interesting ^^
i have not played the game before so i guess i will have trouble following it all lol
though u make it better for me to understand i guess
thanx for the review
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children tv Review
Two years after the defeat of Sephiroth by Cloud and his gang, a new danger reappears. This danger is Kadaj. He and his two brothers are out to get the cells of Jenova in order to bring back Sephiroth. Cloud, in order to stop it, must pick up the sword once again and join in the fight. With the help of the Turks and the former President of ShinRa, and his fellow friends, Cloud must prevent this danger and save Midgar and the world once again.
Description: Aoshi101
Story & Characters
Final Fantasy: Advent Children is the long awaited (for some, anyway) movie direct sequel to the mega-hit RPG Final Fantasy VII. As such, prior knowledge of the characters and the events of FF VII are assumed. Though there is a very brief summary at the beginning of the movie, it is does not go very in depth, and someone who has not played FF VII before will have a very hard time following the story. Now, onto content.
After Sephiroth's defeat at the end of FF VII, the world has returned to a state of peace. Cloud Strife lives with Tifa and two children (not theirs), and now works in the delivery business. The rest of the cast has similarly split off, and they do not appear for most of the movie. Here is where the problems begin. A strange new disease called 'geostigma' has arisen, causing exhaustion, sharp flashes of pain, and some disfiguration on the skin, eventually leading to...what? We are never told. Furthermore, the only people we see who are actually infected with the disease are a bunch of children and Cloud. Later on, when the root cause of the disease is revealed, you would expect it to affect darn near the entire world.
On his latest job, Cloud encounters the villains of Advent Children: a trio of 'Jenova spirits' who are trying to find Jenova and initate another Reunion. The leader is named Kadaj, and supposedly, their ultimate goal is to submit the world to the will of Jenova. Either way, they certainly go about it in a rather illogical way. They have little drive as the antagonists of the story, and really, are only there to serve as opponents for Cloud and company. In that regard, they are splendid.
The finale, of course, is Cloud versus Sephiroth. Never mind how he got there, because it makes little, if any, sense. The fight itself is beautiful, no doubts about it, but is philosophically unsatisfying. That is hardly surprising, as the main thrust of their conflict has already played out in the game.
All in all, Advent Children's story is mediocre at best. There are a lot of things in the story that are never fully explained - why the children were necessary to the villains' plan, why exactly Kadaj and company went along with Shinra in the first place, why Jenova still exists and is able to exert influence on the world, how and why Sephiroth returned, etc. etc. There's no real philosophical undercurrent to the story. The theme will be a familiar one to most anime fans: how Cloud can atone for the things he has done, and how he will find forgiveness. Hardly original, or all that thought provoking in this case (Rurouni Kenshin did it much better). But that was never the real point of the story. The movie is, as Penny Arcade puts it, 'a liquid pool of concentrated fanservice', which is pretty much what you should expect going in.
Rating:
Art
Advent Children is a beautiful movie. There's really no other way to put it. The world of FF VII has been brought to life in a way that I could never have imagined. The various locales are rendered in ways that really highlight and add to the scenes that take place there. The outskirts of Midgar are dusty and barren, as one would expect after the events of FF VII. Aerith's church and flower patch are lovingly depicted with some truly nice lighting. Agit is haunting; Midgar is suitably industrialized. And the scenery for Cloud and Sephiroth's final battle is truly awe-inspiring: black clouds hovering overhead, beautiful lighting, buildings crumbling under the weight of their battle.
The fight scenes, though, are really the highlight of the movie. Each one is great, with good choreography, and are some of the best that I've ever seen. Tifa's fight in the church, the fight in Agit (highlighted by Vincent's totally awesome entrance), the big group fight against Sin Bahamut, and the final battle between Cloud and Kadaj/Sephiroth are all brilliantly animated. My only complaint is that the action would sometimes go too fast to really see what was going on.
The only thing keeping Advent Children from scoring a perfect 10 in this category is a little inconsistency in some of the animations. Every character holds phones in a somewhat awkward way. Minor things like that. Overall, Advent Children is one of, if not THE, most brilliantly animated films ever.
Rating:
Sound
Most of the music in Advent Children is remixed from the original FF VII soundtrack. Fans of the music from the game will definitely get a kick out of it. Personally, I've never really been a huge fan of FF VII's music, especially the big piece, One Winged Angel. I can't deny, however, that I did get a charge out of One Winged Angel playing as Cloud and Sephiroth battled it out. One musical thing that I really got a kick out of is in the middle of Tifa's battle in the church. She knocks her opponent into a pile of rubble, and as she starts to walk away, the traditional Final Fantasy victory music starts playing (it turns out to be her opponent's cell phone, which I really got a kick out of).
The voice acting is pretty good. None of the voices sound really out of place, and fit the characters pretty well. On occaision, some of the voices don't really have the emotion to match the scene, though. Tifa is the biggest offender. On the whole, the sound is pretty average. Nothing really jumps out, but it doesn't drag the movie down either.
Rating:
Presentation
As I mentioned above, Advent Children really is just a bunch of fanservice for FF VII's fanbase. If you haven't played FF VII before, you are out of this movie's target demographic. However, the fight scenes are still incredible, and the movie is still enjoyable (because really, you're not watching this for the story). If you have played FF VII before, though, Advent Children is a fun romp that revives one of the most beloved games of all time. There're lots of little easter eggs for Final Fantasy fans to find.
