Last week, I got to watch Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and I was quite impressed by the quality of the animation. It’s definitely a big leap towards the creation of virtual actors who, on screen, could be indistinguishable from real, live-action characters. (Think about it: long after Sean Connery or William Shatner are gone, we can re-create them in 3D, down to the shlurred shpeech, or the stop-start… trademark… acting!)

Finally, at the end, stupefied by the graphics (but disappointed by the script and story), I came away from the film with something like a gritty angst settling on my mood. You know that glazed feeling you get after watching a long movie, or playing a challenging computer game? Well, that same feeling was doubled from watching a computer-game-based movie.

(One thing that especially struck me was Dr. Aki Ross’ hair: it stayed soft and smooth all throughout the movie. Whether in zero-gravity, in combat with phantoms, or even newly awakened from a nightmare, her hair flowed like fine silk. Whatever shampoo and conditioner they use in the future, I want it.)

More from Rotten Tomatoes.