Final Fantasy Advent Children Limited Edition Collector's Set

While Japan will be receiving the Blu-ray, "Final Fantasy: Advent Children Complete" sometime later this year, on February 20th, the US was treated to a double-dip version of the CG movie. The update includes the following:

• Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Thai
• Available Audio Tracks: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurette: Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII
• Featurette: Venice Film Festival Footage
• The Making of Advent Children with English cast interviews
  
• Theatrical Trailers
• Anime Special: The Last Order
  
• Bonus Script
• Bonus Book
• Bonus Postcards

The new additions make this one similar to the limited edition released in Japan in 2005, with the greatest selling point being, The Last Order: an anime feature providing more depth to the relationship between Cloud and Zack. We'll have a review of FFACVII Complete after its release.

For now, read Hikari's original review of Advent Children below:

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
A 3D CG Movie That Falls Somewhat Flat

I will preface this review with the admission that I am an avid player of RPGs and a big fan of the Final Fantasy game series. Having played Final Fantasy VII numerous times, I am quite familiar with its story and characters. I use that knowledge only when it is relevant to its successor at the plot level. This is a review of FFVII: AC based on its merits as a film and not as a fanboy’s paradise.

The film opens where Final Fantasy VII left off—500 years after its main events. We are treated to visions of the future, with Nanaki (Red XII) and his apparent offspring running to see the now idyllic scene of what was once the industrial wasteland, known as Midgar. It felt as if this had no other purpose other than to re-familiarize us with the emotions of excitement that gamers had while playing and completing the original game. It re-assured us that this is indeed Final Fantasy VII. To those with no formal background with the game, this scene would have lost its poignancy and thus I found it unnecessary.

At this point (if he hasn’t already), one must come to the realization that the movie assumes you are familiar with the game. Although the movie does include an opening review and a featurette that quickly glosses over key points in the game, it is not enough to elicit the emotions one had while actually playing the game and watching its story unfold. This is one of the film’s major downfalls: Not only does it expect you to understand the story’s background, but it also hopes that you have invested emotions in its characters.

Rewind 498 years. We are introduced (or re-introduced) to Tifa. She and Cloud have started a delivery service of sorts. Marlene is there. Do we know her connections to Tifa? Who is Tifa for that matter? Other than the fact that she is hot for a CG character, do we care about her? If you played the game you might but her character development in this film was nowhere to be found.

Moving on we see Cloud riding along on his ultra-sleek motorcycle, named Fenrir (a little tribute to Final Fantasy summon magic). We’ve just discovered that Cloud is afflicted with a semi-mysterious illness that has permeated the land and has also infected Midgar’s children. Oh heaven’s no, not the children!

Cloud has flashbacks to Sephiroth. Do we know who he is (other than what we saw in the short intro)? Does it matter?

We are then introduced to three new characters: Team leader, Kadaj, Brawny Roz and one more Sephiroth clone that is so irrelevant that the only thing I can remember about him is that he is overly effeminate.

The next scene provides us with the first of sequences that demonstrate the film’s technical prowess. Cloud and the boys engage in battle. These scenes are wonderfully rendered and choreographed. This is what the film is about--showing off its CG goodness. I must admit that my eyes were treated to many visual delights and got a solid workout trying to capture all that happened during these frenetic screen moments. My mouth was agape and my senses were stimulated.

For whatever reason, the line, “kaasan wa doko da?” won’t stop reverberating in my mind; maybe for its sudden delivery. Then again, maybe it’s because we discover that the boys are searching for their mommy.

Once the battle sequence ends, we learn that Cloud has been summoned by a shrouded figure, in collusion with the Turks, ostensibly to make a delivery. Yeah, the Turks, Reno and Rude. They provide some amusing comic relief throughout the film. Cloud is disinterested in the offer. Later, Kadaj pays a visit to our shrouded mystery man and demands his mother back. We learn that the mother he is searching for is Jenova, the “mother” of Sephiroth and the destroyer of civilizations. The boys plan to resurrect their elder brother, Sephiroth and lay waste to a damaged planet just beginning its healing process.

To help realize their goal, Kadaj and the boys recruit the children, afflicted with what turns out to be part of Jenova’s DNA. Cloud attempts to save the children and we are then gifted by the appearance of other FFVII cameos.

To expedite matters and avoid too many spoilers, I’ll provide a quick rundown of further plot points:

Tifa gets into a skirmish with Yazoo

Cloud talks (metaphorically, maybe) to Aeris.

Kadaj summons what appears to be Bahamut, and a battle, including all main FFVII heroes, ensues.

Jenova is reclaimed.

There is a battle with Sephiroth.

To be fair, I imagine that this movie was made solely for the fans and the battle scenes and CG do not disappoint. Unfortunately, as a fan and a movie-goer, the plot left me with a “so what?” taste in my mouth. The story added nothing to the series and the movie was nothing more than a spectacular visual orgasm for the senses. The cliché Japanese over-acting elements that are prevalent in most TV dramas are present here as well. They can be easily overlooked in anime but not in a CG movie that steps too close to copying human expression. Yes, these characters are super-human, but so is Spiderman. Tobey Macguire added a sense of realism to the character. The overly melodramatic components and the over-exaggerated features (I am not referring to their "powers" when I say this) of the characters does not work in this.

When going in to watch this DVD, enjoy it for its action, for its nostalgic factor, and for its escapism qualities. After some consideration, I hesitate to call it a film because it feels more like a game that you are not in control of. The visuals are there. The characters are there. Unfortunately, the story to drive you is not. Overall, it's a fun ride, but this is no movie. Maybe it’s just the evolution of gaming.