One complaint that I have is that I wish the Turks played a bigger role. The humerous moments in Advent Children really only come in two forms: first, recognizing things from FF VII or other little easter eggs that bring joy to a fan of the series. Second, the interaction between the Turks, particularly Reno and Rude (Elena and Tseng only show up for a few moments). These two characters play off each other well, and it would have been great to see them get more screen time than they did.
All in all, at worst, Final Fantasy: Advent Children is a movie where you can turn off your brain for an hour and a half and admire the beautiful CG work and the incredible battles. At best, Advent Children is sure to bring back fond memories for the many gamers for whom FF VII was their first, and possibly favorite, game ever.
Rating:
Final Verdict
6.1667 (average)
Reviewed by destati, Sep 15, 2005
Comments
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lilm Sep 15, 2005
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white-zero Sep 15, 2005
Nice to see an unbiased review of Advent Children. I watched it but it's not withstanding. Totally agree with all your points. Good review.
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ZeroDegress Sep 15, 2005
I thought the turks role was quite good and unexpected I did not think they would ever work with the gang,as for the plot I think it was done well [my opinon] I loved the movie however I did not do my review based on my fanism of it I did it unbiasedly I actually although I dissagree with some of your views on this review,respect you made it :)
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AC2N Sep 15, 2005
thanx a lot....
I'm french and it will be on theater here on 1 year (maybe 6 month if I'm lucky !!) and your comment on it is pretty good ( want to read another to give me another idea...of course) but it's nice of your to take time and comment it for us...
I'm curious to wach it !!!! -
tareren Sep 15, 2005
w00t ?
You gave spoilers !!!!!!!!!!! You should not give spoilers >___< hmm, but yeah, the storyline is not so good, but I think it is quite understandable as they cannot possibly squeeze in everything in 1 hour 40 mins... I think the whole story is quite rushed.. But.. Yeah,the graphics quality is damn good xd
i love this movie, just cos Cloud is soooo cute in it XD -
crsg Sep 16, 2005
An outstanding review - pity that the movie would not seem to match it.
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BossMac Sep 16, 2005
Once again Square abuses the Final Fantasy title. It's all about money at the end. After all they showed, it all comes down to an okay flick.
Very great revoew.
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white-zero Sep 16, 2005
Quote by jakulitoOnce again Square abuses the Final Fantasy title. It's all about money
at the end.Indeed my friend. Have you read ZeroDegress' AC review? Now that's a review from a FF fan. XD
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Dornatela Sep 16, 2005
I've seen 2 trailers and I cann't wait ^_^' :)
But I haven't playd or eaven seen the videogame. Does this mean that I'm going to have a hard time folowing the story? :( -
flyindreams Sep 18, 2005
Lol, yah. I watched it with some friends last night. Fell asleep half way because I was tired, not because I was bored... but afterwards my friends had similar complaints about the movie as you did... namely about the fanservice part. Also, the friend who was the biggest fan of the movie (who had played ffvii and loved it) mentioned that Square Enix is also going to make a prequel movie which explains more about geostigma and some other details that I forgot about... which might answer some of the plot holes that you wrote about. As one of the friend of a friend put it... they're really milking the ffvii franchise with all they got. Oh well ^^||
The artwork was definitely beautiful... biggest and main reason why I wanted to watch this film, because I never played VII before (although I want to.) I definitely need to watch the second half of that film. My friend tried to wake me up for the Sephiroth fight but failed... In any case, I don't plan to watch it as a movie... more like a really long beautiful FF CG sequence ^.~|| But yah, people either really love it or hate it because they're out of the target audience, it seems... >-<||
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mogryph Sep 18, 2005
Thank you for a great review. Like many people who have spoken, I had high expectations of ffvii:ac but was let down by the story. I agree with almost every point you have made in your review.
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ZittFu Sep 20, 2005
I actually really loved this movie, but of course i am a big FF7 fan and i have played the game many times. I guess it is still kinda confusing for people who never played the game, but the story of the movie ( except the geostigma part) is just a closure of all the FF7 story so you had to expect that it focused on past events that was common knowledge for fans. Maybe square enix should make another movie to explain the game??
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northpole777 May 04, 2006
Quote by jakulitoOnce again Square abuses the Final Fantasy title. It's all about money at the end. After all they showed, it all comes down to an okay flick.
if u buy the dvd and watch the 'making of,' you'll find that they put a lot of effort into this movie and that it initially started off as a small twenty-minute script which later became the movie we know as Advent Children, so right from the start, i don't think they were after money (solely). Also, they mentioned that the fans of FFVII were looking for sequels and stuff. The movie has not abused the name of Final Fantasy. -
Rosegirl18 Jul 09, 2006
That was a very good review, but I wouldn't say FFVII is a mound of fanservice, as there was no particular factors of it. I would agree with you on most of your points, having watched the movie, but not played the game.
I hope you'll write more reviews, seeing as this is your only one. -
angelxxuan Banned Member May 22, 2012
I thought the plot was more worthy than a four, but that's just my opinion, it wasn't that bad, although it did leave me dozing in a few places and wanting to FF it some.
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UberDog Mar 23, 2015
Nice details, rather structured and detailed review. Good job.
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