| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Advent Children
by Chyla (movies profile)
Jul 9, 2008
55
of
59 people found this review helpful
Set 2 years after the end of the Final Fantasy VII game, Cloud is back to his sadsack self while working as a transporter (Strife Delivery Service) at Tifa's bar, 7th Heaven, while avoiding all his friends and colleagues. Exactly why Cloud is being so reclusive to everyone is revealed later on in the movie. There's even a nice little scene where you get to hear all the messages everyone left him on his phone. The fact that he kept them showing he still cares.
Three males are introduced in the movie, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo. Their origin isn't meant to be known (I'm sick of people whining about that). It looks as though they're children of Jenova considering they bear a striking resemblance to Sephiroth, and refer to Jenova as 'Mother.' The three silver haired men are planning to steal Jenova's head to start a new Reunion. They may have also been planning to create another Sephiroth had the original not been bought back.
The movie is exceptionally well done. It's true to the game, which you rarely ever see, and I've never seen an adaptation so spot on. The opening cinematic is even the last shot of you see of Nanaki (Red VIII) at the end of the game. It was also a nice touch near the end where Cloud reveals what he fights for (it was the main issue with the previews).
Advent Children is definitely only for fans who completed the game itself. Otherwise there's no possible way you could get all the references or even what's going on. I've shown it to my two nieces (8 and 12) and I basically had to explain the entire Final Fantasy VII story to them. I know a few people who've never played the game and watched the movie. They had no clue what happened yet they still enjoyed it... which I can't understand. I've also seen people who 'didn't get it' that loved the game. Note to them: having completed a game doesn't mean you understood the plot.
The cultural references are also something that a lot of people didn't seem to understand. Like the wolf was meant to symbolise the fallen hero, Zack, which is why it appeared at Zacks grave and the City of the Ancients. It's also perfectly acceptable for children to refer to someone as 'oneechan' or 'oniichan' (sister/brother). It doesn't necessarily mean they're related.
I have the original 2 disc Japanese set of this movie that includes Final Fantasy VII: Last Order. A twenty minute anime OVA that shows you what happened before Final Fantasy VII surrounding Zack and Cloud during the Nibelheim incident. Unfortunately we're not told anything new, but it's still nice to see Zack actually alive (although I always preferred Cloud).
I've never seen the English version of this and I don't plan to. The voice actor choices were poor to say the least. Plus the original has not only exceptional voice acting by all cast members, but they've used some amazing talent such as Takahiro Sakurai (Zoids/Zero, Kyou Kara Maou!) as Cloud Strife and Shoutarou Morikubo (Get Backers, Naruto, Spriggan) as Kadaj. Shoutarou Morikubo and Toshiyuki Morikawa (Sephiroth) were the clear stand outs. |
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