Ranked #201

Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children

I've never actually played FFVII. I know, blasphemy, right? But it's impossible to live on the Internet and not know these characters, and the animation looked so pretty, how could I resist?

(This review contains spoilers for the FFVII game, but not the actual movie.)

STORY - I recall looking up FFVII's backstory and plot once or twice on Wikipedia, but most of what I know is based on sniplets of casual conversation, fanart, random other things on the Internet, and the (bastardized) versions of the characters' stories in Kingdom Hearts. That said, Advent Children's story was mostly "Wait, what?" to me. Even for movies based off other media, it's always best to have enough cohesiveness for it to make sense to newcomers and strangers to the original; to that end, Advent Children definitely failed. Explanations seemed abbreviated and choppy, and characters did little to clarify their intentions or motivations. At times, it seemed like they were trying too hard to connect it to the game, as if people didn't already know what it was based off of. (Seriously, how many flashbacks of dead Aerith do we need?) And despite that, I hear from the diehards that the movie's story connected poorly to the game anyway.

The sickness is poorly presented and explained; its cure similarly so. A good number of scenes also seemed like they were there for the sole purpose of fanservice, rather than actual story progression. The same could be said for the inclusion of many of the characters -- they served no real purpose, but I'm sure all the fanboys and girls in the audience were screaming their heads off, and that's what really seems to count with a movie like this.

CHARACTER - Poorly developed, all of them! If they were even developed at all! Cloud seemed like he spoke no more than five sentences for the entire movie, and none of them were particularly insightful or informative. Why was he doing anything he was doing? Got me. Because he felt guilty? Because he felt obliged? Because he had nothing else to do? Most of his support characters were either mindlessly cheerful or vacantly stoic; none seemed to have any real depth. The children, as well, did not seem to have any substance -- they were mostly objects to be protected or to be captured and mind-controlled. They weren't people at all.

Reno and Rude provided some humorous antics and were entertaining to watch, but beyond that, it's the same thing for the most part. I suppose they have the excuse of working for an organization for their motivation, but we never really see anything beyond that simple exterior. Kadaj and his brothers were just the same -- one-dimensional characters with tunnel vision. What exactly they were trying to accomplish always remained vague, and why exactly did Kadaj manifest as Sephiroth when he came into contact with Jenova? Well, shit, I don't know, but it's probably just to give Sephy some screentime because otherwise he's dead, right? The entire movie was built around that final fight. There is no other greater purpose or story. Advent Children is a 100% fanservice movie.

ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - Now, this is where all my harsh words end, pretty much. The animation was beautiful. Beautiful! Stunning! The details in all the renders -- backgrounds, characters, clothing, weapons... everything was gorgeous, moved smoothly, and integrated well with its surroundings. The special effects were great, too. This movie is full of so much eye candy, your brain will explode. Even the simple things, like the inverted forest, or our five minute long scene of a cell phone falling through water -- all of it looked beautiful. I mean, come on, things have to look pretty darn amazing for me to be entertained by a falling cell phone for that long.

MUSIC - Another flawless aspect of this movie is the music. From the very first track, I was completely in love with Advent Children's score. A collection of different composers did the music for the movie and each and every one of them did an absolutely amazing job with every single track on this soundtrack. Every melody fit its scene, and every scene was so much more emotional or exciting because of it. The piano thrashing for "Those Who Fight" makes me wish I could play better. The guitars in "Black Water" get me totally pumped every single time. This soundtrack is also definitely one you could listen to over and over again, independent of the movie, and I'm sure that many others who haven't even seen the movie could enjoy the music here. The vocal track, "CALLING," at the end of the movie is also pretty nice, and I thought it was a great way to conclude it all.

VOICE ACTING - I've seen both the sub and dub. The sub was amazing. All the voices fit their roles wonderfully. Kadaj and Reno in particular had very memorable performances. The dub was much better than I thought it would be; really, the only real problem with the dub is Cid's hick accent, Yuffie's annoying voice, and the fact that Tifa's "zuruzuru zuruzuru" definitely did not translate well because we silly English-speakers don't have a sound effect for "dragging." Other than that, I couldn't have wanted more from the dub. An identical voice cast was used for all the FFVII characters in Kingdom Hearts II, so the voices were familiar. This also impressed me since the same was true for the Japanese version. What impressed me further was the fact that both Reno and Axel were voiced by the same actor in Japanese, and the same is true in English (ironically for Axel, his voice is also the Human Torch). Those little similarities are what make the fangirls happy. Moving on though, Steve Blum as Vincent Valentine? Totally awesome.

