Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children

After months of waiting, this direct-to-DVD CG movie sequel to one of the most popular RPG game in console history finally made it to the masses.

I was one of the many eager fans who couldn't wait to get my greasy little hands on it the moment it got released in Japan.

With some cash and the miracle of modern international courier service, I was able to get the DVD one day after the official release.

Given the fact that I am like one of the biggest Final Fantasy series fans around, as well as a CG lover, it should come as no surprise that I was carrying a very high expectation for this movie. The screen captures and numerous trailers released to entice us way before this movie got released only got me sweaty and heart burning with determination to get this movie NO MATTER WHAT.

Anyway back to the movie itself..

Somehow when I finally got to sit down and watch it, I was surprisingly calm and somewhat.. objective. For some reason I kept picking the flaws here and there, and seems as if I have got out of my previous fanboy trance.

First about the graphics, although they are one of the best around with all the super stylish designs and animation, they are still far from perfect. There are some places where the CG was made quite obviously fake. Maybe its just me, who has the knack for perfection, especially when it comes to simulating realism. I was a bit let down in this area as I was probably too confident of today's CG technology.

Next the story, while not bad, isn't really super good either. Maybe I was expecting the same degree of twists and turns in terms of plot development as seen in the original game, instead this movie has a rather straight forward plot.

On the positive side, there are some extremely crazy action sequences and as I have mentioned before, super cool art directions in terms of character (re-)design and animation.

I mean, just look at the main character Cloud himself, he's a freaking masterpiece work of art by himself, with his meticulously layered blonde hair and perfectly rendered facial features!

The same cool factor extends to other characters like Vincent, the three Silver Haired Men (or SHM as they are more popularly known in FF fandom) and Sephiroth. Especially Sephiroth and the SHM, they are both beautiful to look at and wickedly evil in such a way that I don't even mind them having the most silky and straight silver hair in the history of CG men.

Then there is the soundtrack, which in my opinion is quite nicely done. There are a number of re-composed music themes taken from the original game soundtrack as well as some new ones.

All in all, I still ended up liking this movie a lot, as it is evidently a labour of love from the creator and for the fans, regardless of whether this movie is perfect or not in any sense.

I for one am grateful that they even consider making this movie, as for most other non-fans the majority of the contents in this movie may not mean much at all, where else the fans who have played and immersed in the FF7 world of the original game would probably better appreciate the beauty this movie has to offer, and I'm glad that I am one of them.