Jeri Jacquin

Arriving on 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and Digital from director Hironobu Sakaguchi and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is FINAL FANTASY: The Spirits Within.

Earth is being taken over by aliens called Phantoms who are killing the Gaia spirit of those living due to an infection. Now cities have to be protected with barriers to keep the Phantoms out. Unexpectedly, Dr. Aki Ross (Ming-Na) has become infected along with Dr. Sid (Donald Sutherland) and they are working to find a get rid of them.

Bringing together eight spirits they can get energy patterns of lifeforms. Out to find these spirits, Aki is in New York City and has to be rescued by Captain Edwards (Alec Baldwin). Bringing his Deep Eyes Squad including Whittaker (Ving Rhames), Fleming (Steve Buscemi) and Corporal Proudfoot (Peri Gilpin), they all return to their barrier city.

Having to meet with General Hein (James Woods), they learn he wants to use the Zeus to take out the Phantoms. Dr. Sid protests knowing it might be possible that the Earth Gaia would be in danger. Buying time, Aki tells everyone she has been infected and its only the spirits keeping her alive, but Hein thinks she is under the Phantoms control.

Using his powers of persuasion, Hein manages to open the barrier and, of course, the Phantoms come pouring in but not before he escapes leaving the rest to fight. Aboard the space station, Hein does the one thing that destroys and puts the Phantom Gaia in the open. What he never counted on is the contact between the Phantoms and Aki and the potential of helping everyone.

Ming-Na as Aki lends her voice to a very strong character who quickly sees what she is up against. Wanting to help everyone, she must take on the dangerous few who think no one will stop them. Sutherland as Sid lends support to Aki as well as making the dangers known of using the cannon in such a delicate climate. Hearing such a memorable voice is fantastic in this animated film.

Baldwin, Rhames, Buscemi and Gilpin are the Deep Eyes Squad, and they are not afraid to get in the deep. The Phantoms are not making their life easy but that’s what they do, take on the tough assignments while trying to keep those in power from making it any more difficult.

Woods as Hein gets to be as nasty as he wants to be with the power to make their lives difficult because of what he wanted to do. Aiming the Zeus cannon is his power play, and he will do what is necessary to make his play. Woods makes a good bad guy as well!

Sony Pictures Animation produces a variety of animated entertainment for audiences around the world. The visually groundbreaking and critically acclaimed SPIDER-MAN: Into the Spider-Verse is the studio’s latest release, and the winner of the 2019 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Other amazing films include THE SMURFS, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS and HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.sonypicturesanimation.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

The Bluray Special Features include Two Feature-Length Commentaries, Co-Director Moto Sakakibara, Sequence Supervisor Hiroyuki Hayashida, Set & Props Lead Artist Tatsuro Maruyama, Phantom Supervisor Takao Noguchi, Animation Director Andy Jones, Editor Christopher Capp, and Staging Director Tani Kunitake.

Also, Joke Outtakes, Matte Art Explorations, Original Opening, The Gray Project, Interactive Documentary: The Making of Final Fantasy, Theatrical Trailer and More!

Coming from a 1987 role playing video game, the Final Fantasy Franchise has made its way through such technology transformations and incarnations. I remember my sons being very excited every time something new was added and I became more involved seeing the first animated film.

Created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, it is an amazing mixture of fantasy, science and uses different mythologies to create the worlds. Starting with Nintendo, then to Playstation and Xbox, Square Enix expanded into CGI with films. There is also cards, novels and manga to feed into the love of Final Fantasy.

FINAL FANTASY: The Spirit Within is a stunning film with his concept and animation that give the story a richness that fans will love. What brings all of that together is the vocal talents of Ming-Na, Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Peri Gilpin, James Woods and Donald Sutherland. That is important when bringing such a rich story to ‘life’.

FINAL FANTASY: The Spirit Within gives fans one hundred and six minutes of high intensity and stunning CGI. Gather up and prepare to see how saving the Earth is done!

In the end – they are on a mission to save Earth!

Comments

comments