A Continuation of the Game
Let’s delve a little bit deeper into Advent Children for just a moment. First and foremost, this movie is a continuation of the story told in Final Fantasy 7. If you’ve never played Final Fantasy 7, I’m afraid this movie will make little to no sense to you. If it’s been a while since you’ve played FF7 (as it had been for me), you might still struggle to keep up with what exactly is going on in every scene.
There are a ton of nods to the game, unfortunately this movie does nothing for an audience who never played the game. Characters are quickly introduced along with a rather unimpressive plot. In FF7, Cloud and his friends help to shut down a company that is destroying the world by tapping into it’s natural power source. In the process, they also kill an evil fella named Sephiroth.
This movie deals with the consequences of what took place in the game. There is a mysterious illness called Geostigma that is gripping people. Nobody is sure how to cure it, and it seems that the earth is very angry that it was being sucked of it’s life giving energy and is now punishing people.
Cloud, hero of FF7, has withdrawn from his friends. The events of Advent Children occur 2 years after the ending events of FF7. Cloud feels guilt for his part in the pain the world now suffers, and is reluctant to help out when the world is put in new peril. However, Cloud doesn’t have much choice as the battle is eventually brought to his front door.
There appear several weird looking strangers with powers who are eerily similar to the late Sephiroth. It seems that Cloud’s fight isn’t quite finished… and soon our Ex-SOLDIER must go back to war to save his life, and the world.
Great Looking
Visually speaking, Advent Children is amazing. Unlike some films that give away the best parts in the trailer, Advent Children definitely saves the best for those who shell out to see the movie. The graphics are downright amazing. To see this film on Blu-Ray is even more amazing. I was awestruck with just how beautiful and real the characters of this film seemed to be. To see some of my favorites brought to life in a very convincing way from an old and graphically out of date game was a novelty which did not wear off throughout the film.
Not So Great Sounding…
Audibly this film was sub-par. After switching the language to English (the default language was Japanese), I found Advent Children a little annoying to listen to. The music was recognizable from the game. There was even a few nods to the Final Fantasy canon (which I won’t spoil), but like the game, the music seemed very unfitting at times. Several times I wondered what the composer was thinking as the music didn’t match up well to the scenes at all. Some battle scenes had soundtracks that would have been more appropriate for a funeral… While this was fairly consistent for the game, I really wish that the music had been better.
My other gripe is the plot. Anyone who didn’t play the game would have a hard time understanding or enjoying the plot of this film. I think it would have been nice to see a script for this movie which reintroduced the plot and characters to make it more enjoyable for a broader audience… while still giving props to the hardcore fan base. This can be done with the right amount of tact (See the new Star Trek movie if you need an example!)
Special Features
The special features on this disc are pretty cool, I think hardcore fans of Final Fantasy 7 should appreciate everything that this has to offer. You’ll get:
- On the Wat to a Smile – Episode: Denzel (animated film)
- Reminiscence of Final Fantasy 7 (original story digest)
- Reminiscence of Final Fantasy 7 Compilation (story digest)
- Legacy of Final Fantasy 7 (featurette)
- Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children Complete (trailers)
- Exclusive Sneak Peek at Final Fantasy XIII
- 26 minutes of new footage
- 1000 revised scenes
Overall I think this could have been a much better movie, but it was a great nod for Final Fantasy 7 fans. This probably won’t appeal to most audiences who haven’t played the game… so if that is you, go ahead and pass this one up. If you’re a hardcore FF7 fan, or if you just enjoyed the series, then check it out!