Movie Review - Final Fantasy VII(7): Advent Children
Written By: Joseph A. Gillespie
Synopsis:
Two years after the grand finale of the original FF7 game GeoStigma, a
horrible disease, plagues the planets inhabitants. Before long, Cloud
Strife and the whole gang are once again fighting for the fate of the
planet. This time a strange new foe, Kadaj, threatens to resurrect
Sephiroth and finish what he started so long ago.
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Pros:
- Outstanding visual effects. The CGI is top-notch, and never sways from
it's overall style. Buildings, trees, characters, creatures, they all
flow together to create a world that is truly believable.
- AMAZING musical score. Not only are there a number of original game
songs updated in this movie, but there are a ton of all new and entirely
killer tracks as well.
- Some of the best fight scenes ever. Battles range from sword fights on
motorcycles, to full on wars against the Bahumat, to the insanely
intense one on one battles between Cloud and his ultimate demons.
- True to the game. Unlike previous FF movies (example: The Spirits
Within), this movie actually ties into the game world and expands on the
foundation already laid, rather then trying to create something new that
just shares the name.
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- Good voice acting. There are some people who will complaint that the
dialogue doesn't make any sense, or is just silly, but you at least have
to admit that the words match the mouth movements superbly. Even though
the mouths were animated to match Japanese words, the selection of
English voice-overs match perfectly.
- No blood/gore. Now, this could be seen as either a pro or a con
depending on your mind set. However, I'm listing it as a pro because I
think it really allows the movie to flow better. When someone gets hit
with a sword, they just fly back and then get up again and get back into
the battle. Of course, some of the longer battles will wear down a
character and they become sluggish and pained, so it keeps that real
feeling. There are also parts of the movie where Cloud becomes injured
enough to draw blood, shot in the face, stabbed in the shoulder, etc.
Overall all though, there is very little in the way of blood and gore.
- Good storyline. Ok, some people are going to disagree with this one.
But I don't think they understand the overall meaning of this movie.
They dwell too much on the GeoStigma aspect which, despite the back of
the box, is not a key point to the story. This movie is about Cloud
facing his past, and protecting his future. He must overcome his fear of
losing what he loves, and realize that if he just sits around hoping it
doesn't leave him, he will lose it. He must rise up to fight and protect
it. That's what the movie portrays to me, and it does it well.
Cons:
- You probably won't understand much if you haven't played the game. A
few things could have been added to help the casual viewer, but then
that may have upset the gamer, so it's really lose/lose. On a good note
though, the DVD does contain a special feature where you can actually
watch the entire FF7 game movies to get caught up. I'll stick it in as a
con though just because most of todays audience is probably too young to
have played FF7 when it was new, and take my word for it when I say it's
almost impossible to get a copy of it today.
- Subtitles don't match the voice-overs. This really ticks me off. All
the work Square did to translate it perfectly, and they totally dropped
the ball on the subtitles. For example, a character will say something
like, "You don't seem very sorry." but the subtitles will say, "You
don't seem to have much remorse" - it's very annoying.
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Summary:
Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children is certainly a must-see film for all
gamers, and anyone who likes fast-action flicks. Even people who
complain about the story can't deny the thrill of watching all the
amazingly rendered awesome sword fights. I enjoyed it so much that I've
seen it over 8 times, and actually bought the 2-Disc Special Edition and
proudly display it on my DVD case, but your mileage may vary.
Last Modified: August 9th, 2006
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