Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

The way you approach Final Fantasy VII Advent Children will have a lot to do with your history as a gamer, and more specifically, your history with the Final Fantasy series. There is no way around it: Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is fan service. Glorious, beautiful, well-executed fan service. Those who enjoyed Final Fantasy VII and wanted to see the story continue get their wish with this film and an upcoming gaggle of games that transport enthusiasts back to the land of their dreams. Everyone else, do a bit of homework on the back story, then sit back and enjoy one of the most visually engaging CGI movies ever.

Advent Children has already been out for some time in Japan as a DVD and UMD (the film didn't see theatrical release as Spirits Within did) and there was considerable confusion over when it was going to make it to the States. Whatever the delay was about, the end result is a two-disc set that is technically brilliant and offers fans an adequate (but not complete) set of extras to round out the package.

The Movie

The story of Advent Children picks up two years after the story of Final Fantasy VII (the videogame) ends. Midgar lays in ruins and now a sickness is creeping through the land. Of course, this means that heroes will be called back to action—heroes who carry enormous swords, ride the coolest motorcycles on the planet and sport some serious hair.

Of course, I'm talking about Cloud and Tifa et al. Their characters can be summed up thusly: Cloud is an effeminate but super-powerful warrior who dresses in vests adorned with lion hardware that matches his earrings. Tifa is also of the ass-kicking school, but she is a brunette who wears leather outfits. They assemble a rag-tag group of helpers along the way, all of whom will be recognizable by fans of the FF lore.

They are all dead-set against bad guy Sephiroth, another ridiculously good-looking guy from the Trent Reznor school of thought—even though he's rich and beautiful and powerful, he has a monster chip on his shoulder and the world is gonna pay for that. Isn't that always how it is with the evil divas?

The main story of the movie plays out like a series of machinations that seek to get the good guys in fights with the bad guys. There is meaningful dialogue along the way if you know the characters, but for those coming to the series cold, there is little hope that you will feel for the events unfolding on the screen.

The plot itself is also somewhat impenetrable. Again, like the videogame, it seems like sometimes the exposition and "story" is just a way to get to the next battle. Luckily, getting to the next battle is always a glorious thing. In fact, Advent Children's fight sequences rival a lot of large-scale action sequences that Hollywood cranks out on the live action front.

From beginning to end, the visuals are amazing to behold. Fans of the game will see some familiar cut scenes woven into the action (especially in the very beginning), but for people who have never been exposed to the videogame, there is still a lot of beauty to behold. The imagined world is lush with the detail of both beauty and decay. The characters are amazing looking and animated to an eerie level of realism. It seems the animators want us to see their characters pull on gloves as many times as possible just to freak us out with how close CG is getting to the real thing.

Beyond that, the acting by both the Japanese and English vocalists is impressive. Often, animated films that are brought to the US are bogged down by too many stars, but this production features only a couple; a great impulse. The English language track has nary a weak link, and that is seldom the case with animated dubs.

Ultimately, it's nice to see a CG movie that doesn't rely exclusively on talking animals and wacky punch lines to entertain. There is definitely a market for more adult CG animated fare, and Advent Children makes a good case for this. In fact, in terms of direct-to-DVD releases (and considering all I'm about to say in the remainder of this review), this could well be one of the best direct-to-DVD releases ever.

Score: 7 out of 10

The Video

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a gorgeous film, far surpassing any cut scene ever seen in a Square Enix game, and obliterating the standard set by the theatrically-released Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

The environments are imaginative and beautifully-wrought, the characters are adeptly animated, and the fabric and hair work is some of the best we've seen from CG-animated fare. Perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay the artists who slaved so diligently over the film is that often you completely forget you're watching an animated creation.

Luckily, the transfer is up to the task of bringing the intricate detail to the disc. In fact, it's fully possible that this will be the prettiest DVD in your collection. Much of the film takes place in a grayish world (especially the middle third), but when it breaks out of this, the colors are brilliant. Even in the dark scenes, everything is well-balanced. Blacks maintain a panoply of shades even in low-light settings.

There are a few moments when characters pass by the "camera" closely, and there are some artifacts in these moments, but nothing to sneeze at. Ultimately, the video is pretty amazing; just what you'd hope for from a work of art that was born digitally and transferred digitally. The disc is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen in order to capture every unbelievable frame of detail.

Score: 9 out of 10

Languages and Audio

Let's get all of the technical stuff out of the way first: this disc is offered in English and Japanese 5.1 and subtitled in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Thai, Mandarin (Traditional) and Chinese.

