Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

An ex-mercenary is forced out of isolation when three mysterious men kidnap and brainwash the city's children afflicted with the Geostigma disease.

Directors:

Tetsuya Nomura, Takeshi Nozue

Writer:

Kazushige Nojima (event scenario writer)

Stars:

Takahiro Sakurai, Ayumi Ito, Shotaro Morikubo

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Takahiro Sakurai	...	Cloud Strife (voice)
Ayumi Ito	...	Tifa Lockhart (voice)
Shotaro Morikubo	...	Kadaj (voice) (as Shoutarou Morikubo)
Maaya Sakamoto	...	Aerith Gainsborough (voice)
Keiji Fujiwara	...	Reno (voice)
Taiten Kusunoki	...	Rude (voice)
Yûji Kishi	...	Yazoo (voice) (as Yuuji Kishi)
Kenji Nomura	...	Loz (voice)
Shôgo Suzuki	...	Vincent Valentine (voice) (as Shougo Suzuki)
Masahiro Kobayashi	...	Barret Wallace (voice)
Kazuyuki Yama	...	Cid Highwind (voice) (as Kazuyuki Yamaji)
Yumi Kakazu	...	Yuffie Kisaragi (voice)
Hideo Ishikawa	...	Cait Sith (voice)
Masachika Ichimura	...	Red XIII / Nanaki (voice)
Miyuu Tsuzuhara	...	Marlene Wallace (voice)

Storyline

Two years after the events in "Final Fantasy VII", a disease called 'Seikon-Shoukougun', or 'Geostigma', is spreading through the planet. This disease is believed to have been caused by the body fighting off foreign material that invaded the body two years earlier, at the end of "Final Fantasy VII". Guilt-ridden and haunted by his past, ex-SOLDIER Cloud Strife has decided to live a secluded, solitary life away from his friends while maintaining "Strife's Delivery Service", whose headquarters is located in Tifa Lockheart's bar, the Seventh Heaven. Tifa's bar serves as an orphanage for children stricken with Geostigma. Here, Tifa keeps an eye on Barret's six-year-old daughter, Marlene, while Barret searches the planet for an alternative energy source to the Planet's energy, Mako. One day, Cloud receives a phone call from the former Shinra, Inc. president, Rufus, asking him for protection from a mysterious man named Kadaj. Kadaj, in the meantime, along with his brothers Loz and Yazoo, ...

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Plot Keywords:

disease | fight | brother | orphan | wheelchair | 

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Taglines:

I won't just be a memory...

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Square Enix Advent Children Site (English) Official Square Enix Advent Children Site (Japanese)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

14 September 2005 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Final fantasy VII - El rescate

Company Credits

Production Co:

Square Enix Company, Square USA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 126 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During Cloud's final fight with Sephiroth, Cloud uses what appears to be his final limit break OmniSlash, this is in fact a modified version called OmniSlash Mk. V.

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Goofs

On multiple occasions during Bahamut's attack when the people are running in fear, some people can be seen passing through each other.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Elena: Tseng! Look at this.
Tseng: Pay dirt.

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Crazy Credits

During the last half of the end credits, as the credits roll there's a video of a CGI cloud zooming along real roadways on his motorcycle. At the very end, there's a shot of his delivery service office desk, with a new photo on it.

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Connections

Followed by Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII (2006)

User Reviews

Excellent on all fronts...unfortunately, I doubt it will reach an audience outside of FF7 fans

Graphics: brilliant, obviously. The most stunning things were definitely NOT given away in the trailers. Fight sequences move extremely fast, but after watching a couple of them your eyes should be used to it and it won't seem so confusing. Cloud has a wide array of swords, and I kinda wish things were moving a LITTLE slower just so we could see them, because they were each incredibly detailed. Oh, and we finally get to see exactly how one equips Materia...

Music: brilliant also. I was a bit nervous about it, since (from what I've seen) Nobuo isn't the best at writing music to go along with action (remember the Steal the Tiny Bronco sequence?), but it's brilliant and it fits perfectly. I'm glad I preordered the OST. They changed the lyrics to One Winged Angel though, so you won't be able to sing along if you know the Carmina Burana Lyrics.

Plot: the first half of the movie sets up things and introduces everyone in a fairly complex tapestry, but the second half is almost entirely fight sequences, once all the players are in place. I wouldn't call it a weak plot, but it's nowhere near as convoluted as the game's plot was. I think this is in an effort to avoid trying to overshadow the game, and I think that's a good thing...the movie is its own entity, and shouldn't try to top the original in terms of sheer plot.

I admit, I was kind of hoping that this movie would bring FF7 to a wider range of people, but this is NOT a mainstream movie. I was going to give it only nine stars, just because it doesn't even really try to explain anything to newcomers...Marlene (at least I think it was Marlene...sounded like her) gives a bit of background at the beginning, but it's more of a refresher than a crash course. But then I realized, for me this movie is a 10/10, so why should I take off points just because other people probably won't like it as well...if you've played the game, or are at least passingly familiar with it, you should see this movie. But you don't need me to tell you that. If you're not familiar with it, go out and buy it, sit there for twenty hours and beat it, and then see the movie...although even without any background, it's still stunningly beautiful. You just won't get any of the inside references...which make up 50% of the movie (that is, everything that ISN'T a fight sequence).