Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Directors:

Tetsuya Nomura
Takeshi Nozue (co-director)

Writer:

Kazushige Nojima (event scenario writer)

Release Date:

14 September 2005 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

2 years later...

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Disease | Brother | Orphan | Fight | Sword Fight

Cast

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

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U (DVD) | Brazil:12 (DVD version) | USA:PG-13

Company:

Square Enix Company

Trivia:

According to Director Tetsuya Nomura in the DVD Commentary, the original movie was only supposed to be twenty minutes. The details of the original story are sketchy, but from what little Nomura has said about it, all we know is that it featured someone requesting a message to be sent to Cloud. The message is then relayed to Cloud through several children and, when the message finally reaches Cloud, we learn who the messenger is. Although Nomura insisted that he very much liked the original script, as it became the foundation for the theme of the final result of the movie, he decided to make the project more grand in scope only because early word of this movie generated so much interest that a demand for the film to be feature length eventually became so great that Nomura complied.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Kadaj summons Bahamut he uses a Green Materia when he should have used a Red Materia which is the one used for summoning monsters in the game.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References Wo hu cang long (2000)

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).