Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Final Fantasy: The Quickening > Final Fantasy VII > Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children > Thoughts of the movie

[PontiusPilate]

the only character that i thought really had a likeable personality was Denzel.

[Aralith]

I thought the movie was extremely well done. The sequel issue allowed them to get away without much character development, and for those of you who think that Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz needed some: let's not forget that they're Shinentai of Sephiroth. Just imagine a sixteen year old Sephiroth who's looking for his mother. That's what they are.

Also, there are a few ideas that just make the movie superb that were based on old ideas. One of which was Geostigma. Taking into account that Jenova cells would have made their way into the Lifestream and infected people when Meteor fell was an absolutely brilliant idea. Very well thought out.

The return of Aeris as nothing more than a spirit was also good (though some say she plays too much of a role). The reason she has not yet departed to the Lifestream is because she knows Cloud still needs help to overcome his guilt over both her and Zack. One will realize in the end when he finally does get over it, that she and Zack both walk off. They are finally returning to the Lifestream.

One of the major flaws of the movie though, was the fact that it focused on the fighting. FFVII was revolutionary because it was one of the first games where the story was not so much about fighting and saving the world, but about interactions between the characters (a bit of this could be seen in IV, V, and VI but not nearly as crucial a role as in VII).

FFVII was never about the fighting, but the movie clearly was. It just went from action scene to action scene. Fight after fight after fight. Though I must comment, the musical score was quite good. Some say that it wasn't good because it didn't fit in with other FF music, but it did a very good job at portraying what the movie was portraying, which unfortunatley was fighting.

The voice acting in the English wasn't that good I think. I've only watched the movie once in English. The other ten-bejillion times I've watched it has been in Japanese. Not only do the voices fit with the mouths better, but they also fit with the characters better. All of the voices were almost exactly how I imagined them.

Graphics were amazing. In some scenes it almost looked real. Absolutely incredible. I loved the revamping of the old flashback scenes into the new graphics. The other thing I loved about the graphics was the update on the characters. Sephiroth, having the largest amount of work done, was so much more like he should be. In the game, I always imagined him as having more of a feminine look to him, which is definitely how he looked in the movie.

Storyline was somewhat of a recycle of the game, but it still sufficed. It helped with the whole idea of Cloud releasing his guilt over the past, which is ultimately what the movie was supposed to do. The rest was just to make it look spiffy.

That brings me to another problem with the movie. As stated by Tetsuya Nomura in an interview, they didn't care if people could really jump that high, or stay airborne that long, just so long as it looked cool, it was good. This makes the movie much harder to analyze in terms of physical strength. Would this person really be capable of defeating this baddy? Don't really know. Not a major problem, just a slight hindrance in analysis.

That pretty much brings me to my conclusion. The movie has some good and bad points. Though, I personally think that the good outweigh the bad. I would give this movie an 8 out of 10. Superb job, but it could use some work. Overall though, a great film.

[Beautiful Lie]

i think the movie was awsome and well yeah i dont really have much to say but that so i loved that movie so yeah.....XD

[PontiusPilate]

Not only did i think the story was mediocre, but they also managed to poorly tell the story making the movie even worse

[Ishin Ookami]

Originally Posted by Aralith

One of the major flaws of the movie though, was the fact that it focused on the fighting. FFVII was revolutionary because it was one of the first games where the story was not so much about fighting and saving the world, but about interactions between the characters (a bit of this could be seen in IV, V, and VI but not nearly as crucial a role as in VII).

In the words of Jay and Silent bob, Blasphemy!

When it comes to the basic storyline structure, FFVII and VI are very similar. Evil villain does evil villain things, cast of mismatched good guys do good guy thing, and clash with evil villain. Global chase and fetch quest ensues until an apocalyptic showdown happens at the end. Evil is defeated, happiness ensues. FFVII had Shinra, FFVI had the empire. FFVII had Rufus, FFVI had Geshtahl. FFVII had Sephiroth, FFVI had kefka. Structurally speaking, there are many similarities.

And personally, I dont know how you can say VI did not have a storyline in which the interaction's between characters did not play a point. The love triangle between Rachael, Locke, and Celes. Shadow's tortured past and relationship with Relm and Strago. The history between Edgar And Sabin, and how Edgar REALLY gained the throne. Cyan's self destructive guilt. Terra's longing for an understanding of what love is and her fear of her mixed heritage. The relationships played an important role throughout the game. The only difference is that FFVI did not have the fancy CGI and polygons to flesh out it's storyline and give it the illusion of depth. But I found it's characters, and relationships to be very vital to the plot.

and as for what you stated about the action in AC, I really found the action in AC to be it's worst asset. It focused too hard on looking cool, that it missed what makes martial art's films look cool. The underlying logic and intensity of most fight scenes. Seeing the lead character fight against a obviously more powerful foe, and overcome with guts and and heart rather then luck or fluke, is a great experience. The hero becomes the underdog, but fights through. It's david Vs Goliath but with fancy choreography. AC nixed all that and went with the "gee kids, doesn't this look cool" mentality. I felt like I was being talked down too. Films like 8 Diagram Pole fighter, Fist of Legend, Legend of Drunken Master II, are all classics because their fight scenes have ingenuity, creative thoughtfulness, and hard hitting final duels that leave you wide eyed. Advent Children has Sephiroth forgetting to duck and cloud pulling off his ultimate attack with a wounded sword arm. Even if he DID manage to pull off that attack, he should have at least maimed or injured himself grievously due to the prior injury. A sense of consequence and threat of injury for the heroic characters adds drama to the action. And as a action film, AC really lacks to emotionally involve the viewer on any level I found.

[The Unknown Guru]

I think it was a great movie, like a combination of The Matrix and FF. Awesome graphics and action scenes. I want that arm thing that that one guy had sooooooo bad(the one with the level-up ring tone that Tifa fights)!

[Amaru]

Edit: Nevermind. I really can't be bothered to get into this...

[PontiusPilate]

Originally Posted by The Unknown Guru

I think it was a great movie, like a combination of The Matrix and FF. Awesome graphics and action scenes. I want that arm thing that that one guy had sooooooo bad(the one with the level-up ring tone that Tifa fights)!

I think FF already ripped off the matrix enough (with the whole motorcycle action scene and the music) I think they should of focused more on the story and the characters since they were both incredibly well done in FF VII