OVERALL - I think it's the general consensus all across the board that no one watched this movie for its brilliant storytelling and character development. This was an eyecandy movie for fans to squeal over. Really, the best way to watch this might be in Japanese with the subtitles off. That way, you can play ignorant to the bad stuff, but you still get all the brilliance of the voice acting, all of the amazing music, and of course, all of the visual madness that is this Advent Children. Enjoy.
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There aren't many video game players that I know of who haven't heard of Final Fantasy, and there aren't any RPG maniacs that I've met that haven't heard of Final Fantasy VII. The seventh installment of the never-ending Final Fantasy series is the most famous, and for a while I had no idea why, since I had never played the game. When the sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was announced, I had no idea what it was to be about, but since I was consumed with Final Fantasy X, X-2 and the Kingdom Hearts series, I decided to give the movie a shot.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children takes place two years after the events of the game. It follows Cloud, who is still mourning the death of Aerith/Aeris and a trio of mini Sephiroth clone things as they try to obtain "Mother" and wreak destruction on the entire planet. Goody.

Story -

Well, I can say that anyone who has no idea about the events of Final Fantasy VII might be confused on the events and people that are mentioned, or it could be just my mother, but it's fairly easy to keep up with, so long as you're paying attention. While I did enjoy the story, it just seemed a little like your typical villian wants to destory the world because of some personal reason and hero, or slight anti-hero in Cloud's case, goes and takes down villian for some personal reason, so that took away from the inital enjoyment.
Score - 8

Animation -

...Dude, this is Square Enix we're talking here. Square Enix the video game company. Do I have to say anything else? ....Fine, I will.

Okay, the last Final Fantasy movie, The Spirits Within, it was a flop, why? Well, I think that it looked too darn REAL, and when you're making something animated or with CGI (that's it right?), you don't want it to look real! The whole point is for it not to look real, if it's going too look real then you're better off using real actors. When AC came around they learned that you can't make them look too real. Now, while the characters can be mistaken for real people, they still hold that animated air around them (it's all in the hair). And that, my dears, makes for some awesome animation. Satisfied?

Score - 10

Sound -

Well, the background music is well. I have the feeling that some of it are different versions of the soundtrack from the game, but again, I can't be sure. The piano compositions that play at certain points of the movie are simply beautiful, particularly the one, Cloud Smiles... I think that's it's name anyway. The remixed version of One-Winged Angel, is simply awesome, and it proves that you can mix a mad rock band with a orchestra. I wasn't fond of the ending song that plays during the credits (the one with the vocals), so I seldom watch the credits because of that...

I watched the dub version, and I loved it, I thought everyone's voices suited their apparent character... Kadaj sounding like a crazy boy dude, Cloud sounding like some... well, you get it, don't you? Though my mind doesn't agree with Aerith's voice...

Score - 9

Character -

Well, I'd say the characterization for this is fairly well, particularly Cloud, since because the end while he does show some acceptance with what's happened and what he's been told over and over again, he still seems like the same...stoic Cloud. Ahm. Yeah. I'll use Kadaj as an example again, he's a good character because you see him, and when he's in your mind you can't put him out of character, unless you're some rabid fangirl... But... yeah. Since this is a movie a character can't really grow in the allowed time period (I assume the movie takes place during maybe... three or four days?), so I can't say much... Unless we're talking Cloud, and we did already.

Score - 9

Enjoyment -

...I can say with a straight face that I enjoyed this movie. After all, you're not going to watch a movie that you don't like eighty times, now are you? I liked the actions scenes, and the animation the most... And particularly Reno... Okay, moving on.

Score - 9


All In All...

Yay! - Animation, baby! Those graphics can be synonymous with... eye candy. I think they are, too.
Nay! - Story needs to be indepth, and should maybe a little easier for the... non fans to follow... Eheheh...

Overall Score - 9 read more