Ranked #34

Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children: Complete

Most people probably remember back in the day when the original Final Fantasy Advent Children (FFAC) movie came out and they watched it. Animation was superb but it just didn't piece together like it should have. Heaps of holes throughout the movie made it hard for non-die-hard fans to enjoy the movie.

Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete (FFACC) is like its title says: "Complete". This movie is what the original should have been.

-STORY- 9/10
Well the story is pretty much the same as the original. However is it by far superior as all major holes have finally been filled. Popular questions arisen when watching the original movie include: "Why is this character here?" or "What just happened?" or "Who the heck is this guy?"

In FFACC most of these questions have finally been answered. Instead of a character appearing somewhere, the movie actually shows them getting there (or planning to). Instead of vague events that are hard to understand, these events are now in detail and explained properly. Instead of random characters appearing out of the blue and becoming main characters, we get to see their background. Denzel's background for example is now explained and hes not just some random kid who lives with Tifa for no reason.

There are now enough explanations in the movie for a person who has never played Final Fantasy 7 to actually understand what is going on. Although having played the game would still be recommended.

Only major flaw that remains in plot now is that Cid, Barret, Yuffie and the rest of the gang were once again very abruptly introduced. (Also a minus on characters)

-ART- 10/10
Question: What could be more amazing than the animation in FFAC?
Answer: FFAC animation in HD.
Not only was all of FFACC animation remastered to look spectacular in HD, but with the addition of many new scenes which were made with current-day technology, the movie is once again the top of the top in the animation industry. Anyone who doesn't watch this movie in HD has no idea what they are missing out on.

-SOUND- 10/10
The sound effects in the movie were perfect.
The music was once again perfect as expected of Final Fantasy music.
Dialogue was great. Cloud finally has more than 2 lines of dialogue as do all other characters. Only problem is that Red XIII still has a single line of dialogue at the end of the movie. (Possibly done for the novelty effect)

-CHARACTER- 9/10
Finally characters have been explained properly. Denzel is no longer some random kid who teleported into the world of Final Fantasy. All the characters have more screentime now. Zack now plays a larger role which should satisfy Crisis Core fans.

Major flaw in characters was that the three "baddies" seemed to have had a very vaguely explained entry into the movie. Still was an improvement over the original movie however.

-ENJOYMENT- 10/10
Being the big Final Fantasy fan that I am, I very much enjoyed this movie. Anyone who isn't particularly interested in Final Fantasy would likely still find this movie quite enjoyable though.

-OVERALL- 9/10
This movie was exactly what the orignal movie should have been. Most flaws have been erased and there is plenty of new material to satisfy anyone who has already seen the original movie. A must-watch for all Final Fantasy fans and is highly recommended to everyone else!

Notes:
-FFACC has roughly 30 minutes of additional content compared to the original movie. The location of the new content is not all bunched up but rather spread throughout the entire movie.
-All scenes have been remastered to look great in HD.
-Denzel actually helps out now and isn't a waste of pixels. read more

HOLY FUCK.

That's all that needs to be said.

Let's break it down...

Story: They improved the story a lot, it filled in little gaps everywhere, I really liked knowing how Reno & Rude got over on that side of the brigde before they blew it up. Now I know.

Art: Blu mother fucking Ray. I couldn't even begin. They went farther than I would have to recreate this movie, it's more than a "remaster" the whole things is a fucking REMAKE. That final fight was awe-fucking-some.

Sound: It's essentially the same as the last, there were improvements, and I noticed a few new songs, however, it HAS been a while since I viewed the original.

Character: It's what you would expect from Final Fantasy, however, it's not really any different than the original AC. The random sick girl got a slightly bigger role this time though, and Denzel seems to be more filled in this time. Good points really.

Enjoyment: This movie is the cake of delight. If you aren't into Final Fantasy though, you probably want to stay away. If you haven't played or you don't understand Final Fantasy VII's story, then as with the original AC, you might not enjoy this. But if you enjoyed AC, you'll fucking love this.

Overall: This movie IS worth the time to watch. When you compare the lengths, you see there's only 20 minutes of extra footage; however, they've reanimated scenes, rewrote and totally revised the whole movie. [Note: It is the same movie, story-wise, and there are scenes that are still the same, I'm just a 'little' mindblown at the moment.] It's worth owning both verions, as I missed Cloud elbowing the door at Reno's comment, but you'll find that there are things that'll quench your thirst for Final Fantasy. read more