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Directed by: Tetsuya Nomura Starring: Takahiro Sakurai, Ayumi Ito, Shotaro Morikubo (Japanese version) After the fiasco of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and the resulting shutdown of Square Pictures, it's anyone's guess as to why Square decided to risk a lot of money on another full-length film (although this is direct to video), even if they would play it safe and return it to the world of FFVII, arguably their most popular game ever. But they did, and the results are pretty good- and this is coming from a reviewer who couldn't stand the game. Advent Children chronicles the lives of Cloud, Tifa and the other characters of the game (Except one, obviously) two years later. Living in a partially rebuilt Midgar, people are being affected by a strange sickness known as Geostigma. To make matters worse, three mysterious men bearing a strange resemblance to Sephiroth have shown up and are demanding the return of 'Mother'. Cloud is thrust into a conflict with these guys, there's some talking, old characters resurface, everybody fights, and many things blow up. It's hard to believe that this is a straight-to-video release, because the effort put into this movie's animation is astounding. The characters really look more belivable and capable of emotion this time around, and the battle scenes are a rush- everything is fast, over-the-top and a tour de force to look at when things heat up, especially in the film's excellent second half. Unfortunately, while this is a film that will definitely make longtime fans of the game giddy, everyone else will have problems. A bigger effort should have been made to let people who are unfamiliar with the setting and characters get an idea of what was going on. Things don't need to be as intricate and tied to past events as they end up. And even though the big scene featuring the return of many beloved characters will have the fans cheering, it also makes one wish that there was a bit more about what they had been doing. The slow, dialogue-heavy first half focuses mainly on Cloud, Tifa and the villains. Others show up, but there is literally no time spent filling in what they've been doing for two years, where they've been, or how they changed. It ends up feeling as nothing more than fanservice. Also, while the fights are a joy to look at, they're sometimes too much to take in. While not a victim of the shaky-cam in so many of today's films, things often simply go by too fast. Important shots last half a second, and characters zoom past the screen. One can't help but feel that the crew wanted a little TOO much action. All these things do not ruin an otherwise decent experience. Those unfamiliar with the game will at least have something pretty to look at, while everyone else will feel like they're seeing an old friend in a whole new way. RATING: 3.5 PROS: Phenomenal CG; Good action sequences; A joy for fans CONS: Those with little background knowledge will be lost; some fights go by too quick to see ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://na.square-enix.com/dvd/ff7ac/
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Sep 13, 2005 02:50
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This is the movie that Spirits Within should have been. A few notes of interest should definitely include replaying the game before watching this film. As the original review states, those with little background knowledge will certainly have a difficult time understanding just what's going on. While it would seem natural that the movie is geared towards fans of the game, it's important to realize that this is also a film at the same time. While fans will understand what is happening, your average viewer that wants to see cool fight scenes will not understand the concept of materia, Bahamut, or even who the Hell the characters are. The major flaw here is that the movie simply assumes that everyone played the game and knows exactly what's going on. I had played it, so it was not a huge deal for me. However, it's a film first and foremaost, and a game adaption second. That aside, I find very little not to enjoy here. All of your favorite characters are back for an all-out brawl, and you even see Cait Sith ride Red XIII like a donkey. If that isn't amusing, I don't really know what to say to help you here. The animation is, at the very least, breathtaking. Even if they lack in plot sometimes (as with the previous FF movie), SquarEnix definitely knows their computer animation. There were multiple times where I was not even paying attention to the subtitles because of the sheer beauty of what was on-screen. Until Blizzard decides to make a feature-length film, I think it's safe to say that Final Fantasy is the king of this realm. As with the original review, the fights were amazing. However, they did suffer quite a bit from the standard Japanese "one-frame-per-attack" style. It was hardly enough to detract from the quality of the film, but with battles of such an awesome calibur as these, it leaves the viewer wishing he could see more of them. I didn't feel it was too much of a problem, as it's certainly no different than, say, the Matrix movies and whatnot. Overall, it was extremely satisfying to see everything happening while tearing Midgar up in the process. The final fight was especially intense and makes the whole movie worth it alone. My major complaint with the ending is it's the standard cop-out seen in Japanese cinema. It's just so "meh." You have this entire movie of action and fighting leading up to this one point, and it turns out to be sort of ungratifying. It's certainly not as bad as some I've seen, but it was enough to leave me wishing for more and ultimately knocking the film down a half of a point. Overall, this is just the movie Final Fantasy VII fans have been waiting for, and even those who have never played the game can enjoy the brilliant CGI and fight sequences. 4.5/5
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Sep 13, 2005 05:40
