Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

[One-Winged Angel]

Alright, as everyone can easily tell by looking at my avatar and sig...I'm a big fan of the FF series, most notably FF VII. I actually never have played it all the way through myself, but have sat through numerous playthroughs by buddies (yes I enjoy watching people play games sometimes.) The story is superb, and you have to love Sephiroth with his long silver hair and his 8-foot katana. Anyway...when I heard about this movie, I became extremely excited. We have been waiting a long time for it, and many of us downloaded it or bought an imported copy just to see it. I never have cared for Japanese versions of things, but I watched it.

It doesn't disappoint, at least for fans who know the story. If you haven't played the game, or at least know the story of it, your enjoyment of this movie would be severely lowered, I believe. All of the characters you can use in the game are present, with voice-overs for some who haven't been voiced even in games like Kingdom Hearts, and in amazing CG. If you're looking for the cutting edge in computer graphics, this is it. Hair, clothing, water, all the effects are just beautiful.

My only complaint was that some of the voices could have been done better. Of course, a lot of that is based on the opinion of the person watching the movie, and what their take on the character's voice was originally. Really, I think the only voices I didn't like were Cait Sith, who I never cared for in the game anyhow, and perhaps Kadaj, just for sounding a little too childish sometimes. Cloud's voice, done by Steve Burton, was spot-on. He captured the brooding hero very well. Another of my favorites is Vincent, just because...well...Vincent is cool.

All told, I'm not a very good reviewer. I just wanted to put this out there to see who else has seen the movie and has some thoughts on it. If you ask me, if nothing else, it represents how far we've come in creating graphics. Also, the musical score is phenominal, not that I expected anything less from the likes of Nobuo Uematsu. Most of the music is remixes of songs from the game, but there are some new tracks. There is a particularly humorous moment involving the victory fanfare playing on Loz's cell phone. :)

Alright, so I'm stopping here. Let's hear it folks! Fans and haters alike are welcome to make their opinions known. Naturally, we'll keep it civil. :D

[Xenith]

If you haven't played the game, or at least know the story of it, your enjoyment of this movie would be severely lowered, I believe.

Did you see the feature on the dvd that lets you catch up? They have pretty much the FF7 story on there from gameplay clips.

I haven't watched this closely but I've kinda seen it dozens of times now. It's been running on the tv at my store but I'm generally too busy taking in trade ins or selling games to watch it. So I don't know what's going on but the animation looks really sharp. I plan to try it out sometime and watch it. :)

[Nulien]

You say you're a FFVII fan, but you haven't finished the game yourself? It's only been out for nearly 9 years now... hurry up and finish it already!! :P

I just watched the DVD today, and I'll just say that I wasn't disappointed at all. If you liked FFVII, you should definitely see this.

[One-Winged Angel]

Well, see, I never owned the game...a few friends had it, and I saw it played over and over and over. When I see a game played that much, I never play it myself. I just enjoyed the story immensely, and I have played some of it. The gameplay in general was great as well. :) Oh, and glad to know about the catching up feature. I didn't know that was there.

[Lusayne]

Have to say that as i enjoyed the whole FF series, FFVII was a true work of art. One thing i loved about the story line, was like a great book you could go back and do it all over again, and find that you overlooked something in the sotry itself, some nuance that's easily passed by.

I remember in the game when Aerith is killed by Sephiroth in the forgotten city, I was SOooo Pissed, i'd spent all that time working her up, only to not be able to resurect her ( OOOHh Darn you OOhhhh!!! )

so the fight with Jenova was, more like revenge, i was Pissed.

flash forwards to the trailers at gamestop... i'm picking new games out and i hear... * you know it * Aerith's theme song, my head snaps up to the corner monitor.. and i'm thinking... NO way... they've never made a linear sequel... trailer continues. i'm still watching like a crackhead on a good toke. "it's a movie... holy ..Movie.. MOVIE "

so like everyone else been watching them post those release dates only to roll them back. finding screens on various websites.

after release, i can say, it was worth it. CGI - top notch. Voice talents for the dub version.... not abd ... although Sephiroth voice just didn't work for me, and i have to agree Caitsith's didn't agree with my ears as well.

but in regards to watching the japanese voice overs everything felt more true to spirit for myself. killer animation, nice work up on the soundscoring. One Winged Angel was a beautiful re interpretation.

