Belief

by Alex Weitzman

It's true - General Hein is the embodiment of excessive, unthinking force. A quick solution giver, but one who cannot foresee beyond the solution. The lazy man who must work twice as hard.

But there's more to General Hein, isn't there? It was something I realized in thinking about the casting of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Every actor was perfectly suited for his or her role, right? Who better for wise-ass one-liners than Steve Buscemi? For world-weary intelligence than Donald Sutherland? For strong loyalty than Ving Rhames?

So, then, is James Woods known for brute force? Of course not. There's something more to Hein than merely his unstoppable revenge, although that is the main antagonism to Aki's quest. Notice how quick he dismisses the Gaia theory. He doesn't even remotely accept Dr. Sid's work, nor will he believe a thing Aki says after her alien infection is revealed.

THIS is James Woods' true speciality: cynicism. The great sarcastic actor plays the villain to full unbelieving scope. General Hein is so sure of himself that no other person or force could ever make him doubt himself. Only the realization of the death he caused when his snafu regarding the New York shield retraction made him blink, and even then, he brushed it off as necessary. And only the Zeus' explosion would ever have made him realize that maybe he wasn't being so smart.

Can you imagine what will occur after the ending of the movie, now that the phantom planet's Gaia quite visibly was healed by the eight spirits? People will believe. And Dr. Sid and Aki will have eliminated the excessive cynicism among those who disliked the Gaia theory. This is Sakaguchi's message - a man who shoots at the Earth doesn't think it won't cause some damage? Hadn't he ever wondered what made life work? And if it existed within the planet?

In fact, broaden that. This might be a constant theme of the Final Fantasy series as a whole. Doesn't the hero always need to realize a truth before he can effectively face the villain? Cynicism once more. Hironobu Sakaguchi may have one more message for the world - that too much cynicism is a blinder for the mind. I'm a cynic for many things, but I know too well that it can make one insensitive to what is really truth already. There's truly no harm in having something to believe in. (If you think I'm getting religious here, I'm actually the exact opposite, as a complete agnostic. But that doesn't mean I don't believe in other things outside of God/gods.)

Boy, it makes one glad they got James Woods for that role in the first place.