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As far as video game movies are concerned, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the best by a mile. While to some that may mean less than nothing, to many gamers it should mean a whole lot. The past has shown us that Square is capable of making mistakes, as evidenced by the FF: Spirits Within feature film. With regard to FF: SW, Square tried too hard to make an actual stand-alone movie, something that was Final Fantasy only in name. However, with FFVII: AC, Square-Enix did exactly what they needed to meet the expectations of their fans and to provide kickass action for those new to the legendary Square title. I will echo the sentiment that if you're unfamiliar with FFVII, FFVII: AC will most likely seem disorienting. It appears Square-Enix expects you to have played and thoroughly understood the intricacies of FFVII's plot to make sense of the events that transpire in the film, and if you haven't, well you're out of luck. (Ex: You will see flashbacks of a character named Zack; however, they never say his name during the movie or explain who he is. They just assume you know.) With that said, if you are well-read in the plot and relationships of the characters of FFVII, Advent Children should be everything that you should expect to happen in the span of an hour and a half. You get to see your favorite party members return, you see the development of Cloud's ambivalence and guilt, and you even get to see a few surprises (hopefully). This isn't even mentioning the sheer amount of badassery and action that pervades the second half of the movie (and while the first is a tad slow, it's not devoid of anything meritorious). The ending is a little tepid, but it could be a lot worse. Considering how horribly Square-Enix could have handled this project, it amazes me that they succeeded as well as they did (even despite the over-the-topness of it all). Bottom line: Don't expect the second coming of Christ, because this movie isn't. Square-Enix did the best they could with the time they were given, and I don't think they could have legimitately or substantially expanded the FFVII universe in 90 minutes. If you can overlook these shortcomings, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is definitely awesome when all things are considered. Whether it's the remixed/orchestrated FFVII music, the mouth-watering CG, or the ridiculous fight scenes, Advent Children will leave you feeling satisfied at the very least. 5/5 if you are a fan that's not expecting Jesus in a can 4/5 if you appreciate action. 4EVA fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Sep 14, 2005 |
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Sep 13, 2005 06:13
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As far as video games movies are concerned, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the very best. But only as far as video game movies are concerned. This movie has all the writtings of fanservice on it. The appearence of the main characters from VII were not really explained in any way except that they are suddenly here to help, and square trys to make you forget that with another fast paced action sequence directly after they all show up. To a fan of the game, it's a chance to finally see your favorite characters again in a new setting. To a serious filmgoer, it harkens back to the appearence of Chewbacca in Star Wars, Episode III. They're there just for show, and so the fans will cheer. Fanservice at its finest. Speaking of the fast paced action sequences, don't expect anything but the very best of what Japan has been putting out of late. There is nothing real about these fights, not the techniques, not the weaponry, not the physics, not the pace; and if that bothers you, then don't bother. There's limit breaks, impossible swordplay, and bullet time galore. That said, the action is fast paced, and there is only one prolonged noticeable powering up. On the plus side, the movie is exciting and well animated. It has all the things that fans are looking for in terms of characters, and seeing those characters fight again on the tiny psp screen. But the action does not salvage this movie from mere videogame moviedom. It's still, at an objective standpoint, poorly put together, unexplained, and tacked on. It suffers from all the trappings of being a sequel, and it really doesn't have a fleshed out, full story. If it were a game to play it would be somewhere between Halo 2, and Half-life 2 in terms of ending, there's not a real ending to the movie, and if you think about the causes of the movie and the ending, you'll find that nothing was accomplished. All in all, the movie was really just ok. I would put it on the same level as the new star wars films, in that the action was fun and cool..but the storyline, dialogue, and thematic devices were poorly contrived, and poorly executed. 2.5/5.
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Sep 13, 2005 17:04
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Pros: Breathtaking CGI, amazing fights Cons: Appeals far too much to fanboys, even though they're amazing, the fights get repetitive, Characters are extremely annoying, Plot doesn't really accomplish anything This is the best video game movie yet, but that's not saying much. 2.5/5
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Sep 13, 2005 21:20
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The problem with this movie was that it tried to attach some metaphysical bullshit to an extremely well done animated movie. It's kind of like when the Matrix got shittier with its sequels. The CG in this film is astounding but not without its faults (look for some very awkward rag doll animation in wide shots or shots with a lot of characters, and gimpy hands) but still blows everything made before this out of the park. The plot "makes sense" but assumes you know enough about the game already to be watching the movie. So if you have passing knowledge of who the characters are or what's going on it'd be more palatable, but if you didn't, this one would be a stinker. As another plus, I thought the music and sound effects were excellent. I'd give this movie a 5 for technical achievement, but a 3 for plot (less, if I didn't know something about this game and the fact that you need prior knowledge), so that results in a 4 and that's how I'd keep it.
