Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (FFVII:AC)

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy

Much anticipated sequel to Final Fantasy 7 (FFVII), the Playstation (PS) role-playing game (RPG) that took the world by storm in 1997. This follows up to what happens 2 years after the end of the game.

The battle sequences in FFVII:AC are superb, which will please fans. Plus the familiar music accompaniment (from the battle victory tune to the various characters' themes) are performed amazingly now on instrumental pieces, which are different when heard in MIDI format. The characters has lost their super-deformed (SD) appearances for more realistic forms (akin to Final Fantasy 8 or FFVIII characterisation). So for above 3 aspects, this film would have easily rated 5 star in any review.

However, the plot would be confusing to the person watching it without ever first played the game. Oh, you can be wowed by the technical superbness of the computer-generated (CG) rendering, the tightness of the battle action sequences, blah blah blah; but without a clear plot-explanation to the novice, I feel this is a major flaw to the film. Also, the use of actual CG cut scenes from the actual game is nostalgic, if you do it once; but to repeat them twice in the film actually feels like you dun have that many new scenes to contribute (or you don't have that much plot).

oh, I'm a whiner in this case. I guess lotsa fans would bash me over the last few negative comments. But I guess I'm a perfectionist when it comes to FFVII - it's a fabulous story, and I don't want it to ruined...

Fans site:
http://www.adventchildren.net/ff7ac/movie/about.php

Square-Enix Japanese site:
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/dvd/ff7ac/

Square-Enix English site:
http://na.square-enix.com/dvd/ff7ac/