Still the devotion to the story and to the elements that made FF VII a true classic was faithfully transfered over onto the film.
Loz was cool, though it was nice to see the Edge City battle with Bahammut Vs Cid, Tifa, Barrett, Red XIII, and family.. ( hehe )

yeah Kadaj was a punk but what can you expect.. her young, violent.. easily provoked.. that worked well for me.

overall any FF fan would prolly find this a good movie even compared to the game itself.

[KaiTenSatsuma]

i liked FF7, but i simply didnt enjoy this movie as much as everyone else did, i was kinda annoyed about the fact that so many unexplained things were thrown in, the virus, jenova's remains (how the hell did they get those? seriously) and these sons of jenova were thought up and never seen in the game, its like theyre simply making things up for the film.

Cloud has a new job, and for some reason has a bike that has space for about 10 swords in it, hard to imagine a delivery boy needing those though, barret is looking for alternate, good for the planet fuels but pulls out a hand cannon with a rail gun on it and 3 chain guns.... every character other than tifa, cloud, aerith and zack were pretty much so obscure youd think they only appear whenever theyre needed...which was once in the whole damn movie, with the exception of vincent since he showed up twice i think.

overall it was a decent movie, i just wish they had made it more understandable, and i pity the watcher who hadnt played FF7, they must have been completely lost.

oh right, wasnt midgar also completely covored over with plants when we finished with FF7? now its a busy city? wth?

[Kikaro]

oh right, wasnt midgar also completely covored over with plants when we finished with FF7? now its a busy city? wth?


It was, but in that scene, it was 400 years later. So this movie is before the scene at the end of the game.

[One-Winged Angel]

and these sons of jenova were thought up and never seen in the game, its like theyre simply making things up for the film.

Actually, if you remember, while wandering around the world, you would meet hooded figures in towns, and they had numbers or some such thing. They spoke of the Reunion. These, I think, were those children.

[Keaolien]

I didnt overly enjoy this movie to be honest. The CGI was simply mind-blowing, yes, and the characters we all know and love were there too.

However, never have I seen a more emo-ish, whiney badguy group in my life. I mean, it was literally to the point of me almost turning it off due to them alone. Sure, they were badass and fought well and such, but god....just shut up and fight already, quit yer cryin'!

Secondly, the one scene that really, REALLY bugged me......during the fight with Neo-Bahaumt, where Cloud jumps, and then is thrown over and over up into the air.....I know it is anime, I KNOW the laws of physics do not apply quite so strictly; but come on! Throwing him? Ok, maybe if you were firmly, 2 feet planted on the ground, sure, why not. But throwing him WHILE YOU ARE IN MID-FREAKING-AIR?? My poor girlfriend got to listen to me rant for like 20 minutes over that lol.

Anyways, all in all, I'd give it maybe a 4 out of 10, but thats just me. However, the CGI...10/10...god it was beautiful.

EDITED** due to my horrid spelling at 1:25am

[KaiTenSatsuma]

Actually, if you remember, while wandering around the world, you would meet hooded figures in towns, and they had numbers or some such thing. They spoke of the Reunion. These, I think, were those children.

thats a hell of a stretch to make, even if you made the game and make the rules of this. i do remember two children in nebelhem though, but there isnt really any sort of way that they should call the kid a familiar character (i dunno, on the back of my DvD they reffer to him as if he was a character you could play)

and i suppose i missed the detail on the 400 years later, took a lot of patience to sit that long at 10pm when i was 12, but then, what the heck was the point of that?

