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kai81220's Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Tv Review

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

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

Ok first off, I will say that yes I know that there many other reviews on this movie but seriously, I'm seeing all these 10/10s and stuff and I think it would be better for MT people to get an actual critical review.

The plot line to this movie, to me, seemed a bit too reliant on the game, which I, sadly, have not played before. They kept on metioning Rufus and I kept on saying "who the hell is Rufus?" and then near the ending of the movie, some guy in a suit jumps off a building and my cousins yelled "That's Rufus!!"...or something like that. If a plot needs explanations coming from outside the movie, you know there's something wrong.

Questions that I still have about the movie:
1) who is Jenova? is it a woman or a man? is it a robot? who knows because I don't believe it was actually explained.
2) who does Mother refer to? Jenova?...is Jenova a woman?
3) exactly what were the little glowing orbs that Cloud kept and later Yuffie had?
4) why did three grey-hairs need the kids? what was the purpose? Because when Cloud confronted Kadaj in the forest, the children did not actually DO anything except land from trees to form human shields. And after the mega battle with Bahamut, the children, who were acting as a human blockade, returned to normal. Maybe they were used as a device to waste a bit of time?
5) what was the significance of Rufus?
6) what was the point of making references to Aerith?
Sue me if I didn't pay enough attention if these questions were answered in the movie.

But even with the deficiencies, the plot is enough to keep you watching until the end. Not to spoil anything for anyone, but the ending is actually the worse part of the movie. Some people said it was touching but I think it has too many obvious references to Jesus and John the Baptist and the whole Baptism sequence. That is probably the only part that really stuck out as a plot screwup.
lol I did say I was going to criticize this movie.

Rating: 5

Art

As for art, this is Final Fantasy we're talking about, so already the CG is awesome stuff. Hair moves, clothes move and there are facial expressions. Though that's pretty old now because of FFX and all the recent FF productions. If this movie came out a few years earlier, then it woulda been much more impressive.

I will also take the opportunity to comment on the realism of the whole thing. We have the obvious fake things like the portrayal of the Lifestream etc which is perfectly fine cause the story does have things like that included. But things like swordfighting and flowers etc. that actually exist in real-life should be made to look like real life:

1) the flower field in Cloud's sleeping place: personally I've never seen a more artificial looking landscape. Whoever heard of a field where all flowers were identical and were uniformly spaced and in perfect alternating colours?
2) fighting scenes: its all nice and beautifully coordinated but the people move so robotically, it completely kills the stylistic elements. And not to mention, when someone gets a stab wound, they DON'T bleed. Geez, if they can do CG people, where's the CG wounds?
3) the general public when Bahamut attacks: you won't get this until you watch the movie. For some reason, the people don't actually run 'away' when they are being attacked. Even about 10 minutes after Kadaj and the gang go psycho on everyone, there are still people who seem to be running in circles in the near vicinity of the statue, screaming and looking terrified. Just run away and stop cluttering the screen. Common sense dictates you either fight or flight. These people don't do either.
4) the possessed children: this is the major clincher. When someone jumps from a great height and lands on their feet, their knees should bend slightly if not alot to cushion the fall. Not these kids, who can jump off trees and land like sticks with feet together. If you tried that, you'll find that your knees will probably detach to compensate for shock and your spine would splinter. Nice.

Even though, 1.5 thumbs up on art.

Rating: 8

Sound

Well for some reason the older Final Fantasy series have a slight tendency to be more on the choir music side. We get these gothic, end of the world sounding music when Bahamut attacks the city, complete with the whole choir chanting and singing lyrics I can't decipher. FF has the talent to take instrumental music and actually make it nice. Basically we hear a lot of recycled bits of music with beats, and some with the choir.

Sometimes FF music takes time to sink in and gain appreciation, especially the older FF series. I bought, I think the FF9 OST, a while back and seriously, I hated the tracks on it. Maybe cause I never played the game but assumed it was going to be like FFX, but the point is that you gota know where the music fits into the game to like it.
The only people who will fully enjoy the music are those who bought the OST that came out following the game.
The rest of us will be just politely amused.

Rating: 4

Presentation

Overall, this movie was decent to watch. Its a great movie to see when you have about 1.5hrs of spare time. I fully recommend you go watch it purely because of the graphics. For fans, you'll have an awesome time re-living the whole thing over and over.

Seriously, I can't seem to get worked up about the significance whole team of FF characters coming back together for a heart-warming battle with a giant monster. It just doesn't work when you don't even know the names of the people.
I hardly knew that Aerith died until the end when the showed her with a guy with crazy hair, and that was only after they showed some heaven disappearing sequence.
(I know Aerith because of KH and not because of FFVI)

Unless you are a diehard FFVII fan and have mini figurines of all the characters, sold you soul for the first copy of the movie etc, you will not fully enjoy this movie because its just way too based on the assumption that every person who watches the movie will have played the game. Personally, I think that's a terrible marketing strategy on SquareEnix's part. (or whoever made it). Well, enjoy the movie and don't call me if it doesn't make sense.