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Sep 14, 2005 00:56
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I just downloaded and watched it and was by far surprised, after the problems that Final Fantasy the Spirits Within had I was sure this was gonna be a flop. Besides from the obvious problems like the fact that gravity doesnt seem to effect them in battles at all and the fact they can block bullets with a sword, the story running way too fast and the fact that the story wouldnt make a hint of sense to somebody who hadnt played the game it was well done. The voice acting and animating of actors was overall pretty well done, they actually seemed to show facial emotions pretty well except for in a few scenes. They really didnt go into depth much but from what I gathered Tifa is married to Cloud and they have a son named Denzel. Pros: Great CGI, Gives you that connection you had to the original game, Great music Cons: Story ran way to fast really needed to be a 3 part mini series, no such thing as gravity and dont even get me started on the motorcycle battle. 3.5/5
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Sep 14, 2005 19:28
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ADVENT CHILDREN has some the best choreographed and most inventive fight scenes I've ever seen committed to cinema. While the story did not follow the ebbs and flow of a typical film as it was more of a fanservice execution, it was still cinematic in so many ways. From the art direction and the usual Japanese flairs such as floating petals and poetic usage of water and clouds, ADVENT CHILDREN is definitely one of the most ambitious animated films ever. Obviously, with no outside influences such as Hollywood, ADVENT CHILDREN is a pure work of Square's CG genius and I can't wait to see more.
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Sep 14, 2005 19:55
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Hmm. I'm not sure exactly what to think. The fanservice (in the form of seeing most of your favourite characters) was enjoyable to a Final Fantasy fan such as myself, but some of these characters have less than 3 lines in the whole movie. Two characters get a lot of lines, and spend half of the time in the form of comedy relief, which isn't really a bad thing I guess. The fights weren't done too well. They move far too quick and stiffly. A lot of it you can tell it's animated because it just looks out of place. It's not the fact that they break the laws of physics constantly, or that the fights might as well have been taken out of Dragon Ball Z (minus the 20 minute powering up sequences). The characters jump around like they have no weight, with wooden joints. Even in live action movies, speeding up fight scenes makes it look unnatural, yet even with the ability to animate it however they want, so do the fight scenes in FFVII:AC. The slow motion parts usually look a bit better animated, but they really could have put some more work on the fast parts. Considering there was a fair bit of fighting, watching them badly animated spoiled it a little. Ignoring the lack of fluidity in fight scenes, the movie was animated well, and the graphics were really good. The story had a lot of plot holes in it as it was; This movie would make little sense for someone who had never played the game. The ending wasn't explained too well, and the weird sephiroth clone/spirit things just seemed to have too much power for what they are. The music was too quiet for my taste. I liked hearing some of the familiar songs from the game, but I would have preferred it a little louder. Maybe that's just due to RPGs usually having the music loud enough that you can hear it without specifically listening for it. The victory fanfare makes a strange, almost humourous, appearance. If you never played FF7, you might enjoy this more for the Spirits Within-esque graphics and the fight scenes. If you did, you might enjoy it more for the fanservice and a small amount of extra story. 3/5
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Sep 14, 2005 21:45
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I found myself not feeling too much about the movie in general at the end. When I first heard of Advent Children I thought it'd be nice to see the characters reanimated (of the characters in all the Final Fantasy games, I still remember VII's the fondest). At the same time I hoped it wouldn't be a disappointment, yet at the same time thinking it probably would be if people's expectations were high enough. So by the time Advent Children came out I'd had a mixed feeling about it. Starting off, it seemed animated well enough when showing the same scene that was shown right at the end of FFVII. However, throughout the movie it seemed that logic, cohesion and dynamics stood out as discrepancies. Without being too specific, the discrepancies in the logic and cohesion applied to parts of the movie where abilities existed where they really shouldn't have been. A particular "summoning" to be a little more precise. The dynamics were another issue entirely. The first fight didn't do anything for me, and I wondered why it looked so wrong (besides the fact that they used random speeding up of the action -- slow motion bits are common in cinema, but speeding up rarely looks good -- and there was a lot of that in Advent Children). After finishing the movie I re-watched the first fight to see what that element was (as it was the least defying of dynamics). Weight distribution and power were the major points. The characters were far too "light" in that when running they seemed like they were floating across while just barely touching the ground. Even when one character jumped on the foe's face, there was no weight in the jump -- imagine how that is when the damage that's meant to be dealt is based on the weight and intensity of the jump. The same character did a leap-charge at the enemy that entailed a brief step before launching. In the movie, the step barely touched the ground before they pounded into the enemy skittle-style. Logic implies that to launch yourself at someone hard you'd need to gather sufficient power to do so -- which involves a bit of time before launching. Nope, full speed float the entire way. As for the characters, I found the Turks likeable as always and they seemed to get the most screentime besides Cloud. I'm fairly disappointed with how little screentime the other main characters of the game got though. The movie focuses almost entirely on Cloud, with Tifa's lines being "Cloud <insert something>" and "<insert something> Cloud". Most of the other characters only had two or three lines and maybe 10 seconds of time. Overall I found Advent Children okay. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it wasn't all that great either. Seeing the characters reanimated was nice, but the story was haphazard while filled with fairly poorly done fights. The voice acting seemed decent and fit the characters, though character err, characteristics were off. I wouldn't really recommend this movie to someone who didn't play or enjoy Final Fantasy VII. For those who haven't played it, you wouldn't have a clue what the hell is going on in the movie (or who some characters are since they never mention their names or relations). For those who haven't enjoyed the game, the movie won't change your mind. However, if you really liked the game, it might be worth taking a look at just to see some characters again, but don't expect anything special. Rating: 3/5 I still wonder how they got the dynamics so wrong here when there haven't been any major issues in their other CG though.