[Lucidino]

the virus, jenova's remains (how the hell did they get those? seriously) and these sons of jenova were thought up and never seen in the game, its like theyre simply making things up for the film.

The virus came from Sephiroth dying in the lifestream, jenova's head was in the northern crater(as where it was left in the game, I presume), and those sons of jenova being spirits of sephiroth. When the spirits attain enough of jenova's cells, from the victims of the virus, and from jenova's head itself, they turn into sephiroth.

It was all explained, albeit subtly.

[junior]

and i suppose i missed the detail on the 400 years later, took a lot of patience to sit that long at 10pm when i was 12, but then, what the heck was the point of that?

I think it was just to show you that nature even returned to Midgar, and the planet's existance continued on.

The movie opens with the exact same scene, btw, before shuttling you back to when the storyline takes place with a little note mentioning that it's 'X years earlier'.

[KaiTenSatsuma]

ok... imagine i take all of that bull at face value, that thats how everything was supposed to happen.... that STILL fails to explain itself, ESPECIALLY the 3 brothers, it really just seems to me as if they pulled this out of their ass to grab funds for FFXIII (which still looks like a crap load of CG to me)

and i guess thats one way of looking at it junior, i thought it had somthing to do with aeris about... i dunno, how shes living through her flowers.

many of you might think im trying to start a fight of flaming the thing, but it just doesnt make any damn sense to me, and after FFX-2 i think enix is just doing this to get quick money off of nostalgia.

[reploidx]

So i can agree with the people saying that the "sons of jenova" where whiny emo kids, cause literally, thats all they did;whine and cry. Half way through i was waiting for them to just start cutting themselves and write bad poetry. And to top it off, sephiroth is over-rated. Sure, he was in the seventh installment of final fantasy, but does he need to keep reappearing? I personally though six was superior, sure seven had a good story that i enjoyed, but six was longer if you played it right.
What i'm sick of all these kids now a days sitting here and obsessing over sephiraoth is that they say they enjoy te final fantasy series, when all they have played is seven and thats all. Go play the original one, the 8-bit no MP original up to six, before square grabbed enix and went downhill. I can also understand no-one playing 8 and X/X-2, those ones wheren't as good, and eleven isn't final fantasy, its a mmorpg.

So back to the movie, its very flashy and very very well done CG, but the story needs to stop after seven is finished, we all seen how x-2 made people cry (sure, the japanese love to play dress up games and such, but most rpg fans don't want to date boys to beat a game, we want to save the world, not a ghost boy) and i havn't played dirge of cerebus, but square needs to drop seven and move forward, and drop enix as well. Also, i agree with the jumping scene, as well as the final battle. If i want to watch Dragonball Z, i'll go to suncoast and buy the episodes thank you.

So to sum it up, i recommend renting the movie, unless your a die hard sephy lover and obcess way to much over him (like all the other 13 year olds that i've come across) And one other thing, arn't they supposed to be, what, 25? why the hell do they look 14?

[KaiTenSatsuma]

And one other thing, arn't they supposed to be, what, 25? why the hell do they look 14?

i have my own theory, that the cells of jenova are constantly reproducing, so fast that people who are made of sepiroth arent even aging at all, but maybe even growing younger!

that or a virtual plastic surgeon.

i dont know, if you get past all of the bad things (magic system... leveling was ok, especially if you played FFT, you were used to it) FF8 wasnt all that bad, but FFX...... i cant speak for anyone but myself on that one on how much i hated the game, im willing to try it again since i may have not been in an RPG mood when i played it.

