The highly anticipated DVD (in my case, at least) Final Fantasy: Advent Children hit stores in America today and I was one of the first ones to pick it up.  I am a huge Final Fantasy game fan and when I found out this was coming to the US I counted down the days.  This film is a sequel to the amazing Playstation game Final Fantasy 7.  It takes place two years after the events of the game and flows so naturally that you feel like you are playing another game, just by watching it.  My days of writing down the entire plots of movies in reviews are over, but I will say that every character that was alive at the end of the game makes an appearance in this film, and even a few ones you may have thought died...from Cloud to Rude and Reno to Ultima Weapon.  They are all here.  

The fight sequences were incredible, the new weaponry that the group uses are amazing, and the animation is top notch.  I can't think of a better video game movie out there.  Forget that.  I can't think of a better Anime out there.  Definately one of the best films ever created.  This is how you adapt a video game to a movie folks.  Create a story that relates to the game, yet is new, and keep the characters the same.  

**** out of ****

Perfection.  

I do highly recommend that if you do indeed watch this, that you pick up the game first.  It will explain a lot because not many names are stated in this film.

P.S. Is it wrong to find animated characters sexy?  I mean Tifa in this film was an incredibly beautiful character.  Sorry, had to say that.  

I got to the flying arcade-like place in the game, and I quit playing because my little brother Sam, and my little sister Monika, kept telling me about future plot-lines.  Still, I want to see the movie.  Would it be okay to skip ahead to the movie, or should I try to work my way towards it?

Eh it's up to you.  Most of the stuff probably won't make sense if you haven't at least gotten past the first disc.  If anything check out a story synopsis on like gamefaqs.com or something.  Just so you know how everyone ends up.

The movie is good in its own right, however.  Just an all around great film.  So if you really want to know the story behind what the characters are talking about, either beat the game or read up on it.  But if you want to just see a kick ass anime, you can check it out as well.  

I don't like anime and I find the "Final Fantasy" games to be pretty damn boring.  So, this one is probably not for me.  However, I did find myself enjoying the first "Final Fantasy" film even though most fans of the game did not.  Sure, techincally it was an abysmal movie as far as video-game adaptations go... but as a stand alone action/sci-fi flick, I thought it was pretty kickass.

Trust me, I've seen many of the supposed "favorites."  I found all of them boring and repetitive.  The closest I have ever come to actually liking an anime was the animated Spawn series that aired on HBO, but even that barely qualifies as "Japanese animation."

The games are boring but this film is awesome (I've seen the Japanese version (Is that the right language?) and it's really good eventhough i didn't understand what they were saying... Subtitles didn't help.

I bought the NA version today and will watch it later to brush up on the coolness that is Advent Children.

It's like a sexual encounter with a female for the nerd in all of us. You know they want it but you must wait 89 minutes to start and finish on the 90th minute because it's just so great. I'm just rambling on now, Don should limit the characters aloud in my posts.

Fantasy Fantasy VII shows off that the company who did it could kick Pixar's and Dreamwork's butts in the CG department, but beyond the amazing visuals and action sequences, the movie wasn't so hot for me. This is likely because I never played the game and just watch movies for what they are (or should be): independant stories.

I rented it to begin with because I saw a preview for it, and when I saw the title, I thought they were putting me on and advertising a video game. It looked pretty neat from the trailer, and upon discovering it was a movie, I had to see it.

The best part of this film is the animation. It is absolutely incredible. Realism is beyond compare for computer animation. It's one of those that you must see to believe. This medium, of course, allowed for some amazing action sequences. The opening motorcycle chase was just incredible. There was also a one on one melee in a gutted church that was rather good as well. Lots of great shots that were nothing short of picturesque while some high speed this and that went on in front of it. Just a feast for the eyes.

This is, however, where the good part ends for me.

It was probably the game to screen translation. There was a ton of exposition running non-stop from one end to the other to make sure the audience had a clue as to what was going on. This means that the character development was almost completely sacrificed. They tried to squeeze too much into their running time, so elements of the plot seemed odd or out of place at several moments.

Then, comes the friends of the main character. Who the heck are these guys? We go from ex-soldier guy with skill to these superheroes with no introduction. They come into the story completely out of no where like a deux ex machina finish to a large monster (who also came out of no where) in the middle of the film.

Then, it turns out the main villain is someone who does not exist until certain requirements are fulfilled. It was a neat final battle, but the final resolution escaped me.

I can see fans of the game throughly enjoying and understanding this film, but this is another that for me, who watches the movie and expects to understand, I got lost in the overwhelming plot laid out here and really didn't care about the paper thin characters. The visuals were awesome. But slick production can't mask a dodgy script.

This movie was awesome in the cg department, but that's pretty much it for me. I did love to see all the familiar faces, because I am a huge fan of the game, but this story didn't really grab my attention. To me it was trying to be to flashy, but that can be a good thing if done properly. If you've never played the game, then I don't think you will get much out of the story, but if you love great cg animation, than you will love the work done on this film. 7/10 (mostly because of the cg)

Quoted from KenneyP watch Elfen Lied and/or Fullmetal Alchemist and you'll love anime

I agree about Fullmetal Alchemist totally.  I never expected that sort of drama from a cartoon.  Truly amazing.  For me, the initiating incident in FMA came several episodes into it when Scar killed that little girl.  That was too sad and it makes the viewer NEED to see justice be served.

