Spirits Within was technically a marvel. It's storyline sucked.

It's plot was designed for Japanese audiences only, and it limited it's widespread appeal. As someone who is interested in Japanese culture, I sat there thru parts of it going "Huh?". It's story made very little sense unless you were very familiar with the theme behind it.

It's like a Japanese RPG. It may have one hell of a quirky storyline, have fans, and be a niche title, and that's great for a video game. A movie costing over $200 million, and distributing thru the world, not so much. It failed terribly at the box office.

The average movie goer, who might have gone simply because of the hype surrounding it, and the fact that it was the first photorealistic full CGI movie, would have come out thinking "What the hell was that?". It starts off like you have missed a movie before it. You feel lost in the beginning, and it doesn't do anything else to help that later on. So, movie failure was inevitable.

It also bankrupt Square. If it weren't for Sony coming in and saving them, Square would have closed up. They spent tons on it, and the return wasn't even half, or hell even a third, I think.