Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children by Erigion

Also Known As: FF7: AC, FFVII: AC, Advent Children
Genre: Action
Format: 1 Movie
Allegiance: Square Enix
Director: Nomura Tetsuya, Nozue Takeshi
Vintage: 2005
Intelligence Agency Report by: Kuzu Ryu Sen
Two years have passed since the great conflict between AVALANCHE, Shinra, and Sephiroth concluded with the ferocious battle at the Northern Crater. Now, the world and Midgar are rebuilding under the guidance of a repentant Shinra Company. For Cloud and Tifa, who are running a delivery service and serving as mentors and older siblings to the neighbourhood orphans, life has become quite normal. Yet, there are some remnants from the struggle of two years prior, and they seek to revive old memories and force Reunion… at all costs.
Field Agent Report by: Erigion
Plot
Characters
Impact
Visual
Audio
1.00
0.50
3.00
9.75
9.50
Overall 5.50

I’ll be frank: I’m probably not the best person to be reviewing this movie because I haven’t played Final Fantasy VII. But with all the hype that it received, I thought that I should take a look at the movie. I know that hype doesn’t mean quality, but I hoped that Square-Enix could at least give me something enjoyable to watch. I also know that any decently written script shouldn’t leave the viewer grasping at straws trying to understand the plot or characters. Square did give me something enjoyable to watch, but sadly it left me grasping at straws when it came to the plot.

The first thing you notice about Advent Children is the visual aspect: this is CGI at its best. Square-Enix spared no expense when it came to the visual aspects of Advent Children – everything is detailed, from the characters to the sky to the dirt on the ground. No visual detail is missed in this movie – the characters move smoothly, their hair is always windswept, metal shines, and sparks fly. The fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed and a joy to watch. I could probably watch this movie over and over again just for the animation alone. The second thing you notice about the movie is the impressive sound. The music just fits with the movie, from the sound effects in battle to the score used during the more dramatic moments. The voice acting was also done quite w ell considering the lack of dialog. However, it is obvious that Square-Enix blew most of the budget on the technical aspects of the movie.

Sadly, Advent Children is not well written: the plot is vaguely explained, the back-story is nearly nonexistent, the main characters receive no development at all, and completely useless side characters are introduced with little rhyme or reason. The plot, if you could call it that, was an interpretation of your reluctant hero forced to fight to defend his home and friends. Apparently, the bad guys don’t even need a plausible reason to destroy the world. They just want to reunite with something that they think is their “mother” for no real reason.

When the plot is as weak as it is in Advent Children you hope that the characters would make up for it, but this was not the case. There is little background and development for the main character Cloud. We don’t learn why he does not want to fight and it’s not really explained as to why he ends up fighting again. There is absolutely no background and no development for the rest of the cast. In fact, most of Cloud and Tifa’s friends are left unnamed, which leaves me completely clueless as to who they are and what Cloud and Tifa mean to them. While there may not be enough time in this movie to develop all of the characters, I expect that the main character would receive some reasonably explained development.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed looking at and listening to Advent Children. However, great technical aspects can only take a movie so far. You need to have some substance behind that style in order to have a good film.