but no matter how many moods i go through, FFX-2 just isnt up to par with just about any of the final fantasies, granted its still.... a game, and somthing to do if you have beaten all of your current games (fat chance, im still only level 122 on one character in Disgaea, i better get my ass to work, and Disgaea 2 is coming to my house today, or tomorrow, makai kingdom is here too and i need to find La Pucelle tactics to complete the collection -cackles- and im done with phantom brave, lack of NG+ was a bad idea, other than that i have about 90 games between 2 systems, so.... FFX-2 is never seeing the light of day pretty much)

and i do have to admit, too many people obsess over final fantasy without really knowing what it is, most have only played FF7 and deemed it the best game of all time and refuse to play the others, IMO they could have cleared up many of the bits of the story.... pheonix down on aeris? and biggs, wedge and jessie? soft on Red 13's father? and how long will it be before ALL of these failures beleive me that you can get yuffie before juno?! ive done it 5 times at least!

though i think Square Enix IS square soft america, i cannot help but agree that things have gone down-hill, i stress that in my review of FFXI in the opening sentances pretty much, my anger and hate for the word Enix is insatiable, but i still dont know why people didnt like bouncer, i guess i missed all the hype along with fable's hype.

nice picture of magus by the way.

[Tenolein]

My explaination of why some people enjoyed FFVII more than other FFs..

First off, it was the first FF game I've played. Only because it was FFs first 3D RPG.

Second, up to that point in my gaming career, it was the best storyline to any game I've played.. even though it was a fantasy/sci-fi.

I know these don't apply to the gamers that HAVE played the other FF RPGs, but I'm getting there..

And finally, for the first time, a major RPG got graphically enhanced, helping the players to fall in love with the characters even more so than previous RPGs. The cutscenes were awesome in that time, and gave characters more life. So, while the previous FFs may had a better storyline, battle and magic engines, FFVII visually gave the characters more life.

Those of us who loved FFVII, even more so than any other single-player RPG, have been crying for some sort of sequel, or revamped version of FFVII for years. So of course we were going to love Advent Children, no matter how cliche' the storyline was (bad guy's spirit comes back, causing good guy to come out of retirement).

As far as questions about how they did this or that.. Don't ask me. I beat FFVII only once, during the summer of '99, inbetween two-a-days of football practice. I didn't level up, or do any side quests/fights. I just played through the story line far enough to realize I pretty much needed the Knights of the Round materia to beat the game, so I did as much through breeding Chocobos, and then spent a LOT of time fighting and re-fighting the end bosses.

Bottom line, I loved the game, and loved the movie. Even though some aspects of both I didn't understand.

[KaiTenSatsuma]

meh, FF7 was the first RPG i played period, sure i played (and thuroughly enjoyed) BOF3 afterwards, this took me out of the mindset of "graphics" and put me into the mindset of "story" and "gameplay", a game doesnt need to be a visual miracle to be enjoyable, much less to express feelings, well placed music, character personality and events are much more effective than "ooooh, 3D", but it also needs to be weildy and playable without much difficulty, though im curious why you only started playing FF when it became 3D, and whats with the "even though it was sci-fi/fantasy? a story is a story, if it can make you feel what its saying its good then.

i suggest playing through some more 2D RPG games before saying "2D games suck" in so many words, i dont know about anyone else, but i thought that the story for FFT was far more compelling than FF7.

i was also very very dissapointed when S.E showed the remake of the FF7 opening on the next gen hardware, and then said they werent going to remake the game, so many bad decisions! so little time!

[Nanaki]

I always feared that Advent Children would have ended up being another Sephiroth vs Cloud showdown (Anyone keeping count on how many times Sephiroth 'died'?). Although, I am liking that they are also developing additional sequels/prequels to explain the other characters... I always found the sidestories more exciting than the main quest in FF7.

[sahails]

So.... I was very disappointed in FF7 as a game. Everyone told me how great it was and how much they loved!! it... I thought it sucked. :D And the movie... great animation, fabulous, also rather disappointing story-wise.

[Nanaki]

It depends a lot on your tastes as well... There are plenty of movies people say are awesome, but I had no like for. Same for plenty of movies that people did not like, that I happened to like. It all differs in the taste.

[bulldog]

It's even worth watching if you don't know the FF story line, it's easy to understand, so don't let that sort of stuff put you off. Watch it. ;)