Review written by loveffviiac
Art and Character designer Tetsuya Nomura is back to do the things he loves most.
Nomura is an artist who has great vision, an idol among most and an inspiration
for other young game designers. This time around Nomura isn't only designing characters
but he's moving up to the director's chair. His first debut as a director was in
Kingdom Hearts but that was a game, now he's stepping forward with his career and
at such a not so old age can he really pull it off as a film director? Or will his
career go down along with the whole company? This isn't a project that can be taken
lightly, it is the passport for Square-Enix flight to the future. It's the most
anticipated movie of the year, at least for the fans. S-E knows this and fear to
repeat the same mistake they did with their first movie The Spirits Within.
Is it such a wise decision though to let Nomura lead this project?
Take a deep breath and need not fear, for there is nothing to fear but fear itself.
With Yoshinori Kitase as Producer and Kazushige Nojima as Script Writer there's
no way this project can be a failure. Kitase has been a part of the Final Fantasy
series from 1 all the way through 10 so he should have somewhat of a clear view
and field for this project. Although it's been many long years now since FFVII was
released so therefore all the original crew who worked on the game have been scattered.
But in order to achieve this true masterpiece Square-Enix must bring back whoever
they can from the old crew, which they did.
And luckily for me I got the chance to sit down and watch this well recognized masterpiece.
One question comes to mind, will it be a piece of art? Or will it be a piece of
trash? Will this Final live on? Or will this Fantasy be Final?
As the light dimmed down I sat and braced myself but then suddenly the light turned
back on again. The movie was over already?!? I didn't even got the chance to blink
my eyes yet. I was in shock for many days after from what I had witness, and now
here I am writing my very own thoughts and opinion on this film, my very own Advent
Children review.
First of all let me start off by asking a question, What do all sequels have in
common? Answer: It tries hard to live up to the original. That's right, but when
it comes down to Advent Children it's a whole new deal, because we're not talking
about a sequel of the same category here. This is not a game that's a sequel to
another game or a movie that's a sequel to a movie. We're talking about a movie
that's a sequel to a game, correct me if I'm wrong but this idea has never been
done before. This has got to be the first ever movie being a direct sequel from
a game and now I see why Square-Enix calls this something new in the category. But
put that aside, what is the story for Advent Children? Well to sum it all up without
spoiling anything, AC is about a retired hero named Cloud Strife who helped save
the planet once, but in doing so lost something of value to him. The movie's main
theme is about "redemption". As humans we tend to ask ourselves many questions.
When we lose something precious to us do we lose ourselves? This was the question
that spreads through-out the movie.
In the trailer we were asked, What is Cloud fighting for? "Is it for the Children?
for a memory? Or himself?" This question will be answered in the movie. However,
just like the game this film leaves us with more question then answer. To me it
was clearly obvious that script writer Kazushige Nojima wanted us, the audience
to come up with our own conclusion and our own answer for every question, as the
viewer we were supposed to decide for ourselves. It takes a good writer to write
a good story but it takes an even better writer to write a well open plot.
First time film director Tetsuya Nomura sure knows how to take things to the next
level. The film opens up with a swiftly yet smooth camera movement showing how the
world looks without humans, through the eyes of another species, and then suddenly
we are taken back through time 498 years into the past. Here we see a world full
of people, a city in ruin and a street full of sick children who of course have
no parents and are abandoned in the slums. Yet again another deep plot is hidden
inside of it all, a message within another message. Why are some children born with
no parents and what becomes of them? "Children are always the first to suffer, Children
are always the one to fight our fight". Children that are abandoned in the street
with no parents are no different from children who are born in the name of science.
These new arrival children need to be saved, they are the "Advent Children".
This movie touches on almost every aspect of the human soul without giving the feel
of being preached or lectured. The pacing was fast and there wasn't a minute of
boredom. Once Cloud set out on his journey to save the children the action never
stopped. Every fight scene was well constructed and every dialogue was well put,
adding a couple of good parts of comic relief to the scene. The music was superb
and some tracks were just plain outstanding. The character CG models were nicely
rendered and every small detail were added to them. Each played their own role perfectly
and the suspense built up through every scene until we reached towards the finale
that's really not a finale but just the start of a finale that leads to the real
finale. Combining Nomura's powerful vision and Nojima's well written script, fans
of FFVII will surely be pleased.
But just like everything else there's always an up side and a down side. For Advent
Children it was never intended for all audiences such as non FFVII fans, so therefore
it will receive bad reviews from many people once the actual movie is released.
And then there's also other things such as complaints, you'll hear stuff like, "This
film has no character development, is filled with cheesy dialogue and it's just
a cheap attempt to bring in cash by showing off splendid computer graphics with
a pretty girl that can kick butt and has no plot." These will be the complaints
you'll be hearing about once the film comes out. Now if you're a die-hard FFVII
fan such as myself and do your homework well enough you'll see that the complaints
I mention above are not to be taken seriously because it's very obvious that not
everybody can understand the deep plot within Advent Children.
That will be the only downside for this movie, other then that just prepare to drop
your jaw to the floor and let your eyes pop out once you witness it. The first 40
minutes or so were used to lay out the plot and to develop a few characters. The
last remaining half of the movie is all action, non-stop, rushing camera movements,
spinning and rotating like crazy, yet still manages to keep you on a fresh ride.
Fight choreography that's never been seen or done before. My god it was just off
the hook. From a chase scene, to a three on one fight scene, to a big brawl, to
a monster attacking a city sequence, to another chase scene, and then another fight
scene that leads to an even bigger fight scene afterwards. When you thought it was
over things just kept getting crazier and crazier by the minute until the film settles
down and Nomura brings us to a tearful closure, very open ended yet very satisfying.
Overall did Nomura accomplish what he set out to do? And did Square-Enix deliver
it? "BIG YES!!" Advent Children did not fail to deliver and thank you S-E for inviting
me back into the world I once loved. Nomura set out to do a masterpiece and a masterpiece
it was, I don't think it can get any better then this. The production budget wasn't
so high and the crew was cut short, however this movie proves that as long as great
minds come together anything is possible. AC far surpasses The Spirits Within and
if that doesn't say much then I'll say this. Advent Children far surpasses all the
movies of 2005! This is coming from a crazed fan point of view of course. It even
far surpass my expectation, because I expected it to be a good movie and in the
end it sure passes that level. If you're a fan of Final Fantasy VII then this movie
will not let you down. However if you're a complete newbie who have no knowledge
of FFVII what so ever then you are lost in the wrong fantasy my friend. Go check
out The Spirits Within instead you might like that a little better... or not...
For all FFVII fans keep your hype up because this sequel is worth the wait.
I give this movie Two Thumbs Way Up! Nomura and his whole crew truly deserve it.
"Final Fantasy VII Advent Children will leave tears of sorrow and joy in your eyes
that will never fade away. For me it was a masterpiece but to some it's just another
great movie".
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