Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

"Worth the $30 you'll spend on it"

First off, there are a lot of reviews here that group around 8 and 3. I can definitely see where those people are coming from, and I thought long and hard about buying this movie after reading the mixed reviews it got, but in the end, I'm happy I have it.

Now, I'm pretty sure my review's going to get lost in the shuffle of the many other reviews posted by the other members here at Gamefaqs, but to those of you who chose to read this, I'll do my best.

I'm not going to give a number score to all the aspects, partially because I like to go against what everyone else does, partially because I don't like giving number reviews (a 7 is average for some, above average for others, and I even know some people who wont even look at a game that didn't get above a 9). Basically, the 9 I gave this is a very good score from me, since I give very, very few 10's, whenever I review something anywhere. I liked this a lot, and that's all you really need to know about my score.

There's no way I can go on not talking about the action sequences much longer, so I'll mention them first. The fighting in this movie is phenomenal. It's got everything that a good action-based CGI film should. It's good looking, it's smooth (even the shifts between normal speed (which is ridiculously fast) and slow motion which I'll go into more later, but not much later), and it's got the participants doing things that would never be possible if there were actual people in it. The bit about it being good looking is pretty self explanatory, but the mention of the slow motion probably got at least one of the people reading this curious. Most of the fights take place at blazing speeds. This is really cool and all, but a little hard to follow at times. Square, being generous as it is, has provided us, it's loyal fans, casual moviewatchers, FFVII fanatics, and friends of loyal fans/FFVII fanatics who are being made to watch this by their friend, who is watching it for the 8th time today, and has decided that you should see it too (this also is for those of you who's friend has only seen it 6 times so far today, but plans on making up for lost time by not sleeping) with the occasional slow motion sequence. By slow motion though, I mean slow in comparison to the rest, so basically it's now visible, and you know what's going on. Some people didn't like it that much, but personally, I think it works well. That's just me though, so you'll really have to decide for yourself. I dont think it'll make or break the movie for you, but I can see how it might be annoying. I also mentioned it having things not possible with real actors. This is something I always look for in animated or CGI films. There is no way this would have worked with a person playing Cloud or Tifa or really anybody for that matter. Even the people who don't do anything really couldn't be anything other than Computer images because of how much else needs to be. Square really takes advantage of the fact that they are no longer bound by any sort of physical laws or boundaries. To those of you who are ridiculously picky about things and say "that could never happen" or "C'mon! People cant jump that high!" and aren't willing to not do that unless it makes sense to (ie. you're watching a movie that's supposed to be realistic but isn't) I ask, what the **** are you doing watching a CGI movie and if you frequent this site, I can assume you're playing video games too. If you want something realistic, go watch a romantic comedy, or a documentary.

So, we've established that I love the action sequences. How about the rest. The plot's not killer, but it'll do. I'm not going to complain. As long as I can see Cloud and Vincent and the rest running around again (and I'm not playing FFVII for my (number of replays omitted due to largeness) time, I'll settle for whatever. Lets be honest though, I don't think anyone really expected a great plot here. Square's brilliance in creating stories comes with the time they can take in building their world and your exploring it. Also, by playing as the characters, you get a very different feel for it than if you're just watching them. The early twist involving Sin in FFX (don't worry, I'm not going to spoil it for you. It's not too far into the game, so play a little and find out. You'll know it when you see it) works because you feel as confused as Tidus does at this point. Even though you aren't used to the world you've been thrown into, you've just been told something that's immensely huge, and even though you dont freak out as much right then and there as you might have if you found out later, It plays with your thoughts as you progress, and it's the length and depth of the game that allows Square to do that. A 101 minuet movie just cant do the same thing to you as a game that you could spend weeks straight playing (longer if you're human and aren't playing in a bathroom, receiving all your nutrition via an IV and for whatever reason don't need sleep).

Ok, so here's my little other problem. Square did so well with the mouth movements, they move perfectly to the Japanese, but when you switch the voice over to English, it's sort of weird. I can live with it, but it's a little annoying. There's no way around it.

So, for the story and the little bit about the mouth movement, and the fact that any flaw will lower something from a 10 to a 9 in my book (since a 10/10 should mean it's perfect shouldn't it?), I think my 9/10 is well deserved, and most definitely well earned. I tip my Cloud Strife wig (C'mon, admit it, you know you all have one too) to you Square Enix. Here's hoping for another movie (maybe FFX this time?).

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/06