Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Hawkeye
This preview contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII. But since the movie takes place after the game, you should be expecting that. Either way, we don’t want complaints about spoilers.
It’s been two years since that fateful day when the planet joined forces with Cloud and his band of heroes to defeat Sephiroth and save the world from Jenova. But all was not solved with that epic battle and the world is unhappy. The people have developed a crippling, deadly disease called Geostigma, the star shaped illness. While the Shinra Corporation searches desperately for a cure to make things right, Cloud and his team have formed a delivery service. But while Tifa, Yuffie, Barret and the others have been living with life and spirit, Cloud has lost his will to fight. Still mourning the death of Aerith he lives his days disjointed and unhappy, but he must pick up his sword once again and fight when three brothers appear searching for their lost mother, Jenova. Will Cloud stop the past from repeating itself, overcome the memories that haunt his every waking moment, and find the will and determination to save the world?
Since the day I beat FF7, sitting on the floor of my bedroom, controller limply in my hand and my mouth wide open in pure awe, I’ve been waiting for this movie. Imagine if you will, pressing the play button to dreams and watching it played on your screen. Before my eye was absolutely gorgeous CG, fluid and beautiful with clever camera angles that put you right in the middle of the action. My favorite characters from the game came to life, created with a beautiful blend of realism and the classic look from the game. Everything was brilliantly done, from the textures on the maps to the motorcycles hauling ass down the highways. The fight scenes were incredible, fluid and fast. When doing a movie entirely in CG, the animators have the opportunity to give you the perfect angle, the angle that all directors search for, and dream about. FF7 Advent Children takes full advantage of this, mastering the art of it. This talent was not only used on the battles but during other moments as well. Nothing was overlooked. It was little things, like realistic hand gestures, furrows in the characters brows, and I found myself amazed with even the simplest of scenes.
The sound was also absolutely incredible. From clever bits where a character’s cell phone rang to the tune of the victory music from the game to new musical scores I was not disappointed. It blended the old and the new together to simply blow the audience away. The voice acting was also excellent, Cloud sounded somewhat dark and forlorn, while in contrast Yuffie was the epitome of a hyperactive schoolgirl, exactly the way it was supposed to be.
The plot, I will admit, could have been stronger and explored more. After all, it assumes you remember exactly, or for that matter fully understood, what happened in the game concerning Jenova and Sephiroth.. I feel they could have expanded upon this a bit more. But this opinion could simply be because I wanted more than an hour and half of Cloud and Sephiroth on the screen. Overall, though, this movie was beautiful and breathtaking, and is sure to be a fan favorite in the years to come.
We’ve also got the box art from the Japanese release:
You can click here to see our man in Japan’s take on it
Katie “Hawkeye” Connell is Assistant Site Manager for FMA Warcry and a frequent anime reviewer for the hubsite. She is known for her cutting wit and astounding alliterations.
Published: Sep 16, 2005 11:01 am