Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

"Awesome action scenes and an incredible presentation covers what is a poorly presented story. Fans only."

FF: AC is purely a movie directed toward fans of Final Fantasy VII. If you haven't played FF: VII I wholeheartedly recommend that you do not watch this film until after you've finished it because it basically reveals the entire story of the game. If you're never going to play it, don't watch it at all, because you are not going to understand a bit of it. But to quickly sum things up: despite a poorly presented story and bad character development, the film is very entertaining to watch due to some incredible action scenes and a definite must-watch for Final Fantasy VII fans (trust me you'll get goosebumps).

Final Fantasy Advent Children is set a few years after the events of FF: VII. The game's introduction (while breathtaking), is a hasty summary of the events of the game. It is ambiguous and quite unclear, but on the whole sums it up enough for those who have finished FF: VII years ago and refreshes the story in their minds.

The basic premise of the film is that there is a sickness going around called ‘Geostigma' and how it is spreading throughout the world. The story is not told well at all – there are many times in the film that are just confusing. For example there are many aspects that were not defined at all – the lifestream for example. Such a big part of FF: VII got about thirty seconds of defining time and to a non-FF player they would be reeling in confusion. Another thing is how the term ‘mother' (alternate for JENOVA) immediately causes FF veterans to understand who mother is, while non-FF players would not have a clue.

Character development is also in the minuses here; Cloud is developed very poorly and the other characters in the film are only there as ‘fillers' to appeal to FF fans. The worst offender is that the game's main characters (the playable ones) make their cameos only for about ten minutes during the halfway point of the film. People who haven't played the game would be wondering who the hell they actually are when they drop down to help fight. All players of FF: VII would be aware of Aeris and what happened to her; after the film I had a friend asking me who she was and what she was doing in the film. However one thing the film does get right are the scenes in which she is present – to fans of the game they are nice, often emotional scenes (particularly the 'thowing Cloud one kilometre into the sky' scene and the end).

So the story in the film is pretty average but what serves as a cover for that weakness comes next – the film is thick and heavy on action. The action scenes in particular are fantastic to watch and yes, more ludicrous than The Matrix. Picture Cloud getting thrown up like a kilometer into the sky and landing safely then later on realize that he is afraid to fall from a building less than two hundred meters off the ground. There are a lot of inconsistencies like these and the funny thing is those who haven't played the game will identify them more than ones who have played it. But apart from that, the action scenes in FF: AC are brilliant and worth watching over and over just for the ‘coolness' factor.

The presentation values of the film are nothing short of breathtaking. The voice acting is truly great and although I watched the imported Japanese version (with subtitles), the Japanese voices are outstanding and with the exception of Red XIII (what happened?), every character sounds great.

Music is outstanding. I'm quite a fan of FF music and FF: AC delivers – pretty much every song is a remix of some sort that is either heavy rock or orchestrated. As to be expected the heavy rock suits the action scenes and the orchestrated songs fit the emotional scenes. I have to admit that One Winged Angel got a total makeover in what could be one of the greatest remixes I've ever heard. The one downside is that the rock-remixes tend to get a bit repetitive in the film – it is used too much. The outstanding choir song during the fight during mid-movie is a nice refreshing break from the normal rock.

And lastly comes the visual presentation – to say this is the best CG ever created in any film is an understatement. I don't think any film comes remotely close to the wonder of the CG presented in this movie. Everything is an absolute pleasure to look at and so pretty, even though the movie is dark. There are so many scenes that are animated in such an amazing way that make the viewer forget about the story and be entertained mainly because the wondrous visuals compliment the action scenes so very well.

Overall Final Fantasy Advent Children is a film directed only toward fans of Final Fantasy VII. It has quite an average and poorly presented story; boring characters that do not highlight the strength of the original game but overall the action scenes and incredible graphics make this movie one for any action fan to watch and/or those who like their movies to look and sound good.

(3.5 Stars) – 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/05