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Right off the bat, Final Fantasy Vii: Advent Children moves into a complicated plot about children inflicted with a mysterious virus, rogue villains attached to a mother life-force and a brooding hero who seems to have lost a loved one. Anyone familiar with the Final Fantasy video games would have no problem at all with the plot but a casual viewer will most certainly be left confused and perhaps frustrated. No real attempt is made to explain the plot and characters other than a line or a nuance here or there before the next fight sequence. That said, the visuals in this film are brilliantly crafted, the CGI combines Asian live actors colored over with anime caucasian features with gorgeous results. The characters Cloud Strife, Tifa, and Reno are especially breathtaking. The steampunk world of these characters is amazing, the animation seamless and the soundtrack lovely. The fight sequences would please any martial arts or fantasy fan, and can be quite white knuckled at the time. For those who enjoy the Animatrix, Appleseed and other like anime, this film is definately deserving of a look. But again, be warned that the sparse plot moves very quickly and can leave you confused and a little bit cold.Read full review
"Final Fantasy" is actually a series of video games for various platforms, but this CG movie is the Jewel of the FF crown. If you've never played any of the games, no worry: the movie is set in such a way that it explains any pertinent parts from the games. The scenery is at turns lush, beautiful, desolate, and often realistic. The characters are works of true art; even the protagonists have aspects of beauty. Our hero, Cloud Strife, has never looked better -- in fact many have requested that the makers of Advent Children, Square Enix (formerly known as SquareSoft for our game fans out there) do more FF movies in the same CG format. I certainly count myself among those who hope for more of these exciting FF movies! Fans of cinema and fans of anime will agree that the action scenes in the film are packed with palpable energy, so much so that multiple viewings is a given. I've watched it several times now and have found something new each time. Excellent choreography in all of the battle or chase scenes, and via the magic of CG, we see 'camera angles' that normally one could not film. Unlike martial art films that sometimes show characters performing unrealistic feats, the heroes and villains of "FF: Advent Children" are able to accomplish supernatural feats due to having been enhanced with cells from JENOVA, a stellar being that arrived on the planet to destroy the human populace. JENOVA was captured by the Shin ra company, who experimented on it's protectorate force known as S.O.L.D.I.E.R., by injecting them with JENOVA cells. The movie begins at a time two years after a great war. The scars of this war are everywhere, although people have survived and have moved on to rebuild. But a new calamity faces the populace: a plague-like illness called Geostigma. Many orphans of the war -- as well as hero Cloud Strife -- have contracted this illness which has no cure. When a trio of young thugs arrives, they are on a search for "Mother," and a sinister plot to bring back the greatest villain of the series -- Sephiroth. They round up and indoctrinate the city's orphans who have Geostigma, in order to strengthen their numbers to 'strike back at the planet' and summon Sephiroth. Although weak from the same illness, Cloud is called in to help. Will our hero overcome his symptoms of plague, and inner guilt for the friends he was unable to save during the war? Will the orphans be rescued? Is there a cure for the terrible stigma? Who are the mysterious trio searching for their mother? While the film has undoubtedly attracted anime fans, the characters, scenery, and action are not like the anime genre; "Advent Children" is much more like a true movie. Sometimes one can forget the animation aspect as the actors are so lifelike, they are truly tri-dimensional, and react with elements of the movie as such. But then CG is based on actual actors, which lends to the authenticity. The bonus DVD shows deleted scenes, and fascinating interviews with the director and those who brought the magic to "life." You can also choose to watch the movie dubbed in English, or in it's original Japanese with subtitles; widescreen format, rated PG-13 (mostly due to a mild profanity, as there is very little gore in the film). I also recommend "MovieMagicUSA" as the eBay seller I bought this from -- check them out for unbeatable deals and unmatched service! Fun for all ages, "Final Fantasy: Advent Children" has something for everyone, a true CG jewel!Read full review
I was a big fan of the original Final Fantasy VII video game, so naturally I was excited to hear about this movie. I waited a long time for it to be released in the US, too. After having seen it now, I can say that the visuals in this film are breathtaking. Also, though I'm partial to the original Japanese voices, the English dub is in fact pretty good . . . maybe not the best, but it's good enough. The story is also pretty good, but looking at some of the other truly fantastic plots contrived by the people at Squaresoft/Square Enix in the past, it just doesn't quite measure up. The main flaw in it is perhaps that the plot feels rushed . . . it's like diving into a chilly swimming pool and then climbing out before your body adjusts to the water - too quick to get a full sense of things. The rushed plot is what makes this just a "good" movie and not an "excellent" one.Read full review
Advent Children is a movie that takes place 2 years after the game. A mysterious disease, Geostigma, is currently plaging everyone, and out of the blue, three silver haired villains show up in their search for Jenova. Cloud is no longer a mercenary and is now an elusive deilvery guy. Shinra seeks Cloud for his help to stop those three but he refuses. Soon Cloud has no choice but to go after these three once he's attacked by them and when they start kidnapping children and threatening the city. Going on without spoiling anything, I'll say that FF7: AC is all style without substance. Its visuals live up to Square's name and careful effort and attention is payed to even the littlest things like Barret's tattoo. Not only are the visuals in that area impressive, but the fight scenes were just as jaw-dropping if not better. They were too fast and short but still good enough to blow you away. Even though the character design doesn't look as realistic as many would prefer, I personally find the style they chose and the mood of the environment to be fitting considering its from a game and that the FF7 world at that moment is gloomy. Where Square earns an A+ in visuals as usual, unfortunately, the story is where this movie lacks. Scenes will switch from one event to another frequently, causing confusion on where the storyline is headed. There is no explanation of new characters like Denzel, and hardly any background information on Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz are touched. While new characters come off as vague props that're just there just to be there, some of the remaining known characters don't really seem to be anything like the lovable characters we all remember from the game. At least, Square doesn't even try or have enough time to focus on them. Aside from Cloud and Tifa, the rest of the familiar cast are more like cameos that were included just to please the fans. Even for the sake of comedy relief, it seems like Reno and Rude were the stars of Advent Children. Though they played a smaller role than Cloud, they helped moved the story along and were possibly the most entertaining throughout the entire movie. I don't mind the music. It brings back nostalgic feelings and like the visuals, fits the mood and turmoil. They COULD'VE added more new songs but what they had was good enough for me. One Winged Angel although a bit different now, is still pleasant as ever. The concept of the story had good potential. Unfortunately, Square didn't put out the story well enough to tap into that potential. The movie was too short and the majority of the trailors may as well been the actual movie itself. Excellent visuals and decent music along with the poorly structured story brought this to an average rating. If you're a fanatic, go buy it. (Like anything I say will stop you) If you're a dedicated fan who cares very much for storylines, then I would suggest renting it. Newcomers to this series will be lost and even for fans the movie can be vague and confusing. So if you're new, be sure to watch the animated recap, Last Order to help you along a bit.Read full review
First of all, if you're a fan of the series, or better yet just FFVII, you gotta buy this movie. It definitely brings back memories of the characters and music. I loved the graphics, they were so cool! The city was extremely detailed and you really noticed it even during the high-paced action with Bahamut and Sephiroth---all the jumping and flying between the two. You see that extra effort in all the details and design. However, there are two things I didn't like: 1) I think the movie could've been much longer, or felt too short. 2) I didn't really like the focus of the film, which, according to one of the game's designers, was about the children. I mean, it was a nice, happy ending, but I wish they had put in more of a romance between childhood best friends Cloud and Tifa! =) [This is for the import version]Read full review
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