Rating: 
Summary: So much potential, but wasted...
Review: There have been many reviews about this movie that have ranged from excellent to shoddy, but mine will fall in the middle for a couple of reasons I will get to. I'll tell you what I found cool and what I found to be lacking. First off, I saw this movie in a digital projection theater. The colors were mind-blowing to say the least. I was constantly losing track of the story because I couldn't take my focus off the spectacular animation. The animation is so rich and textured...let's just say that you have never seen anything like it-real or fabricated. It truly is amazing. The voice casting is perfect. No slackers anywhere. The idea for the story is very innovative, not just some traditional sci-fi retread. But (and there always is a but), the actual dialogue and character development are lacking. Baldwin sometimes seems like a romantic distraction for Ming Na. Is Woods' character supposed to be a sympathetic bad guy because he talks about his family before he commits his bad deeds? Come on, I know 13-year-olds who don't fall for that. The question I was left with was: "Why invest all this money in voice talent, if you give them nothing to work with?" It's a testament to the actors that they were able to pull so much out of the dialogue considering what they had to work with. I don't want to give too much of the plot away, so I won't say anything else about it. ...I enjoyed all the characters for the most part, but I wish there was more to enjoy. I know sometimes that character development is lost because the studios want to get to the next big action event, but when people don't have anything invested in the characters, it just becomes a lot noise. It's too bad because, like I said, there was plenty of sources to draw upon.Bottom line: The best animation to date, but sorely lacking character and plot development.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Stunning!
Review: This movie is truly amazing. It took Square Pictures 4 years and millions to make this CGI masterpiece and you see every bit of it on the screen. The story itself is first rate as well. Truly the next step in film making technology. This is a "must see" for anyone who wants to view a good film. Buy it and you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding visuals; lacking emotion
Review: Being a fan of the Final Fantasy franchise, I saw this opening day at the theater not knowing what to expect, other than gorgeous cinematography. To say the least that's all that I got. I was disappointed by the overall plot and acting involved. In fact, it reminded me of Titan A.E. except with a bigger budget. i.e. Earth is invaded by aliens, humans flee, humans must find the "thing" to get rid of the aliens, humans win, end of movie. Okay, so that may be the basis for a dozen other sci-fi movies, but that's my point exactly. Don't get me wrong, the visuals were outstanding, surpassing any form of computer animation to this day, but the characters weren't really compelling and neither was the plot. This franchise has a huge following world wide, selling millions of copies(video games)upon each release, yet it still bombed at the box office. The disappointment for me was the fact that the movie strayed too far from its successful roots. It was all sci-fi and no "fantasy" whatsoever. This series, now on its way to the 11th incarnation, has always been based on "fantasy" elements. I'm talking about things like mythical monsters, magic, swords, wizards, airships, and chocobos(true fans will know the last one). Things that this movie did not involve, yet every single one of its games have. In any case, I gave the movie 2 stars for its mediocrity, plus 1 more for being an exceptional DVD pacage. I have to admit, they are packing a lot of extras into this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: The Future Of Movies
Review: I saw the trailer....and my first thought was: Well, ok, yet another animated movie. I followed the digital trends since Tron (remember the good 'ole days...?), A bugs's life, Ants...., Schrek and others... so what?
As a SF-fan i went to see the movie in a theatre near me.. (!)
10 minutes into the film i had really forgotten it was an computer animated feature film: completely absorbed by both the story and the realistic, yet not 'unbelievable' action. After the film however a sheer frightening though crossed my mind: Thinking about the (near) future when this kind of technology can be(will be!)used to produce not only movies but, and this may worry a bunch of people, 'all' kinds of 'virtual' presence....be it fictional or so called 'documentry' or 'enhanced' real live presentation... Anyway: this Final Fantasy film remains an achievement, both in style, content and computer generated animation.
Rating: 
Summary: Final Fantasy?
Review: Wow, this movie really had NOTHING to do with the video games. The only thing that was the same was Dr. Sid, and he's really not that great of a character. The plot was needlessly complicated, the characters were irritaition, and there was very little action. The only reason to see this movie is for the effects, and I mean that. It's really got pretty cool gadgets and some cool death effects, but that's about it. Let me summarize, the plot SUCKS, the effects rock, and for that alone, I'm thinking of buying it.