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Sep 14, 2005 22:56
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Personally, I would have been disappointed if Square-Enix had made a movie intended to be a sequel (or, real ending, if you will) that required no knowledge of the other story line. Yes, it is lacking in it's own story, but it connects so well with the established story of FFVII, that it does not require a whole lot on it's own. The fight scenes are amazing. Period. You cannot even begin to grasp the sheer level of awesome in the final battle (and every other, for that matter). When each of the characters from the game appears, one after another, you just can't help but saying "Oh hell yes". They don't have much interaction, but their placement in the movie just makes it more complete. I was blown away by this movie. 5.5/5
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Sep 15, 2005 05:48
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The fight scenes and CGI are indeed amazing, probably the best I've ever seen. It's just a pity that the plot was an hour of fanservice and some incomprehensible stuff you didn't care about. I mean, for fucks sake, they have a piano version of the random battle theme in a fight, complete with a victory theme at the end. It might satisfy people who have rows of FFVII action figures in their apartment, but it's a lovely choice in all other possible ways. 3.5/5
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Sep 15, 2005 12:04
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Best fight scenes ever, I would've like to have seen more of the other characters though.
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Sep 15, 2005 18:43
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2.5 I loved the game, but this movie was pretty sucky, but it gets points for good animation.
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Sep 15, 2005 20:23
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This movie suffered from a variety of flaws. And I'm going to be putting spoilers in here, BTW. First off, the music did not flow together. It seems that they reused a lot of music from the game and just remixed it; nothing wrong with that. However, in the game there are vast periods of "map wandering time" to tie together two different theme songs. In the movie, songs were abruptly switching and at times, seemed VERY out of place. Some of the first couple battles suffered from horribly chosen music, IMO. Also, the battle with sephiroth contained One Winged Angel, which is a really good theme song. Inexplicably, however, they decided to throw in some squealing guitars to make the song more "x-treme." What the gently caress. It was good before; no need to gently caress it up. The entire movie seemed to be one big thing of incomprehensible dialogue, and then right after that a huge heaping of battle. I think the "last" battle was about 25 minutes long, and it got old pretty fast, especially since everyone involved in the battle was A) invincible and B) unbound by any physical laws. What's the fun in watching a battle when you realize that no one can get hurt until the running time of the movie's almost over? Argh. Finally, the bullshit with the other characters. As said earlier, the first half of the movie is almost completely dominated by Cloud and Tifa, with a tiny bit of Vincent thrown in for kicks. Out of nowhere, however, appear ALL the rest of the gang. I don't know how they all decided that it was reunion time, but they did, and they all gave their help to Cloud.... by helping him jump up high in the air. Yes, no one does ANYTHING in this movie except for Cloud. He kills the summon, blows through a fireball (which mysteriously does not hit the city... it's not shown to disappear either), kills Sephiroth, kills the gang, protects Tifa, and races on motorcycles. NO ONE ELSE DOES poo poo. The only reason this movie is getting over 1 star is because I laughed when they threw in the victory music as a cellphone ringtone and the graphics were very well done. 1.5 / 5 Bi Barbarian fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Sep 17, 2005 |
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Sep 17, 2005 21:17
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I played Final Fantasy VII for the first time back in 1997. Since then, I've been waiting for Square to somehow clarify or extend the ending of the game. You can look at this movie from two points: first, as the long awaited epilogue of the videogame, and second, as a movie. People who haven't played the videogame will be confused by things such as Jenova, Sephiroth, the Lifestream and such. This movie is made for all the fans who played the game and have been expecting some kind of sequel since they finished it. The story is an extension of the one in the game. It is not supossed to stand alone, and frankly, if you haven't played the game, or are too lazy to try and understand the plot of it, then you won't understand this movie. The action scenes are ridiculously over the top, and I wouldn't have them any other way. This movie is not supossed to be realistic or serious: it is a sci-fi/fantasy story, and when you start watching it, you must be prepared to accept stuff such as beasts that appear out of nowhere, fights that put The Matrix to shame, and incredible obscure references to the game. The animation is extremely detailed, and the music by Nobuo Uematsu fits the scenes as well as it did with the game. In short: if you're one of the people who played the game, or you're willing to put some effort in understanding the story behind the movie, then you will enjoy it. If you're one of the people who just like to hate movies based on how "realistic" they are, then I suggest you go watch some movie about the ivory trade in the XIX century. 4.5/5 Kal-L fucked around with this message at 09:01 on Sep 18, 2005 |
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Sep 18, 2005 08:47
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I agree with BiterAtmonk 100%. The artwork and action was very, very well done. For that, I'll give this movie a 2.5, but it lacks everything else a movie should have. From story, to dialogue, it falls horribly, horribly short. I cannot, with a clean mind, give this a three or above. I'm not even a huge fan, even though I've played through 7, I just wanted a good movie, and I was left wanting. Honestly, I enjoyed Spirits Within more than this.
