Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Available on DVD)
This review is not timely by any means, but I enjoyed Advent Children enough that I thought it merited a review. To quickly summarize, Advent Children is a direct to video computer-animated movie that acts as a sequel to the Playstation game Final Fantasy VII (FF7). I'm familiar with the basic story of FF7, but have never played through the game due to the fact that I lack sticktuitiveness, and therefore am a poor candidate for completeing RPGs. But even so, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I wasn't crazy about the character model for the main character, Cloud, at first, but it had grown on me by the end. The animation is very smooth for the most part (a definite improvement over Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), but the movements of background characters can be a bit marionette-like at times. Advent Children has a lot of atmosphere, and plenty of action (I guess some would say too much--but not me). The battles gleefully defy the laws of physics, and are truly epic in scope.
Verdict: Awesome. My only caveat is this--Advent Children is not for those who dislike anime or "wire-fu" martial arts movies. Granted, there are no wires, but the wildly exagerrated aerial fights certainly draw inspiration from the wire-assisted gravity-defying stunts of martial arts movies. In other words--if you hate the general awesomeness of anime and kung fu movies to begin with, don't come back crying that it was melodramatic and the fights were unrealistic!
For More Awesome Martial Arts Battles: Kung Fu Hustle. 'Nuff said!
This review is not timely by any means, but I enjoyed Advent Children enough that I thought it merited a review. To quickly summarize, Advent Children is a direct to video computer-animated movie that acts as a sequel to the Playstation game Final Fantasy VII (FF7). I'm familiar with the basic story of FF7, but have never played through the game due to the fact that I lack sticktuitiveness, and therefore am a poor candidate for completeing RPGs. But even so, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I wasn't crazy about the character model for the main character, Cloud, at first, but it had grown on me by the end. The animation is very smooth for the most part (a definite improvement over Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), but the movements of background characters can be a bit marionette-like at times. Advent Children has a lot of atmosphere, and plenty of action (I guess some would say too much--but not me). The battles gleefully defy the laws of physics, and are truly epic in scope.
Verdict: Awesome. My only caveat is this--Advent Children is not for those who dislike anime or "wire-fu" martial arts movies. Granted, there are no wires, but the wildly exagerrated aerial fights certainly draw inspiration from the wire-assisted gravity-defying stunts of martial arts movies. In other words--if you hate the general awesomeness of anime and kung fu movies to begin with, don't come back crying that it was melodramatic and the fights were unrealistic!
For More Awesome Martial Arts Battles: Kung Fu Hustle. 'Nuff said!
