25 April 2006
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
A review from a fan of Square’s Final Fantasy series… I mean, I’m no cosplayer, but I have played all the north american releases, and put at least 100+ hours of gameplay into the title in question.
If you’re a fan of the game in any way, go buy this movie. Period. You’ve probably been waiting for two years for the NA release, and have probably presold anyway, but if this fell below your radar or you have any doubts… rest assured this movie is everything you’ve been waiting for. Maybe more.
We revisit Midgar two years after our spiky hero saved the planet from Meteor summoned by the coolest borderline-androgynous villain Sephiroth. Time has moved on and our ex-SOLDIER is a delivery boy on his delivery bike. Super fans will get a kick out of the bike ‘Fenrir’ and his trusty sword ‘First Sword’, while even casual fans will recognize Loz’s celphone ringtone in the Cathedral as the victory music. These are the kind of things game fans want in movie adaptations of something they’ve invested hundreds of hours to.
In typical final fantasy fashion… the story doesn’t make a lick of sense in the first viewing, but a profound subtlety and almost sublime moral allow further viewings to be appreciated even more.
Action and visuals are stunning, and can truly be appreciated by watching the ‘Reminisce’ special feature for a full recap of FF7 in all it’s blocky deliciousness. Second DVD packed with bonus features help make this an easy BUY and not just an eye candy rental.
Notes for BJag:
Loz vs Tifa in the Cathedral. Loz’s crazy arm attachment: Dual Hound
Barrett is the guy with a gun for a hand and is the little girl, Marlene’s father and one of the first characters you team up with in the game.
The cat was Cait Sith, who normally rides a giant Moogle (the other little girl’s stuffed toy in the movie), and is riding on the back of Red XIII whose weapon of choice are combs.
In a weird way this all makes sense if you geeked your little heart out to this game almost a decade ago. Just don’t ask me to explain the guy with the black hair in the doorway at the end of the flick.