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Sep 18, 2005 20:11
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i, personally, was let down by this movie. after seeing numerous amounts of trailers, screenshots, publiclity etc. for this movie i became overly excited. after seeing it in all its glory, i was sad to say that i wasn't impressed. however, this is coming from someone who has little knowledge of the game and its complex backstory. i've never actually played any FF title, i've only ever watched the being played. so the only real aspect i could grasp from his movie was seeing characters from a game i enjoyed watching years before in new kickass CG-movie style. regardless of how lost i was in the plot, the amazing animation and fightscenes took my breath away. that and clouds hair. rating: 3.0/5 pros: fightscenes that kicked my rear end and CG that made my mouth hurt. cons: i had no clue what the hell was going on.
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Sep 19, 2005 19:57
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BiterAtmonk basically echoes my sentiments, excepted I rated it a tad higher. 2/5. Not to incite anything by saying this (mostly because it is my personal opinion): to me, the movie felt like FFVII. A lot of pretty graphics, but no real substance. As in VII, there's no real character development; unlike FFVII, moreover, there's no plot development. The cg is excellent. I cannot help but marvel at the amount of work that had to be put into making this. Attention to detail is awesome. The fight scenes are excellent. ...well, except for that aforementioned HUGE plothole in the summon battle. It really felt like fanservice, which would make sense, as it IS part of a huge line of movie and video game side-stories and prequels. That's good if you were a huge fan of VII. Obviously, I wasn't. I guess I was wrong to look forward to something more.
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Sep 22, 2005 00:12
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I gave this a 3.5/5. It was so action driven to the point that they could not go into detail explaining and developing the plot without extending it to a boring 2+ hours. That said, the action was great (a little too fast in some scenes), but I cannot help but feel Advent Children would have been better as a video game than a movie. Also, I felt that the story line was more of the same. And some of the scenes were not necessary to the film, including the fight that all of the FFVII crew showed up for. It should be mentioned that I'm a huge FFVII fan, and so I enjoyed this movie. I would not recommend it to anyone that did not appreciate FFVII, though.
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Sep 23, 2005 00:44
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I loved the movie, the animation was AMAZING, just as everyone has already mentioned. However I agree that it was disappointing to see the lack of background regarding some of the characters like Cid, Yuffie and Red XIII. In addition to that, I personally felt the story go by way too quickly. In the game of FFVII it seems like months go by over the course of the story. Advent Children however, only seems to take place over a couple of days, which is understandble since it's a movie, not a game. But still, it'd be nice to have a longer story. 5
Clown Meadows fucked around with this message at 08:07 on Sep 30, 2005 |
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Sep 23, 2005 06:32
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I enjoyed this movie, but only because I was a fan of FF7 and because I set my expectations low. The computer graphics are pretty drat good, but not amazing. The environments in this movie are pretty breathtaking, and they did a pretty all right job making anime-styled playstation era 3D characters look more realistic, but the character animation was still clunky at times, and some of the minor characters don't look too impressive. The plot doesn't make any sense, but in more or less the same way the plot of FF7 doesn't make sense. Also, the action sequences are simultaneously awesome and absolutely retarded. The final battle is kind of what a Dragonball Z fight might look like if it was made with an enormous budget utilizing an animation studio. I kind of wish they toned it down a bit and made it just mostly of over the top (like the first few action sequences) rather than completely over the top to the point of stupidity. edit: I should add that, if you detach yourself from the FF7 franchise and critique this movie on its own, it's bad. Really bad. Beautiful, but mindlessly confusing, pretentious, awkward, poorly editted, and bad. 2.0/5 GuyGizmo fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Mar 6, 2007 |
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Sep 25, 2005 10:00
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The movie was based entirely around pleasing a fan base and not on any attempt to actually make a decent movie. The main enemies arent even explained. The editing is weird, at one point Cloud is on top of a building and then then next second is on his motorcycle chasing someone. The music, while enjoyale, did not fit the fight scenes at all. Also, the ending fight scene doesn't make all that much sense. I was barely less confused after watching a subbed version than I was from watching the un translated trailer. 1/5
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Sep 27, 2005 22:56
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Unfortunately, fanboys of the series will rant and rave about this film, as if the second-coming of Christ is upon us. I disagree with them, and not because I am some internet hard-rear end looking to pick fights. Fanboy or not, use some common sense and please try to understand this film could have been so much more. Take one look at the original plot depth of FF7 and its characters, the obviously large budget spent on this film, and the staff that Square-Enix put to work on this project. Now step back and marvel at the finished project. This film was made solely for fans of the game, since it presumes you know a great deal about the background of the original game (to even be up-to-speed with the happenings of the movie), and that's not a good thing. That's quite a sell-out. There's no reason this film couldn't have catered to a broader scale audience, and no reason it couldn't have focused on the story development rather than perfectly rendering "Arbitrary Fight Scene 07". Instead, Advent Children was simply seeing familiar game characters dash around, either on motorcycles, or perhaps leaping through the sky, always managing to clash swords or shoot guns. Hate to tell you this, but all the technical virtuoso of the world doesn't make a movie "good" if the audience doesn't feel anything for the characters. There was no motivation for half the poo poo that goes on in the film, or for that matter, no real suspense. I guess the big presumption is, just because I cared about "character X" in the game, which was years ago, I therefore must definitely care about what "character X" does in the movie. No, that doesn't work. It not only clumsy writing, it is just bad writing. I felt this film was needlessly masturbatory; the fight scenes WERE, as far as i'm concerned, the movie. Flashy, stylized, and over-the-top, and ultimately pointless. Advent Children has about as much "plot development" as an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine. 1/5, and that's only of the technical CG achievement of the film.
