I think we can agree that there is pretty much no relation between this movie and Final Fantasy (besides there being a Cid, and it's even spelled wrong; oh and I heard theres a chocobo somewhere, whoopee, thanks Square), so why attach the Final Fantasy name to it? It's hurting square on all counts.

The gaming-illiterate have no idea what aa RPG is. When they hear 'game' they think about fighters and shooters, they have NO idea that there are many games that are MUCH more then that.

It's hurting the movie because most critics simply equate FF to the likes of Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat, and it hurts the games because now people will think of Final Fantasy being more plotless, mindless violence and action.

Now we hear reviews and previews such as "based on an 11 year old game (its not 'based' on anything)", or "The plot line is not a recap of any previous 'FF' (thinks he's hip, though he did get this right) title, but does play by the rules of most sci-fi action games (arghh!!! they're FANTASY RPGs) — with harrowing chases on land and air in wild-looking vehicles, hideous monsters to conquer and important artifacts to collect before the clock runs out — and we're ALL DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION!!!", and "Now, if you had a control pad (like from the video game from which this movie was spawned) you could help her do this fairly quickly."

The "dearth of character development, the stilted dialogue and plot holes" are less likely because "Joystick twitching gamers (what games use joysticks nowadays anyway???) are willing to make a big leap of faith between a grandiose plot line sketched in their instruction manual and the shallow, slam-bang action adventure they actually experience on screen" and more likely because Hironobu isn't used to making a story less then 40 hours long.

This popular perception of ALL games as mindless action and violence is causing them to see even the best, most thoughtful games as the same, but before, they had never heard about those games, and could not therefore write them off. That is, until Square pictures (how are they related to SquareSoft anyway???) slapped FINAL FANTASY on an ACTION MOVIE! At the VERY least, they could have NEVER mentioned it being related to the games. Or better yet, make a Final Fantasy movie, with moogles, chocobos, swords, and magic; instead of slapping a beloved name on something fans of the series can't relate to. There is NO Earth in Final Fantasy, nor are there guns everywhere, or aliens everywhere, or spaceships everywhere.

Ultimatley, this movie is probably going to be what sinks Square. Square, the ONLY game company who can sell MILLIONS of copies of every game it makes and STILL have trouble breaking even. This thing cost $140 million dollars. Even if it had gotten the best reviews ever it would have trouble breaking anywhere near even, now its being dumped on like Pearl Harbor. While any company would slow down when it cant break even, and seek to maximize profits, Square keeps on going full-out, spending more and more, and this looks to be whats gonna do them in.

Other Notes:

-Why wasn't Nobuo Uematsu chosen to compose the score? Oh wait, that would have meant actually making this movie have something to do with the game...