Rating: 
Summary: If you like Sci-Fi...
Review: So, this film got something of a mixed review at the box office. Okay, maybe it just got panned by a lot of critics. I still think it's a great movie. Certainly, if you're the type of person who plays videogames and shamelessly drools at some of today's gorgeous in-game cut-scenes, you'll feel like you've gone to heaven. However, this is not just a movie for fan-boys. I thought it was a great addition to the Sci-Fi genre, and it's rare that we get anything like that from a japanese narrative perspective outside of the relatively closed world of Anime.
I thought the voice acting was excellent. At times both humorous and dramatic. Sometimes humorous in dramatic moments (but then, it wouldn't be Square if they took themselves 100% seriously, all of the time.)
If nothing else, this movie represents what the next stage of film-making could be. We've seen great uses of CG characters in films like Toy Story and Shrek (and poor uses in Star Wars), but never quite like this before. Watch it, get properly blown away by what you see, and pray that the studios take a chance and make more movies like this.
Rating:
Summary: Very underrated.
Review: A spectacular, underrated film that gambled on the sophistication of North American audiences and lost. The story, the visuals, the music, the voice acting: it all works here. Earning special kudos are of course the CGI work and overall visual effects, which are simply mind-blowing. And if there's one tiny negative in the whole thing, it's that Ming-Na's voice acting for the lead character is the weakest in an ensemble of incredible voice actors. But that's it. Bottom line: this breakthrough film, giving us an incredible glimpse at an exciting future in visual arts and entertainment, belongs in your DVD collection, period. Thank you, Square, for the corporate courage to put major bucks on the line and offer something truly different and creative and wonderful in an industry that, disappointingly, seems to specialize in cookie-cutter, imitative filmmaking more every day.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliance
Review: This movie is sheer brilliance. It has revolutionized CG movies and the entire CG world. The details in the characters are extreme. The story was also gripping and action-packed.
Rating:
Summary: It's you. It can't be anyone else
Review: This movie was destined to tank at the box office. Although it is a good movie, and satisfied my high expectations. It is hardly mainstream, it has many traditional anime-like qualities that many people have a hard time swallowing. The story involves spirits of planets and mystical energies that exist all around us. This in and of itself isn't original, but the way it is presented is. The whole movie is straight-faced, there is no self-awareness or self-deprecation like a lot of anime, it is all taken seriously. This surprised me, and I liked it. The self-reference and quirky in-jokes of anime have grown tiresome to me. That lack of humor doesn't really explain the lack of box-office clout, I guess people just weren't convinced that the story would live up the animation. Also, it's named after a video game, that probably scared some people off too. Whatever people did come, were either fans of the games or were curious about the animation. The animation simply put is amazing, while the characters don't look as lifelike as people had claimed, the amount of expression is astounding. The mannerisms of a character are developed substancially and the detailed facial expressions are breathtaking. The locales where these characters reside are also beautiful, dirty, or disturbing depending on the circumstances. Squaresoft and Columbia, obviously disappointed by the lackluster performance at the box-office are supplying a magnificent DVD for the fans of the film, which of course includes me. This film will gather a larger following on video, of that I am sure, and people will come to regret not seeing the magnificent visions on the big screen where they belong.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, Bad Aftertaste
Review: Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Final Fantasy. I highly anticipated the release of this movie and was awed, as were so many others, by its stunning visuals. No CGI work to date has ever reached that level of realism and I doubt any other will be coming along in the next few years. Unfortunately, the movie failed to grab me. Forget accusations of slowness and the like, I love more than my fair share of "slow" movies, but this film didn't inspire empathy or compassion for the character's situation. For whatever reason, and I have yet to find a tangible one, I didn't worry about these people or feel anxious to find out what happens next. The movie had a beautiful story, but I think something was simply lost in the translation. It was like watching a fantastic action scene before they add in the musical score, somehow it comes off bland. So, do I think its a good movie? Yes, but not for everyone.
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