Blu-Ray Review:
FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score 33% Fresh: 2 Rotten: 4
This computer animated film picks up where the Playstation FINAL FANTASY VII video game left off. Cloud, the hero of the game, has retired into seclusion, but when a mysterious and lethal disease known as Geostigma begins to spread across the planet, and three powerful, villainous children appear, he reluctantly emerges to face the new and mysterious threats. Featuring some of the most spectacularly lavish computer graphics ever created, ADVENT CHILDREN continues the complex and compelling tradition that has made the Final Fantasy series one of the most popular games of all time.
I don't know what it is, but I just could not get into Advent Children. I found the plot confusing, the characters pretty stiff and the whole story put me to sleep. I know there are people out there that love this movie and the game, but for the life of me I don't know why. I think maybe you have to be a fan of the games to get all the back stories and to care for the characters. Right from the beginning I was pretty much lost as to what was going on. The animation is definitely spectacular and it certainly has that going for it. I was also trying to decide which language track to listen to. I could listen to it in Japanese with English subtitles or there is a English dub track. Most of the time I would listen to the Japanese track, but considering I was having a hard time following it I stuck with the English track, which actually was not that bad. As you can see I didn't like this movie, but that's not to say you won't. I think if you're a fan of the games you will have no trouble enjoying this film.
5 out of 10
Video
Advent Children looks fantastic. If you're a fan of animated films or anime you're going to love this 1080p transfer. Detail is stunning reveling fine textures in almost every part of the environment. Black levels are also strong. Colours are also bold and vibrant making everything leap off the screen. Even though the detail is superb, I did notice some softness in a few scenes, but it is possible they were going for this effect on purpose in those scenes. To see an example that showcases the detail and the colour I have been talking about here, I would suggest the scenes involving Kadaj's lair. These scenes have excellent detail and strong bold colours. Overall there is not much more they could do with this transfer to improve it because it already is a standout transfer and definite demo material.
9 out of 10
Audio
Advent Children receives a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. The quality of this track is as fantastic as the video transfer. All the surrounds are used to create a realistic environment. LFE channel enhances many of the explosions in the action scenes. Dialogue is also great. I listened to both the Japanese and English tracks and found both to be quite good. It's mixed well and I never had a problem hearing one of the characters talk. Amazing battle scenes were a feast for the ears. There is so much going on in these battles it's like a full on frontal assault, everything from punches to clanging metal is heard here. The music is also good and serves to heighten the emotional impact of key scenes. Overall the audio is top notch making this another reason why this should be demo material in your collection.
9 out of 10
Extras
Here is whats available in the way of extras:
Legacy of Final Fantasy VII
Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII
Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII Compilation
On the Way to a Smile-Episode: Denzel
Sneak Peek at Final Fantasy XIII
Advent Children Trailers
I find it difficult to come up with an extra I liked. Since I couldn't follow the movie I was not very interested in any of these features. Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII was interesting because I got to see shots from the game with a very cool orchestral score behind them. Sneak Peek at Final Fantasy XIII is a sneak peak at the upcoming game which showcases just how far video game graphics have come. Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII Compilation is quite a lot like Reminiscence of Final Fantasy VII. This contains footage from the followup game FF7 game that was released in 2004. Honestly though if you have not played any of these games I really don't see how these features are going to interest you.
7 out of 10
Overall
If you have played the video games or you are big fan of them, I think you will get a lot of enjoyment out of this film. For the rest of us I can recommend it if you want demo material, but I can't recommend the film without prior background knowledge.
6 out of 10 for the movie
9 out of 10 for the video and audio transfer