Review of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005) by Matthew S — 10 Sep 2011

(Note: Review is of the "Complete" edition, which based on what I've been hearing is the version they should have just released in the first place. And I've never played FFVII.).

Now this is a film I thought I wouldn't be reviewing for quite a while. And I'll admit that I was pleasently surprised watching this. Sure, the plot was hackneyed, most of the characters really didn't need to be there, and the english dub ranged from good to mediocre, but that's not why we're watching this, right? We're here for the ACTION! And holy crap is it ever INCREDIBLE what the Japanese can do with their action sequences! The usual karate and sword fights are pretty good, but it's the ludicrously physics-obliterating motorbike fights will blow you away. The film's score is also worthy of note, mostly consisting of original themes that outshine the themes taken from the games. The final battle is also disappointing, seriously marred by a song that I can only describe as ear-grating. I'm SURE it worked in the game, but it doesn't work here. Also of particular note is a scene close to the halfway mark, where all the playable characters from the game literally fall out of the sky to battle a big monster. You know there's a problem when the characters in the movie are asking the same question of "Who's he? Who's she?" that the audience is. And it's not like these characters do much of anything. The main character winds up being the only one to do much to said big monster. I only realized the red dog-lion thing could talk when he got his only line at the end of the film.

If you're going to watch this one, make sure you watch the complete edition, as it extends the oh-so-glorious action, so much so that the second half of the movie is literally one long action sequence. The visuals aren't the best, with many of the characters looking somewhat rubbery, but they move fluidly and basically everything else looks fine.

OVERALL: 6.0/10.