Mini-Review of "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children"

I HAVE FINALLY SEEN IT. After two years of waiting. Was it worth the long wait?

Heck, yeah.

Picking up from the events of the PS game (the film starts with a recap), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children starts with the pace of a hyper-charged video game cut scene and almost never loses that energy. Ever wondered how the special battle scene moves of Cloud, Tifa and the rest of the gang would look like if actors were to actually enact them onscreen? Well, you'll see it here, and the fanboy/girl in you will weep with delight. Before this film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within had the cleanest, most realistic animated characters. In some ways, it still does, but there's no question as to which film comes across with more life. Where The Spirits Within was flat and gray, Advent Children was alive and kicking and vibrant. It's not a film with a brilliant, convoluted story, but the plot serves its purpose of giving the necessary backdrop to the characters and to the return of a lot of people's favorite video game villain. In fact, one could very well conclude that the entire plot was just designed to give a justification for the return of Sephiroth. But visually, there is no word strong enough to capture the beauty and intensity of the action sequences, how smoothly and breathtakingly wonderful everyone moved. There's a lot of fan service, too (watch for Tifa's fight for one that's particularly very amusing), and humor. But if you're a fan of the game, and you're familiar with what happened, then you're bound to feel just a tad emotional during the last scene. Of course, I'm not saying what happens there.