Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Review

Visually, this movie is stunning! The graphics are completely amazing! I seriously have not experienced CG Animation work so perfect! Square Enix spent quite a bit of money on this project, and I have to assume it paid off! Japan alone purchased millions of copies! It’s hard to imagine a more perfect sequel to Final Fantasy VII, one of the most beloved games of the franchise. Well, I can imagine one, but the only real difference is that it is a playable video game! Square! You need to make a new Final Fantasy VII! Whether you create a PS3 version of the original game, or you make a great sequel. You just need to do it! I miss these characters too much and I don’t always have the chance to play my PSOne!

…Anyhoo… I just can’t get over how gorgeous this movie is! It’s completely flawless to the eye! But that’s not even the best part! The fight scenes are so well crafted and interesting to watch! The first scene, Tifa’s fight scene, and many more! All fans of the game will have to be excited to see it all! Alright, let’s just dive into the review.

Let’s start with the music. The music of FFVII: AC is such an exciting throwback to the original video game! There are quite a few new pieces involved in the movie, as well, but my favorite part was, again, in Tifa’s fight scene. There are two pieces of music that call our memories back to those silly little polygonal characters running around! If only to say the least, the music fits the movie and the movie fits the music. But it’s really so much more than that! Not only does it all fit together overall, but each scene has different music that works perfectly for that particular scene! It’s really all well-placed! I couldn’t have done a review without talking about the music. It simply would not have been fair at all! I’m certain I’m leaving something else out, but oh well. Time to move on…

The storyline is of course one of the most important aspects of this movie. The writers must have expected it to go under some major scrutiny from the fans. Those writers, in turn, did not even come near disappointing! There are a few things that I wish were a bit different, but all I would really do is make the movie longer and add more fighting or something. I would mangle the entire thing out of sheer excitement! So, I suppose it’s best I wasn’t consulted on this project. But who of us wouldn’t love to see a Final Fantasy VII movie that lasts as long as the game?? Possibly a movie incarnation of the original game, itself!? Alright, let’s talk about something else before I bore you with all of my plans.

The characters, of course, are the characters from the game, but that’s possibly one of the most difficult things to live up to. Again, I’m not disappointed. Tifa is most certainly Tifa, Cloud is most certainly Cloud, Barrett is Barrett, and that’s the way it should be. Of course, one of the things I would have loved most is to see the other characters more. Especially Yuffie! She makes me laugh!

Now, I know I talked about the fight scenes earlier on, but they’re to die for! The surreal environment makes for some really cool tricks and the CG aspect makes for a better picture of what’s going on. They didn’t have to deal with the limitations of conventional equipment because it’s just animations. Still, on a great many occasions, I found I was asking myself “How did they do that??” That’s how great the CG really is! It’s like watching a live action movie, except they can do a lot more amazing things this way! That last comment proves true only if you actually watch the movie. You’ll find that it’s better than a great number of movies out there in terms of action!

Alright, let’s get to the scores

Plot receives nine out of ten

Graphics receive a fifteen out of ten (They’re THAT good! I’m not exaggerating in the slightest!)

Characters get a nine out of ten. Sadly, there just weren’t enough scenes with all the characters.

Music gets a nine out of ten

Overall, that leaves us with a score of forty-two out of forty! Thanks to the beautiful graphics, we beat our maximum score! YAY US!

Before I end this review, I just want to make sure everyone out there understands: In order to truly love this movie as I did, you will most likely need to be a fan of the game Final Fantasy VII. I mean, it’s not necessarily true, though. I watched this with my brother who has never played an FF game in his life, except for a tiny bit of FFX, and he thought it was really cool. He was stunned by the incredible graphics and the awesome fight scenes. So, I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but I know that familiarity with these characters and their previous journey really helps you feel attachment toward them. Even so, I would still recommend all of you go out there and buy it!