When a mysterious sickness, Geostigma, begins to manifest in the slums of Midgar, the mercenary Cloud must take up arms once again and confront those who wish to revive the man who almost destroyed the world two years ago – Sephiroth.

CRITIQUE

For those who have read the synopsis and have no idea what the hell I just said, don’t worry, I will explain everything for you.  Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is the sequel to the Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) video game Final Fantasy VII.  In order to understand anything that happens in Advent Children, it is important to have at least basic knowledge of the previous story. Bear with me; I will attempt to explain 40+ hours of game play in only two paragraphs.

In Final Fantasy VII, the lead character is Cloud, a former member of SOLDIER (the paramilitary arm of the energy company Shin-Ra that protects Shin-Ra’s investments, both in the city of Midgar as well as in other parts of the world.)  He has joined the Eco-Terrorist group, Avalanche, hoping to avenge his hometown after it was destroyed by Shin-Ra many years ago.

However, as fate would have it, someone else is gunning for Shin-Ra as well. One of their greatest SOLDIERs, Sephiroth (a byproduct of Shin-Ra’s genetic engineering program that took human DNA and fused it to an ancient alien being called Jenova,) has taken it upon himself to not only destroy Shin-Ra but to ultimately destroy the world (by fulfilling Jenova’s genetic prerogative and summoning a giant planet killing rock called Meteor.) 

As Cloud and his friends attempt to stop Sephiroth, a woman Cloud has grown fond of, Aeris (a descendent of a race called the Cetra, who wield the only magic capable of stopping Meteor,) pays the ultimate price.  Although she did manage to cast a spell that should stop Meteor, the spell takes time – something they do not have. 

When the heroes attempt to kill Sephiroth, it is revealed to Cloud that he is actually a failed clone of Sephiroth, which combined with the fact that Cloud was not who he said he was to begin with (he had actually stolen his SOLDIER identity from Zack, a person he had met years ago) forces Cloud to abandon his friends.  However, with Meteor approaching the planet, our heroes band together and defeat Sephiroth. And as Meteor begins to fall on the world, Aeris’ spell activates and manages to destroy Meteor.

Advent Children takes place two years after this.

With the world finally returning to some semblance of normalcy, the citizens of Midgar thought all their problems were over.  Then the sickness began – Geostigma, a disease that takes the form of black marks on the skin and ultimately kills the infected – caused, in part, by Sephiroth’s actions.  Cloud, the man who had saved the world, has turned his back on everything. He is wandering the world, dwelling over the events of the past, and those he failed to protect. However, in his search for meaning, he is attacked by three men – other clones of Sephiroth, who wish to know the whereabouts of “mother.”  Cloud knows exactly what they are talking about – the preserved head of Jenova. And if these men manage to reclaim Jenova, everything Cloud and his friends did two years ago would be undone.

The most frustrating thing about Advent Children is the fact that you have to have played the game in order to understand anything in the story.  Most of the characters in the film are not even introduced (unless, of course, you’ve played the game.) They just show up, do something, and disappear.  And to make matters worse, when Advent Children was first released, the film was so confusing it didn’t matter if you had played the game or not. Thankfully Advent Children Complete is a little bit different.

Advent Children Complete is, for lack of a better word, the director’s cut.  Instead of just adding sequences to the film, however, Advent Children Complete has been completely reedited (and in some places, completely redone) in an attempt to make the film more coherent.  And while Advent Children Complete is a better film as a result, it still suffers from the fact that it really doesn’t tie up any of the loose ends from Final Fantasy VII nor does it truly expand on the FFVII experience. 

Advent Children is really just an excuse to give fans of the game some eye candy.  And the film does look wonderful and there are some beautifully executed fight sequences, but in the end it really doesn’t pay off as a true film experience.  Fans of Final Fantasy VII will love it, they are a devoted lot, but unless you are a hardcore fan of animation (CG or otherwise,) there really isn’t anything to recommend about this film.

THE VIDEO

Advent Children Complete is presented in 1080p at 1.78:1 widescreen and looks absolutely stunning.  The film is crisp and clean and there are no digital artifacts at all.

THE AUDIO

The film is presented in Japanese, English, and French in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround. And while all the mixes are wonderful, I found myself preferring the Japanese mix slightly over the English dubbed version. Both have wonderful voice acting, but the film felt a little better in its original language.

THE EXTRAS

On the Way to a Smile – Episode: Denzel: A short anime film that explains who the character of Denzel is and how he found his way into Cloud and Tifa’s care.

Legacy of Final Fantasy VII: A look at Final Fantasy VII and the follow up/prequel titles that it has spawned.

Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII: The story of Final Fantasy VII - taken directly from the game. Although this does go over many of the major story points, there is little to no context to the events and is actually a little more confusing that helpful.

Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII Compilation: The entire story of the Final Fantasy VII universe told from the games that make up the Compilation series. While it does tell you about many of the minor supporting cast, like the FFVII featurette, it does a little more harm than good.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Advent Children Complete looks phenomenal and has some great action sequences. However it really isn’t a film, it’s more like a two hour long game cinematic. Fans of Final Fantasy VII will approve, but everyone else probably won't.