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kalihaThis review is spoilerific. If you don't want to know what happens plot-wise in this it's probably a good idea not to read it.
What's it about
Set two years after the events depicted in the multi-million unit shifting PSone game Final Fantasy VII, SquareEnix return to Midgar to see what happened after Cloud and his companions beat Sephiroth and saved the world (sorta) from the meteor bearing down on them.
Main bit of the review
The expectation for this film has been extremely high, pretty much from the moment it was announced (which must have been three years ago now). After all it is based on The Best RPG EverTM.
I'm glad to report that they've done quite well. it's a lot less disjointed than The Spirits Within although viewers not familiar with the plot of the game may get a bit confused as the backstory isn't really covered. (Unless the subtitler just didn't translate it). I don't think you need to actually go away and spend 70 hours completing the game before you go and watch Advent Children. You'll be able to follow the film but you may not understand it all.
Storyline
We meet a very different Cloud, not the happy-go-lucky(ish) adventurer of the game. Now working as a delivery driver (for all intents and purposes) with Tifa; he is racked with guilt over what happened with Aeris (amongst other things) and is looking for forgiveness that he can't find.
In the meantime to streets are filling with the children of Jenova (the Advent Children of the title). Children orphaned by the finale of the game they have the cells of Jenova in them and are marked by a Geostigmata, the Lifestream of the planet marking them out and slowly killing them as it tried to purify itself and the land. Tifa looks after these street kids the best she can.
Elsewhere Shinra are rebuilding and trying to atone for the destruction they accidently visted upon the planet. And Sephiroth's 'brothers' (other test subjects from the original Jenova project) are searching for Mother (Jenova) so they can bring on the Reunion and finish Jenova's work.
Graphics
A lot of work has been put into the character realisations. Cloud still has his massively spikey hair, but it's now a lot taller than he was in the game (and if I dare to say it, a bit of a hottie). All the other main characters from the game (Aeris (or Aerith if you're going to be picky), Barrett, Tifa, Red XII, Cid, Yuffie, Vincent and Cath Sith) has been similarly tarted up. Sephiroth looks fantastic.
Vincent in particular is looking rather nifty, appearing and disappearing in a cloud of red rags. (He is looking a lot like the main character in Devil May Cry in the way he moves though).
As expected in a Final Fantasy game there's a lot of fighting. But not annoying fights (like actually in the game). The minor monsters, although not familiar from the game are very well realised and the way they appear and disappear in a black cloud is purty. The fighting between the characters is beautifully choreographed, and wouldn't look out of place in a Matrix or Crouching Tiger...
And then there's Bahamut. Beautiful. Simply Beautiful. And also huge. The whole sequence with him had my jaw on the floor, really it did.
Music
The music is simply wonderful. A mix of tracks from the original game now fully orchestrated (including the fight music, Aeris' theme and the Sephiroth song - which still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end) and original tracks (which are big on the thumping bass but fit well with the scenes it's slotted into.)
Bits that I loved
There's so many nice little touches in the film, all Cloud's infesibly large swords have gaps for the Materia (just like in the game); There's a little girl wondering around Midgar with a toy Moogle.
It would have been nice to have seen more of the planet; places like the Gold Saucer, see how the rest of the planet was rebuilding after it's near destruction.
The only real gripe I had was that there were no Chocobos. (I love Chocobos)
Verdict
I absolutely loved this film. Loved it. The graphics (as we've come to expect from SquareEnix are excellent, bringing the world to fully realised life. The familiar (if you've played the game) landscapes of Midar, Aeris' Church and the Forgotten City are beautifully designed and are set out exactly as they were in the game.
There were even a couple of mintues where my fingers were twitching to control the characters. :)
A fantastic Coda to Final Fantasy VII and a film that any FFVII fan really should see.
The English Language DVD version of this film is available on Region 4 from 7th December 2005.
Final Score 9/10
What's it about
Set two years after the events depicted in the multi-million unit shifting PSone game Final Fantasy VII, SquareEnix return to Midgar to see what happened after Cloud and his companions beat Sephiroth and saved the world (sorta) from the meteor bearing down on them.
Main bit of the review
The expectation for this film has been extremely high, pretty much from the moment it was announced (which must have been three years ago now). After all it is based on The Best RPG EverTM.
I'm glad to report that they've done quite well. it's a lot less disjointed than The Spirits Within although viewers not familiar with the plot of the game may get a bit confused as the backstory isn't really covered. (Unless the subtitler just didn't translate it). I don't think you need to actually go away and spend 70 hours completing the game before you go and watch Advent Children. You'll be able to follow the film but you may not understand it all.
Storyline
We meet a very different Cloud, not the happy-go-lucky(ish) adventurer of the game. Now working as a delivery driver (for all intents and purposes) with Tifa; he is racked with guilt over what happened with Aeris (amongst other things) and is looking for forgiveness that he can't find.
In the meantime to streets are filling with the children of Jenova (the Advent Children of the title). Children orphaned by the finale of the game they have the cells of Jenova in them and are marked by a Geostigmata, the Lifestream of the planet marking them out and slowly killing them as it tried to purify itself and the land. Tifa looks after these street kids the best she can.
Elsewhere Shinra are rebuilding and trying to atone for the destruction they accidently visted upon the planet. And Sephiroth's 'brothers' (other test subjects from the original Jenova project) are searching for Mother (Jenova) so they can bring on the Reunion and finish Jenova's work.
Graphics
A lot of work has been put into the character realisations. Cloud still has his massively spikey hair, but it's now a lot taller than he was in the game (and if I dare to say it, a bit of a hottie). All the other main characters from the game (Aeris (or Aerith if you're going to be picky), Barrett, Tifa, Red XII, Cid, Yuffie, Vincent and Cath Sith) has been similarly tarted up. Sephiroth looks fantastic.
Vincent in particular is looking rather nifty, appearing and disappearing in a cloud of red rags. (He is looking a lot like the main character in Devil May Cry in the way he moves though).
As expected in a Final Fantasy game there's a lot of fighting. But not annoying fights (like actually in the game). The minor monsters, although not familiar from the game are very well realised and the way they appear and disappear in a black cloud is purty. The fighting between the characters is beautifully choreographed, and wouldn't look out of place in a Matrix or Crouching Tiger...
And then there's Bahamut. Beautiful. Simply Beautiful. And also huge. The whole sequence with him had my jaw on the floor, really it did.
Music
The music is simply wonderful. A mix of tracks from the original game now fully orchestrated (including the fight music, Aeris' theme and the Sephiroth song - which still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end) and original tracks (which are big on the thumping bass but fit well with the scenes it's slotted into.)
Bits that I loved
There's so many nice little touches in the film, all Cloud's infesibly large swords have gaps for the Materia (just like in the game); There's a little girl wondering around Midgar with a toy Moogle.
It would have been nice to have seen more of the planet; places like the Gold Saucer, see how the rest of the planet was rebuilding after it's near destruction.
The only real gripe I had was that there were no Chocobos. (I love Chocobos)
Verdict
I absolutely loved this film. Loved it. The graphics (as we've come to expect from SquareEnix are excellent, bringing the world to fully realised life. The familiar (if you've played the game) landscapes of Midar, Aeris' Church and the Forgotten City are beautifully designed and are set out exactly as they were in the game.
There were even a couple of mintues where my fingers were twitching to control the characters. :)
A fantastic Coda to Final Fantasy VII and a film that any FFVII fan really should see.
The English Language DVD version of this film is available on Region 4 from 7th December 2005.
Final Score 9/10
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Date: Monday, September 19th, 2005 02:49 pm (UTC)