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Sep 30, 2005 07:56
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I'm a FFVII fanboy. I went into AC expecting the same slow, somewhat confusing plot, the same morose and one-emotion characters, the same evil ultra-badass villians who are evil for the sake of being evil, and amazing CG that Square has delivered over and over again during the last few years. I got everything I expected, and more. I loved all of it. The movie is made for the fans, and no one else. Everyone I've talked to about this said they agreed that the plot and dialogue were lacking, but that they were in the game, too. It brings back a feeling of nostalgia, which is what made the movie great. All the fanservices they threw in Fanfare, posters in the slums, mog dolls, all returning characters, all the action, all the incredible detail put into the animation and choreography of fights, was all a labor of love for the fans. If you didn't play the game, or knew little of it, I wouldn't expect you to understand a lot of what's going on, and I'd expect you to go "Wow, confusing! But pretty." The FFVII fanboy in me gives it a 5.5 The movie watcher in me gives it a 3.5
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Oct 3, 2005 00:08
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Advent Children is really, really bad. The CG is decent most of the way through, but the animation looks very awkward at several points during action sequences, and the visuals never get anywhere near impressive. The "amazing" fight scenes are not only badly choreographed, but are completely ruined by spastic half-second ADD jump-cuts and the fact that the characters actually move like they're in a Final Fantasy game. Everybody is weightless and completely ignores the laws of physics, which I guess is supposed to make everything over-the-top in a cool way, but it just makes all the action look incredibly fake and lovely. I didn't expect the slightest bit of realism and I was still amazed by how stupid the fights looked. 0.5/5
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Oct 8, 2005 08:39
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I played FF VII, and liked it but am not one of the huge obssessed fans of it. This movie seriously appeals to people who liked the game, but can probably get confusing to those who don't. The fight scenes were pretty fun, even if you can't follow everything. A little bit of Japanese humor I didn't laugh at, but the fights were cool and definantly succeeded in the whole "let's make people who liked FF VII smile and feel special for getting all the little things". 4.5/5 for fans 2.5/5 for anyone who never played FF VII. When all the teamates were jumping out of the plane I got all excited and felt ashamed. That whole BAHAMUT scene did get me all happy and poo poo.
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Oct 8, 2005 18:48
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This could have been a great movie, I loved the animation but as a standalone movie it just doesn't work. The second half of the movie deteriorates into a fight-fest with characters appearing with little or no introduction. I appreciate that fans of FFVII will know these characters and their history, but the movie should have attempted to integrate characters in a way that those unfamiliar with FFVII could appreciate. The fist half of the movie showed promise, with dialogue between the main characters and some effort to accommodate viewers that had not played FFVII. However after the second half of the movie I was left thinking, if they had not showed as much fighting and focused on the characters and their plight then this movie would have been a lot better. I agree with much stated previously, if you are a fan of FFVII then this movie will probably appeal to you. If you have never played FFVII I would recommend playing the game first or simply not watching the movie. Rating: 2.5 (but 4 for fans of VVII)
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Oct 11, 2005 12:15
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As someone who only played the game once but thought it was decent, Advent Children felt like Tetsuya Nomura's love letter to FF7 fanboys -- especially when the entire cast propelled Cloud upwards -- past a skyscraper and through a fireball -- to kill the Shadow Weapon or whatever that big monster was. Still a decent movie on the whole, but I'd be lost if I had never played the game. At least the final battle didn't include a 10-minute cinematic of the solar system being destroyed just to get at three people. 3.5/5, subtract two points if you know nothing about or hate FF7.