You have been warned.

Rating: 5

Final Verdict

5.3333 (moderate)

Reviewed by kai81220, Sep 19, 2005

Comments

  1. SharinganKnight Sep 19, 2005

    the sound deserves much more than that, the story was crappy, after the first 2 lines I was like "que?" and the art man...it doesn't get any better than that at this point. And the presentation was WAY higher than a 5, if it didn't have such a good presentation I don't think I would've been so higly disappointed by it.

  2. geninlv1 Sep 19, 2005

    Okay... b/c of these questions, I kinda get the feeling that ffvii: Advent Children is geared towards fan service. SoI figure I'll try to answer these as best as I can:

    1) who is Jenova? is it a woman or a man? is it a robot? who knows because I don't believe it was actually explained.

    -Jenova, dubbed "the calamity from the skies", was a creature found in the 2000 year geological spectrum. Shinra thought it was an Ancient/Cetra and made an attempt to clone it. However, Jenova was actually a creature, whose cells can split and recombine, that came to planets and destroyed them - contrary to the role the Cetra played in creating life. The result of the experiment was Sephiroth. So, Jenova = bad ( I remember Ilfana describing her as a weapon... someone verify that for me).

    2) who does Mother refer to? Jenova?...is Jenova a woman?
    -The lifestream had been infected with Jenova's cells when Sephiroth enetered the it. Anyone with the cells of Jenova, including Cloud, are considered her "children".

    3) exactly what were the little glowing orbs that Cloud kept and later Yuffie had?
    -Materia. In the game, you'd equip it to weapon slots to use magic.

    4) why did three grey-hairs need the kids? what was the purpose? Because when Cloud
    confronted Kadaj in the forest, the children did not actually DO anything except land from trees to form human shields. And after the mega battle with Bahamut, the children, who were acting as a human blockade, returned to normal. Maybe they were used as a device to waste a bit of time?
    -They needed to collect the cells of Jenova, found in the victims of Geostigma/Star Scar Syndrome to give birth to... well, you know. And, of course, all the kids he rounded up were infected.

    5) what was the significance of Rufus?
    -Rufus was the president of Shinra, the company that exploited the energy resource from the lifestream (Mako) and monoplized the energy industry. It was their fault the planet was pissed.

    6) what was the point of making references to Aerith?
    -Aerith used holy to stop meteo, with the help of lifestream. She was also the last of the Ancients/Cetra.

    Sue me if I didn't pay enough attention if these questions were answered in the movie.
    - Yeah, a lot of details are found in the game which predates the movie. I guess hardcore gamers should inform their friends of the original before taking them to see this. Personally, I loved it.

  3. hongrboi Sep 20, 2005

    Thanks for the review Kai. I was just about to watch it too. Like you, I have not played the games before so I will probably not understand anything >< Thanks for the honest critique though.

  4. SilentMasamune Sep 20, 2005

    This sounds like a pretty good review based on the description you gave. Though I haven't seen the movie myself, I'm going to say that this is definitely your own pointview of how the movie turned out. If what you say is true, then perhaps the story should've been similar to that of FF7; that's exactly how FF7 became a hit game.

  5. white-zero Sep 20, 2005

    I played the game and don't have a clue on the first run. It takes a few runs for me understand it.

    And I thought Square will put this movie for at least close to 3 hours, seeing how many of us were dying to see it. If they do that, they will have the time to explain what is happening to the world, current politics etc.

    You're right on with the story and sound. The art I could give it a 9 and if you guys seen The Spirits Within, AC is a notch below it in terms of graphical detail. The battle sequence. What can I say? Like you said, their movements are too rigid and too well coordinated. It doesn't flow good enough to warrant a higher mark. Sephiroth and Cloud were practically flying during the whole battle. Why don't Square made them fly?

    Overall, this is a pretty good review. Glad to see a review from a neutral standpoint.

    ps: To the people been flaming me for calling AC lame. Wake up. There are other better animations better than AC. And Square and the FF series are now has beens.

  6. RainOfStars Sep 20, 2005

    Well, i agree with the critic for the art. But I think they did a very good job explaining the plot. Jenova is fairly explained through the movie. It is mostly at the beginning, so you might have missed it or forgot it. But they did explain it. As for the childrens, they also explained that. They need all the cells of Jenova in order to revive her. I also didn't play the game, so I didn't get some of the character reference, but by the end, I had a pretty good idea of who everyone is.

  7. lilm Sep 20, 2005

    yeh i seen this movie and i thought the art and graphics were pretty well really good kekek but the story line wasn't that interesting
    though i havn't played the game b4 ><

  8. fukushuusha Sep 20, 2005

    quite good review kai...
    I have seen the movie 2 days ago. And I haven't played the game either. I felt so strange when I was watching. I had no idea what the hell is going on or who are those people that mentioned several times.
    The movie is quality in some areas but lacking in many areas too...just above average in my opinion.

