Final Fantasy
First, let me expound on the fantastic quality of the computer-generated characters. The "actors" in this film are all 100% computer generated, just like Shrek. However, unlike Shrek, the realism factor is set way high on these, complete to showing skin imperfections and pores. They finally have gotten computer generated hair to look natural, too. However, there is still something... some hard-to-define element... that never lets you forget that these are not real people.
Some may call it the absence of a soul. Or perhaps it is just that these look so much like people, that our deep, hard-wired brain functions are activated and tells our primitive self that these "people" are not from our "tribe", based on subtle psychological cues that are missing from the animated actors. Whatever the reason, there is an odd undercurrent throughout the whole movie that keeps you from fully identifying with the characters.
Give it a few more years, however, and you may see the digital likeness of Tom Hanks, licensed and repackaged into a series of animated features, without the actor ever having to set foot on a soundstage ever again. I think that will be a bad day, indeed.
As for the movie itself, it was very enjoyable. The storyline was a bit hard to follow at times, but the "ghosts" were way cool, and would probably give the youngsters nightmares. Visually it was stunning and worth seeing for that reason alone. But even though the actors were all animated, you may find yourself halfway identifying with them despite their absence of "soul", or whatever. We have an "Alien" type of storyline going, complete with the brave soldiers who lay down their lives for others while battling the big, bad monsters.
And bad these monsters are. They resemble the worst attributes of a squid, spider and lobster, all rolled into one, semi-transparent and hungry for your soul. Oh, and by the way... they can go through walls... and floors... etc.
Nicely done with suspense and horror, and extra credit for the cool technology.
Chills...
Scuttles
