GlassIsland
"You don't have to have played the game...but I bet it makes it even better!"
Pure Asian Entertainment: Film, TV, Anime & Manga
Join | Log In
Anime & Manga and Art House & International movie directed by Takeshi Nozue and Tetsuya Nomura
< read all 3 reviewsMultiple orgasms for fanboys, and at least one or two for the rest of us.
-
Apr 30, 2006
- by CRSwanson
- posted in Movie Hype
Rating:
Ah, "Final Fantasy". How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. FF1... FF2... FF3... FF4... FF5... FF6... FF7... FF9... FF10... FF12... (FF8... not so much. FF11... never played)
+3
For gamers like me, RPG freaks born in the 1970's, the "Final Fantasy" series of games is, in many ways, the pinacle of what video game RPGs should be. Epic, beautiful, clever, touching, etc.
The previous CGI FF film, Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within (Special Edition), did not live up to the fine tradition of the video games. The plot was, let's face it, bizzare at best (I so hate Gaia theory... it makes no sense! Earth as a living organism my left eye!). The voice-over work was unexceptional. The animation was great, but that was about it.
Now, however, we have "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children". And it is good. Not great. Not like M - 2 Disc Special Edition (Criterion Collection Spine #30), The Grapes of Wrath, Sunrise - A Song of Two Humans or Citizen Kane, but it is good.
The plot basically centers around a Sephiroth cosplaying freak (translation for non-otaku: femmy-looking bad-guy impersonating another femmy-looking bad-guy), who is trying to revive a Great Power of Evil (tm), in order to... to... you know, I'm still not entirely sure. Destroy the world? Have a mom? Something like that.
Really the plot doesn't matter. This is a movie about incredible sights, amazing sounds, stunning action sequences and a really, really hot main character (O, Cloud! My Cloud!). The CGI is really breath-taking. The characters are as close to photo-realistic as anything I've ever seen.
The fight sequences are just as impressive, if somewhat physics-violating (how is someone who is airborne supposed to boost someone else who is airborne? Still, this isn't as bad as Superman Returns (Two Disc Special Edition) where Superman lifted something he was standing on at the time he was lifting it). Basically the fights are very much what you might expect of a CGI anime.
And the music! Oh, goodness, the music! Nobuo Uematsu is an extremely skilled composer and this film really highlights that. "Cloud's Theme" and "One-Winged Angel" are the best tracks, but the rest is spectacular, too! Heck, there's one part where any FF fan will laugh as the "Victory Music" plays! Just buying Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (the soundtack), alone would be worth it.
This movie really is complete fan-service. There's nothing wrong with that, but if you haven't played the game, expect to be very, very lost. Still, long as you're lost you might as well enjoy the brilliant sights and sounds.
The film gets four stars. 2 if you haven't played the game and 5 if you have. Enjoy!
What did you think of this review?
Helpful
3
Thought-Provoking
3
Fun to Read
3
Well-Organized
3
Post a Comment
More Final Fantasy VII - Advent Chi... reviews
review by C_Merced.
February 07, 2008
This is a great great great movie. It is for fans of Final Fantasy 7 (FF7). Yes, you should have played it, or seen someone play it before watching this or it won't make sense. This movie provides a resolution to the story that started in FF7. The animation is spectacular, it has fight scenes similar to the fighting scheme in the game, which I think is the best part, and the characters remain true to the game. The only problem with this movie was the story, it was somewhat confusing and a little … more
Comment
Compliment
A friend let me borrow a subtitled Japanese DVD of this movie, with a simple recommendation: "You'll love it." And he was right. To be honest, I haven't played a Final Fantasy game since the original one for the NES, which means that I missed out on "Final Fantasy VII," the game this movie is essentially a sequel to. That said, I was nevertheless enthralled by "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children." I could tell, as the story played out, that there were … more
Comments (1)
Compliments (12)
About the reviewer
C R Swanson (CRSwanson)
I'm an aspiring writer and reviewer. I run a blog, I'm working on a novel and spend my free time reading and playing video games. I also spend waaaaay too much time and money on movies. … more
Consider the Source
Use Trust Points to see how much you can rely on this review.
You
CRSwanson
Your ratings:
Recent reviews by CRSwanson
About this movie
The question facing any viewer of the Japanese CG featureFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Childrenis: do you have to know the games on which it’s based in order to understand the film? And the answer is: it certainly helps. But even complete novices (i.e., most parents) in theFinal Fantasyworld will find some entertainment in its wealth of fantasy-based action, and the animation never fails to astonish. Picking up two years after an epic battle between the forces of good (represented by brooding soldier Cloud) and evil (Cloud’s former general, Sephiroth),FFVIIopens in the devastated city of Midgard, whose youthful occupants suffer from a ghastly disease known as Geostigma. A trio of brothers arrives with what appears to be a cure for the plague, but their gesture conceals a more sinister purpose: to revive Sephiroth and bring about the end of the world. Cloud and his companions must once again rise to the occasion to stop the siblings and the revived Sephiroth from unleashing total destruction. Complex and self-referential to the point of occasional incomprehension,Final Fantasy VIIwill definitely be most appreciated by fans of the game series, but if others can look past the numbing dialogue and frenetic action (which is a bit too intense for very young children), the film offers a carefree and action-packed viewing experience. The two-disc set contains the original Japanese language version of the film as well as an English-dubbed edition (Rachel Leigh Cook and Christy...
view wiki
Director:
Takeshi Nozue,
Tetsuya Nomura
Genre:
Animation,
Foreign
Screen Writer:
Kazushige Nojima
DVD Release Date:
April 25, 2006
Runtime:
101 minutes
Studio:
Sony Pictures
First to Review
- About Lunch
- Press
- FAQs
- Contact Us
- Terms of Service
- Privacy Policy
- Sitemap
- Report Abuse
© 2013 Lunch.com, LLC All Rights Reserved
Lunch.com - Relevant reviews by real people.