesn’t seem to care, as Aki Ross and Captain Edwards start making out in the following scene after witnessing their deaths.

The story itself isn’t much better. I had a difficult time keeping track of what was even happening for the majority of the film. It certainly doesn’t help that the first half keeps referencing Aki Ross’ confusing dream over and over again. But I should be thankful that her dream wasn’t nearly as weird as mine. The last thing I want to see is Aki Ross fighting George Washington on Ketamine. The only element that makes The Spirts Within remotely a Final Fantasy product is its themes on life and death. It asks, what happens to the soul once it leaves the body? I guess that’s why the bad guys are glowing orange leviathans who kill their enemies via ripping out their souls.

One thing Final Fantasy is well-known for is their unique visual style. We see elements of cyberpunk and/or steampunk blended with a dystopian post-modern setting amongst other aesthetic styles. Really taking the concept of fantasy to new heights. But in The Spirits Within? Everything just looks like a generic, lifeless sci-fi set. Even when we get to Old New York City (seriously, is there a “New” New York City?), it just looks like your run-of-the-mill zombie apocalypse setting. Minus the zombies and plus the weird, glowing apparitions. Would it have killed them to add an over-stylized character with crazy hair wielding an unrealistically-proportioned weapon? Or maybe a time-travelling villain attempting to alter the events of the future?

This movie could’ve been truly great. Even though this movie came out in 2001, the CGI still ages beautifully. You can see every stand of hair, every pore of skin on the characters. And it would’ve been interesting to see what the first CGI actress would’ve been and what that holds for our future. With the increasing development of A.I. today, that possibility grows closer to reality with every waking day. However, since this film was so bad and barely made back over half of its budget, all and any plans of Aki Ross taking the world by storm was cut short. But bland characters, a messy plot and backwards writing and storytelling all contribute to this movie’s failing. Perhaps one day, we may just see a successful rendition of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. And the ramifications of the world’s first successful CGI actor.