But the topic is ADVENT CHILDREN.  George's review talks about characters who aren't explained.  Well, the game explains the characters.  The movie is a gift for folks who've played the game.  I remember the first time I saw the ending of the game FINAL FANTASY 8.  I was so happy to see those characters celebrate after all they've been through.  So happy in fact that it brought me to tears.  My sister who hadn't played the game saw the ending and didn't see what the big deal was -- and that's because she hadn't experienced the game, and she didn't know the characters.  ADVENT CHILDREN is a spiritual experience for those who've played the game FF7.

I my humble opinion, a movie based on any other existing material should be wholly self-contained with minimal reference to the other material required. Take The Matrix Reloaded, for example. This movie was mostly self-contained. The original film will bring you up to speed on the story, but what most people don't do is watch The Animatrix and play the video game Enter the Matrix. These items ENHANCE the experience, but they are not required to enjoy the film.

FF7 should have done this. Introduce the characters to an audience who might not know them. Build them up for those who came to see an amazing CG film, but might not wish to (or don't have the time to) spend 60 hours playing the video game. I've played some of the earlier Final Fantasy games. One of the earliest required a lot of supplemental material to understand a lot of stuff. I've spent the 60 hours on these things, so I know what they take. But a movie is a different medium. An extra ten minutes spent introducing these people would have made all the difference in the world. It's an action film, so we don't expect a painful backstory for all of them, but just a little something...not out of no where to save the day and then fade into obscurity for the rest of the film.

This might have been heaven for those who played the game, but I watch movies. I evaluate movies based on their own merits and I give a lot of chances to films people say suck badly. I seen a lot of good films that critics pan and seen a lot of bad films that critics love. Based on fade in to fade out only, this film doesn't work, story-wise. I loved the animation. But it needed a better script.

In the extra scenes the two directors stated how this was made for the gamers.  It was originally released in Japan and actually was not slated to be released in the United States based on the fact you just said George.  The Japanese love Final Fantasy so the main base of people that would have seen this film had played the games and would have had the backstory necessary to enjoy this film.  In America, there are many gamers, but they are nowhere near as enthusiastic as the Japanese.  

I guess since I have played the game I really can relate and understand this.  I'm not as drastic as Alan up there who says he cried after a game which I think is a bit wierd, but I do enjoy the games.  If you would have played the games, you probably would have understood who the characters were, and why their personalites are the way they are, and exactly why Cloud and his friends were against Jenova and her spawn, but it is its own story.  I think it was just a matter of making a film for the gamers or for the moviegoer.  I think if they would have included a bunch of backstory and exposition explaining the game in essence, the film would have been terrible.  The gamers would have been bored to death and probably would view it as unnecessary.  It was either make a movie for the gamers or for everyone, and they knew that everyone else would be the minority watching this film, so I think they did a good job.  It's the main reason why this wan't released in theaters in America.  It would have been given an unfair bad judgement due to the lack of explanation.

Oh and by the way I am quite certain on the first disc of the set there is a section called "Final Fantasy 7: Revived" or something that will take you through all of the major plot points of the game.  It's a bout 20 mins long.  It will give a sense of who the characters of the game are from actual footage of the games.  It's pretty informative for the inexperienced viewer.  

Japan's movie industry caters to a different sort of diversity in which many niche groups are large enough to support that niche's film commercially; however, the niche groups are also connected by their unique culture which in itself is exclusionary in many ways.  The country's "excusive club feel" inspires "exclusive clubs" within the country's pop culture.  The niche builds their "exclusive club" as they share a unique bonding experience by following thier story across platforms or mediums.  A platform or medium is a stage wereupon you tell your story.  Gaming was the stage for the first part of the story, and the story of the next episode was told in the medium of film.  In North America, there are "film buffs" and "gamers".  But in Japan, there are niches who tell their one part of their story as a game, and one part of the story as a film.  They use multiple perspectives to enhance the story they're telling.  ADVENT CHILDREN is an extention to the ending of FF7.  You play the game and want more, and you see ADVENT CHILDREN.  It's not for "film buffs"; it's for the niche who played the game.  And "film buffs" have no right to enforce their rules on a niche who's perfectly happy with their film.

Quoted from Alan_Holman Japan's movie industry caters to a different sort of diversity in which many niche groups are large enough to support that niche's film commercially; however, the niche groups are also connected by their unique culture which in itself is exclusionary in many ways.  The country's "excusive club feel" inspires "exclusive clubs" within the country's pop culture.  The niche builds their "exclusive club" as they share a unique bonding experience by following thier story across platforms or mediums.  A platform or medium is a stage wereupon you tell your story.  Gaming was the stage for the first part of the story, and the story of the next episode was told in the medium of film.  In North America, there are "film buffs" and "gamers".  But in Japan, there are niches who tell their one part of their story as a game, and one part of the story as a film.  They use multiple perspectives to enhance the story they're telling.  ADVENT CHILDREN is an extention to the ending of FF7.  You play the game and want more, and you see ADVENT CHILDREN.  It's not for "film buffs"; it's for the niche who played the game.  And "film buffs" have no right to enforce their rules on a niche who's perfectly happy with their film.

Well said, Alan.  A great explanation.  

I even think the story line of Advent Children would have made a fantastic video game/sequel to FF7.  

Quoted Text It's not for "film buffs"; it's for the niche who played the game.  And "film buffs" have no right to enforce their rules on a niche who's perfectly happy with their film.

Actually you're wrong. I cannot stand Final Fantasy (Games) which disproves your argument right there because I really enjoyed this film and the other one. You either like it or you don't. A film is a film and every indy film has a niche audience.