Hardcore otaku will likely want to listen to the Japanese track and read the English subtitles, but those who choose to listen to the English voices will not be disappointed. Across the board, the English voicing is spot-on, with standout performances by Steve Burton as Cloud, George Newbern as Sephiroth and Rachael Leigh Cook as Tifa Lockhart. The Japanese vocal work is also brilliant, should you choose to listen to it, but if you read the subtitles, you'll get a slightly different version of the events (as is usually the case).

Beyond voicing, the mix on the disc is brilliant. There are tons of battle sequences to keep your stereo happy, and all of them have generous amounts of directional sound, driving music and plenty of low-end whoomp. Nothing ever gets drowned out, though. The voices are always in the fore, but when it's time for ass-kicking to begin, the music ramps up beautifully to fill in the gaps. Although there are numerous battle sequences throughout, the most climactic (which I won't reveal to avoid spoilers) makes ultimate use of all the channels, rivaling some of the biggest fight sequences in Hollywood action movies (think Matrix Reloaded-style treatment). It cannot be overstated just how well-done overall the audio portion of this disc is.

Score: 10 out of 10

The Extras

Final Fantasy fans should delight in the number of extras available on this two-disc special edition. Disc One contains the Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII.

Disc Two has the following goodies:

• Deleted scenes.

The Disc One Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII segment is a handy refresher course for anyone who has not played the PlayStation game, or who hasn't played it for quite some time. It is an amalgamation of the essential moments and cut scenes from the Final Fantasy game. It shows off a couple of things: how closely the opening of the film mimics some of the cinematics in VII and just how polygonal PlayStation graphics now appear. Watch this feature after the movie and you'll really get a sense of it. The presence of the Reminiscence in this set is absolutely necessary for those who want to brush up on the story. The presentation isn't amazing, but it gets the job done.

Kicking off the second disc is a collection of deleted scenes—eleven in total. The quality of the transfer is a little less tidy on these offerings and none of them are offered with dubbing, music or (for the most part) sound effects. Each of the eleven scenes is also fairly short. It would also be a little more accurate to call them deleted and lengthened scenes, as some of them are simply extended looks at scenes from the film. In conclusion, it's nice they're included, but it's unlikely anyone will pore over them again and again, as they go by too fast and leave you wanting. In fact, if all the "deleted scenes" had been left in, the movie would only have been perhaps two minutes longer.

The Venice Film Festival footage is a lot more interesting, as it was what was screened at the event, and shows the film in a bit rougher state. If you've just seen the film, it's interesting to watch this feature to compare, but taken out of context, it plays a lot like simply watching the movie.

Distance: The Making of Advent Children, is easily the best of all the features. In lieu of a commentary track, this is the only bridge between fans and the creation of this beautiful work. The narration is in Japanese (with English subtitles, if you please) and it tells the story of how the game came about and why it spawned a film such as this. It features interviews with the creators, most notably Director Testuo Nomura. The thing that comes through most in all of the interviews is the passion that each of the creators has not only for the series but for the story of VII; staying true to it and moving forward.

At first, it is heavy on the conceptual elements: story, characters, and themes. From there, it moves into the production of the actual film. Here's where technophiles will get to see the various stages of the CGI filmmaking process. Overall, the feature is a great balance of technical and artistic, and gives a good sense of how everyone involved feels about their contribution to the process and the final result.

Moving on, the various AC trailers are a nice addition, as they show the progression of the film. There are eight total, and a couple from E3 2004 and 2005. Serious fans will want to check them out and reminisce. This movie's been a long time coming, and looking back at the anticipation caused by each of the trailers is fun.

The Sneak Peek at Upcoming Final Fantasy VII Games delves into the following:

• Advent Children

Before Crisis is a cell phone game, and the trailer here is essentially clips of screens and videos that reveals the look and feel of the game, as well as the fact that it covers the six years leading up to Final Fantasy VII.

Crisis Core is the upcoming PSP game, and it is introduced here through a cell-animated trailer that recalls moments from the series. There is no gameplay footage in the sneak peek, much to our disappointment.

Dirge of Cerberus is the direct successor (time-wise) to the AC movie, a shooter for the PlayStation 2. This sneak peek showcases some of the CG sequences in the game before moving into a bunch of in-game footage. Finally, Advent Children is a teaser for the movie you just bought.

It's a mite disappointing that no commentary exists on this otherwise stellar set, and the relative brevity of the deleted scenes is unfortunate. However, the Making Of and videogame sneak peeks should make up for any qualms fans might have with the set.

Score: 8 out of 10