  9. tareren Sep 20, 2005

    It is very kewl that your review has the number 777, just the lucky number for ffvii ;)
    Anyway, I think your review is good, but sounds definitely deserves much better XD though the story really is confusing haha XD

  10. royaldarkness Sep 23, 2005

    your review made me think twice about watching it, hehe ^_^' my friend was totally gushing over it...but anyway, i think i'll give the movie a try :)

  11. NegativeBahamut Sep 23, 2005

    About sound, the song you cant seem to decipher is German and its called the One Winged Angel. The lyrics say (without repeating)...
    Estuans interius, ira vehementi, Sephiroth. Sors immanis. Et inanis. Veni, veni, venias.Ne me mori facias. Sephiroth.

  12. nekosasu Sep 23, 2005

    Quote by NegativeBahamutAbout sound, the song you cant seem to decipher is German and its called the One Winged Angel. The lyrics say (without repeating)...
    Estuans interius, ira vehementi, Sephiroth. Sors immanis. Et inanis. Veni, veni, venias.Ne me mori facias. Sephiroth.

    German? Sorry but that's not German at all. How about latin...? >_> lol that gave me a good laugh :3 nevermind
    In addition, the song played in the movie is a remake of the One Winged Angel, and there ARE different lyrics, I bothered listening few times to that song in the movie ^^ Hell the guitars rock XD I can't wait for the Movie OST (if it ever comes out)

    About the review, it's nice, kai. But, watching a Final Fantasy movie that's based about 100% on a game, is not forbidden, but of course, you will not be able to fully understand the movie. I mean, you watch the 20th Naruto movie, for example, and you never watched Naruto before. Would you then be able to know who is who, their characteristics, skill, would you even know what they've been through before? See, most of such game/anime-based movies do suppose that you already have played/watched the things before... Some more than others, but it can't be helped.

    Then again, and maybe most importantly, the lack of background information should motivate you to play the game now... Allright, the graphics might not be up to date, but the story owns. Unless you don't like FF- then I wonder why you watched the movie; if it was only for the graphics, then why are you so concerned with the plot now? XD Seriously, I recommend, no, I even urge you to play ffvii as soon as possible. People might not take your critics seriously otherwise ^^;

    Argh! And you didn't mention Nobuo Uematsu!!!1one T_T holy... he's the GOD of FF music >_< Okay FF Game OSTs sure aren't the best out there, because of the midi music. Well there are plenty of other FF albums out there... I have 91 on my computer so far. I do own the FF7 Reunion Tracks though, and I plan to buy some more some day, until I can get to them... XD I recommend you to at least listen to: Final Fantasy 20022002 Concert Album , it owns.

    Keep genki!
    ~neko

  13. xRedPhoenix Oct 01, 2005

    I'm sorry but I can't agree with everything said here. I have never played the game myself either, but after watching the movie, I was motivated to go online searching for the storyline info and asked friends over the internet. True the movie was directed toward people who played the game, but it wasn't as if they were further developing an already well developed story. Even though I had no idea what was going on at first, I managed to catch up and still feel a sting in my stomach once it ended. I think careful attention to the movie allowed me to understand the gist of the game before I had acquired info. As for the art- The Matrix.. That's all I have to say. The angles in which they captured some scenes in the movie were excellent. As for the music, you have to have an open mind. ^_~

  14. KLY Oct 02, 2005

    Though i am a ff:vii fan but the only part good about this movie was cloud and tifa's fighting scenes. And they were short... at the end of the movie i was like totally.. " I can't eelieve THAT I bought TWO packets OF RUFFLES(chips) FOR these!!!"

  15. deedeezel Dec 21, 2005

    it's true since I haven't played the game I had to ask FF gamers to enlighten me....so I had to watch it again....my friends say you have to be a fan or FF gamer to understand the movie....and yes I noticed the part where tifa got hurt....I didn't see any wounds...so that made me wonder....i thought she had internal bleeding or just some bruises or something like that....hahaha....very detailed review....objective one....keep it up

  16. toojadded Mar 13, 2006

    ... ... ... I'm not quite sure whether to laugh or get irritated at this review. First off, FF:AC is obviously made for fans. For heavens sake! thats why it can only be watched on tape. The reason why you've got a bunch of questions is 'coz you haven't played the game. It's like watching the last episode of a show and then asking what the hell happened.

    That's just insane!

    You should have expected that you'll feel lost 95% of the time while watching the movie since your not familiar w/ it So there's so reason why you should be bitchin' about it. You watched if fully knowing that you have no idea about the game so if you're not satisfied you've got no one else but yourself to blame.

  17. UberDog Mar 23, 2015

    Not a bad review, nicely structured. Good job.

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