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Oct 24, 2005 18:34
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veonenergee posted:pros...CG that made my mouth hurt. Geostigma? Materia? Midgar? Mother? What the flying gently caress? This is just one language that I don't understand since I never played the game. 5.5 on looks 1.0 on brains
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Oct 27, 2005 21:45
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I barely understood what was going on(and i've played the game) but it was so goddamn ridiculous that it was pretty fun to watch 2.5
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Oct 29, 2005 08:54
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I just saw this today. I found it to be everything I'd hoped it would be, but I also found myself very bummed at the ending. I know it was the "right" ending, but I just felt it sort of abrupt. Visually, it was astoundingly beautiful. Everything and everyone looked right, it was good to see final fantasy 7's hairstyles being made by real hair. Excellent, but too short. 4/5
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Oct 31, 2005 00:27
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Since I am a fan I'm giving it a 4.5, but that's only because A) I played the game a few years ago, which is good for any fans in that the movie doesn't waste time making you feel for the characters; you pretty much already do. B) The action scenes were the best I've ever seen in any movie, ever. If I'm watching an action movie with crazy magic and talking red dogs and dragons, I don't care if the characters are realistic. I want them to defy gravity and look cool while doing it. (Though I will admit everyone giving Cloud a boost was loving cheesy as hell) C) It's not really a standalone movie, it's a continuation to the story. I appreciate collective works more than individual chapters, if that makes sense. What I didn't like about it was that no characters really died, and ones that did weren't really. In the beginning it's kind of a shock to find out Elena and Tseng die, but then they're back by the end. None of the fights are any sort of big deal either, because the only characters that die by the end are the three Sephiroth clones that we didn't even give a poo poo about. In fact, wasn't Tseng dead? What the hell? They also resurrected Rufus, though in an understandable way, but then went a bit too far; he was blown to hell by this ungodly powerful blast, and he doesn't even have a scratch after his bandages fall away? Umm, what? I also understand all of the Aeris stuff, but did they really need to show Zack in the end, too? That's just like a everything-turned-out-fine overkill. These flaws alone should knock it down to like a 3, but the action sequences were just that good that it bumps it up 1.5 points. (Oh, and if I wasn't a fan I'd give it like a 2.0 for not having any idea what was going on)
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Nov 3, 2005 05:18
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Despite the awesome and absurdly over the top battle scenes, the movie isn't terribly great in terms of plot, dialogue, and stuff like that... but as my friend said, despite that, it's a HELL of a lot of fun to watch if you're a fan of the game. You'll be smiling and giggling the entire way through. 4/5, mainly due to the overwhelming fun factor.
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Nov 8, 2005 11:53
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Complete rubish. The plot was ripped off from the game. All the "good guys" but cloud were utterly useless and only in the movie as a hand job for fans. The fight scenes last too long. You started out thinking "Hey this is alllllright", then you realise you've been watching Tifa beat the crap out of some guy for three minutes and the fight isn't over. It's clear that they didn't even try to do more than fan service for this movie. If that's something you want to see, then I think you would like this movie. It's 100% fan service, with nothing left over to make a real movie. 1/5, Terrible.
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Nov 25, 2005 01:24
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Everything seemed to zoom by really fast so I couldn't really catch what was going on alot of the time. And it was a complete and total dicksucking for the FF7 fanboys, obviously. PROS: Visually stunning, fight scenes specifically the one with Bahamut  and Reno was funnyCONS: everything else 3/5
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Nov 25, 2005 11:27
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The only thing this movie has going for it is action. The characters are boring, they look stupid (everybody is wearing black for some reason), monsters and enemies come out of nowhere for no reason, and the only moving the plot is the concept of time. This wouldn't be too bad if the action was alright, but it's not. The fight sequences represent everything that's wrong with action movies recently and why they're become so boring. Everything moves way too fast. To avoid animating an actual sword fight, everybody just jumps around really fast while the camera whizzes by, and all you get is the feeling of speed. Speed can only carry so much by itself, and it quickly becomes boring. The last fight against the dragon is just so ridiculous that you can't suspend disbelief anymore and it all goes to poo poo. This isn't even good fanservice. 1/5.5
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Apr 29, 2006 20:32
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This movie was basically a neverending action scene. Especially one you get to the scene with Bahamut, that's when you can sit back and know that the action isn't going to let up. This somehow works. In fact, after the meh-at-best dialogue in between action scenes, you know you don't care to see that much more. The action was great at some parts but not so great at others. Over-the-top is fine - it's worked for a lot of movies - but what bothers me here is the inconsistency in the level of danger. If you can free-fall about 30 stories and land on your feet like it ain't no thang, then what kind of physical damage DO you have to worry about? The complete disregard of physics sort of works for and against an action scene simultaneously. It's cool that you can sail through the air, but at the same time it removes potential tension from the concept of actually falling. Fight scenes were good, but the motorcycle chase and the one in the forest battle particularly move too fast and with all the wrong camera angles to totally keep up with. You can tell there's awesome choreography taking place, but at the same time you cannot truly grasp every move, which is frustrating. The plot was meh at best. Advent Children made the mistake of telling instead of showing. People have this Geostigma, but its actual effects are never explored. Is the worst symtpom a black spot on your skin? The characters are afraid of turning into negroes. I've been known to pop this movie in from time to time and watch just specific action scenes. I guess that's all I can truthfully say this movie is worth. Is that terrible? No. I think that's what this movie wanted to accomplish. But this movie certainly isn't timeless. 3/5
