Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

"A beautiful yet shallow movie"

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (or AC as I will refer to it as) is the CGI movie sequel to the classic RPG hit Final Fantasy VII released on Playstation about nine years ago. I myself am an avid follower of the franchise, with the aforementioned game still ranking as one of my all-time memorable titles. But we're not here to talk about the game, we're here to talk about feature move. So I will roughly split this review into two sections, one covering the positives and the other the negatives. Firstly...

PLOT OUTLINE
Two years on from saving the world from the crazed Sephiroth, the planet is now recovering. Cloud Strife, the hero of the piece, has become consumed by guilt concerning the deaths of Aerith and Zack. Working as a delivery boy he also tries to live a life of solitude, feeling helpless to the ones he loves. However, with three ominous figures arriving in search of Jenova, not to mention a disease infecting the world by the name of Geostigma, it's not long before Cloud is forced back into action.

POSITIVES
• A treat to the eyes
The instant you witness AC you will recognize how stunning the CGI effects really are. Although I wouldn't say they are on par with Square's other movie production Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within's lifelike rendering, you will still be utterly captivated by the sumptuous texture and detail of the characters and their world.

• Musical score
The OST for AC is a fine one, blending classical pieces with rock and electronica. Of course the most renowned track there is Nobuo Uematsu's new rendition of One Winged Angel. Although I wouldn't say AC's is an exceptional soundtrack, it doesn't disappoint, and keeps to the high level of musical production we've grown used to from the Final Fantasy franchise.

NEGATIVES
• Beauty is only skin deep
Although I highlighted the magnificent CGI featured in AC, I for one found one aspect a little disappointing. Every character in this movie seems to be of impeccable design. You could even argue that all of the featured males are bishounens, although I'm not entirely sure what constitutes one nowadays.

• Plot. Or lack of.
Yes, for all AC's visual delight, the core of the Final Fantasy franchise has always been its ability tell a story and immerse the player into it and its cast. However, AC is really lacking in the plot department, mostly filling time with OTT battles and cameos to excite the fans.

Essentially this is Cloud's story. Every aspect of the story connects to him, be it Geostigma, Aerith, or the shadow of Sephiroth. There's no objection to revolving the story around Cloud, if there actually IS a story. Instead there are a whole collection of duels with little character interaction.

• Dilly Dally Shilly Shally
There are mixed feelings about the English dub of AC, but since this is my review after all you shall be reading things from my perspective. For me the English dub misses more than it hits. Mena Suvari's infamous performance as Aerith has been highlighted many a time. She was lifeless and seemed to be simply reading lines at times. Although saying that, her performance in this is a lot better than in the computer game Kingdom Hearts 2. Eeep!

Steve Burton tries hard as Cloud, and maybe it's just me but his voice was never the style I had anticipated for the character. Steve Staley as Kadaj was another who did his best, however he didn't really capture the youthful insanity of his Japanese counterpart. George Newbern as Sephiroth wasn't a great choice either, and performed a standard villain role with his one liners, not to mention a seductive tone which wasn't appreciated by moi.

The other ones that I found obnoxious were the voices of Yazoo, Cid, and Cait Sith. Even Steven Blum, a fine veteran voice actor, was off the target with a very cliched performance for Vincent Valentine. Despite that, his was more tolerable than the previously mentioned. The only real English voices of merit are Christy Romano (Yuffie) and Jamieson Price (Reeve).

Fortunately though with the DVD there is the option to switch to the JP voices. Now before anyone accuses me of being someone who blindly (or deafly) favours Japanese voice acting regardless, I will say this: Although I cannot speak Japanese, I can still distinguish their tones, and for me the JP cast of AC did a much better job of capturing the characters voice and character.

I must also point out the English subtitles are 'dubtitled' and more or less just correspond to what is said in the English dub, and not actually a true translation of the Japanese spoken lines.

Because AC was animated for Japanese dialogue, the English translation also had to be adjusted to match the lip-synch. As a result, some of the lines may confuse the audience, such as Kadaj referring to a 'memetic legacy' to describe the dark presence within the Lifestream, and Geostigma. This translation also gave life to the line 'Dilly Dally Shilly Shally', now famous for being a shameful onomatopoeia.

• Twenty storey building? I can clear that no problem!
As the Distance: The Making of Advent Children documentary will show, the director Tetsuya Nomura states that the outrageous laws of physics was something he did not care about people questioning. He even informs us that they didn't care as long as it looked 'cool'. And in there rests the philosophy behind AC's production.

As a result, you never really get the impression that any real harm will come to the characters, there's no tension. Cloud is supposed to be portrayed as a fragile figure tormented by his inner demons, yet he still boundlessly leaps around with an air of invinciblity.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a feast for the eyes, visually stunning. Aesthetically you have to praise Square Enix for the intricate and rich design that has gone into this movie. But strip down the visuals and the abundance of overdramatic fighting and you have very little there. It's a given that this is one for the fans, who will revel in seeing their former 32-bit characters revamped by superb imagery. Although as a FINAL FANTASY, it's lacking that core value: Story and character development. Therefore you could say it is a rather shallow addition to the FFVII Compilation.

However, I appreciate the time and effort gone into this movie, and if you try not to judge it too critically or take it too seriously, you will find it an entertaining, if exaggerated, experience. You just have to wonder what might have been though.

One final thought: What the hell did they do to Reno!?

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/06