Dr. Aki Ross: Ming-Na	Ryan: Ving Rhames
Neil: Steve Buscemi	Jane: Peri Gilpin
Gray: Alec Baldwin	Doctor Sid: Donald Sutherland
General Hein: James Woods	Council Member #1: Keith David
Council Member # 2: Jean Simmons	Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi

30 Second Bottom Line: After aliens invade the earth, cities have been deserted and the population decimated. For the few humans that remain, they must find a way to survive the invasion and reclaim the earth.

Story Line: The film takes place 34 years after aliens have invaded our planet. Dr. Aki Ross (Ming-Na) has a series of recurring nightmares that help guide her in uncovering the aliens' secret agenda. On that journey, she learns the truth behind questions regarding life, death and the human soul.

There are two approaches, one is to use military force and the other is to find the spirits within so that the earth is not potentially destroyed in the process of trying to save it. Dr. Ross and her mentor Dr. Sid (Donald Sutherland) are strong proponents of the organic approach. They believe that all life forms have a spirit wave signature which results in death if a wave of equal and opposite force attacks it. Of the eight spirits needed, they have collected six needed to complete the wave.

Time is running out because the council that will decide which approach to use is inclined to use the weapon Zeus Cannon which could destroy the earth in the process of saving it. Dr.'s Ross and Sid are using natural approach approach, which is that of Mother Nature.

Aiding Dr. Ross is her romantic interest, Captain Gray (Alec Baldwin) and an elite band of soldiers know as The Deep Eyes. Comprising this elite force is Ryan (Ving Rhames), Neil (Steve Buscemi) and Jane (Peri Gilpin). Journeying to the heart of the alien invasion, a show down occurs at the site of the meteor crash that brought the aliens to earth.

The nemesis of Dr. Ross and Sid is General Hein (James Woods) who proposes use of the Zeus Cannon. Even if that weapon does not destroy the earth, Dr. Ross fears that it might actually give birth to new aliens.

Tell Me More About It: I've not played the game Final Fantasy, so that may be part of why the movie did not hit a home run for me. That said, I do believe that a film must stand on it's own to merit three stars, which generally means a recommendation is given without stipulations.

The look of the film is outstanding with respect to the characters appearing to be so life like. Some people will think the characters are real actors with heavy make up, rather than them being 100% animated. There were a few times when the lip synch seemed to not be as crisp as it should be and that was somewhat of a surprise to me. When you are looking at humans' talk rather than characters as we saw in Shrek, we expect just a little more. Since the film cost over $115 million to make, I'm sure that they had long since gone past the budget of the concept of more.

Some of the battles seemed to be pointless and the aliens appeared to at times kill the humans and other times not, for no apparent reason. Although the enemy creatures are menacing, they never really appeared to be as bad as they were meant to be. Possibly it was because they looked so strange. I would describe them as a combination of the being in The Abyss and gigantic flying eels with big jaws and sharp teeth.

As the story unfolds, there is a considerable amount of mumbo jumbo logic about the aliens, nature and how battles would be won or loss.

In spite of the things I did not like about the film, I want to reiterate that it may be right on the money for experienced users of the game. The possibilities of what can be done with the technology developed for this film are endless. Between Sony selling more video games and having the R&D paid for this in future films, The Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within should pay handsome dividends for both film studios and the viewing audience.

Ming-Na: One Night Stand	Ving Rhames: Baby Boy
Steve Buscemi: Ghost World	Peri Gilpin: Spring Forward
Alec Baldwin: Pearl Harbor	Donald Sutherland: Panic
James Woods: Scary Movie 2	Keith David: Requiem for a Dream
Jean Simmons: The Robe	Hironobu Sakaguchi: Final Fantasy Games