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May 1, 2006 18:54
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Something that merits a whine that I haven't noticed mentioned is the fact that the director and writers have never, ever seen a motorcycle in their lives. And, if they have, it was riding around on a pool of ice, on the moon. Cloud's gimmick-weapon seemed very, very pointless. A bigass sword. Great! And he can pull a main-gauche out of it. Cool! And then pull five more swords out of it. That's--wait, wha? The plot and dialogue is actually exactly what I'd expect from Square. As much as people like to justify their hard-on for the FF games as being much deeper than simply gameplay, most of the Square-folk can't write their way out of a wet paper bag. Spirits Within was, by Square standards, loving shakespeare. No, Square rides shock value (for example, "WTF--they just crushed poor-town!" (oh, like there are loving spoilers left in FF7)) instead of depth and character development. Oh, they try character development--but they fall very, very short. And that's the problem with movies. In movies, we're less likely to suspend our disbelief (or, in many cases here, our complete incomprehension). Boss fights aren't anywhere near as overwhelming--even when you you apply the 'Rargh, I'm 400 feet tall!' thing that they seemed to do with Bahamut. Gimmicky moves, powers, etceteras, seem more ridiculous because we don't see the 9's flying out of their victims. Archetypes are no longer enough for us--and neither is what RPG makers the world over try to pass off as character development. I played FF7. I beat FF7. I loved FF7. This movie was a piece of poo poo. Being a piece of poo poo themed like FF7 is more of an insult than an incentive. I'll give it a 1 for having impressive CG, and a few decent (though way too 'moon-physics'd') fight scenes. 1/5 for non-FFVII fans 0/5 for FFVII fans, since we've just watched Square unearth a hero from our youth--a hero who had passed away with dignity about a decade back--then hosed its corpse right in front of us.
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May 2, 2006 04:27
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 12:02 |
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Why does it suck? let's see, this movie is far too advanced for silly things like, "back-story", "proper narrative", "coherency", or "believability”. Take the action for example, so all the characters can inexplicably jump 50 ft in the air and stay there fighting for upwards of 15 seconds, fine, it’s a fantasy movie, laws of physics don’t matter. But there is a difference between being realistic, and being believable. It doesn’t need to be realistic, but it does need to be believable. The way the action was executed was not believable, I felt like I was watching a bad anime on PCP. Sky captain was not realistic but believable, so was the Matrix, FF:AC was not. Oh and thanks for the comic relief with Reno and what’s-his-name, HILARIOUS! My sides were splitting! Actually it was totally awkward and dumb, especially since the comic relief was a few of the only characters that looked like real people. OK the graphics weren’t horrible, but there were numerous flickering and aliasing errors in there and that’s just lazy. BUT HAY NICE HAIR! Maybe it should be renamed to Final Fantasy VII: Hair Hoedown. How do hardcore rouge warriors like Cloud and Sephiroth take time to style their hair so retarded every day? And where do they keep their styling gel? When designing the people they did a really good job with the textures, movements and muscles to make it look realistic. Then some one had the bright idea to mutate their faces to look like the grotesque lovechild of a GQ catalogue and an Anime. Mostly in the face, everyone had this Anime structure that just doesn’t work in realistic CG. Oh God the music! Yay it’s almost all the music from the original game. Maybe this would be a good thing if most of the game’s music wasn’t awful to begin with. In the DVD extras the composer said (Paraphrase) “I have seen other rock bands that had orchestras and I wonder why they never worked” I thought to myself, now you know. But he didn’t, he went on to say that it turned out great. Apparently he must have been listening to someone else’s music when he said it was good. Yeah, totally dig the shredtastic metal guitar with the poorly made orchestral/chorus parts and the live rock show filtered drums. The 80’s are back! With great lines (some taken from “memorable” quotes on IMDB) like “Dilly Dally, Shilly Shally. Isn't it time you did the forgiving?” or “I thought of a present for you” or “You came... even though you were about to break.” How could you lose? Cloud’s one step closer to the edge, and he’s about to break! And hey lets have all supporting characters drop in out of nowhere at the same time, it seems they were all just hanging out in the hood already. Yuffie must have jumped from outside of the city and jumped so high that she needed a parachute to land safely. But being a ninja (Who wears short-shorts and knee high combat boots?) with the abilty to jump around really fast didn’t stop her from standing there waiting to get blown away by the Bahamut with a wide eyed stare of mental retardation. Oh silly Barret! Your gun jams at the worst times! I want a gun that glows green electric arcs in the center when it jams. Oh and lets talk about the violence, Those creatures sure do look pointy and fearsome, but I wouldn’t mind having them around because it seems that all they do is tackle you real good. No biting no clawing, just tackling. Cloud sure is a remarkable guy that gets shot in the face, destroying his goggles but just giving him a scratch. Or the number of times Cloud slices the hell out of Sephiroth without leaving a mark but all it took to penetrate Cloud was a poke in the shoulder. And it was so cute how every enemy didn’t die they just …… faaaade awaaaaaayyy. Good job on a fantastic movie Square! 1/5 pros: good graphics (If a bit flawed) Cons: everything else
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Jul 15, 2006 11:42
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