Advent Loserz
Before I start going off on this movie, two things to say:
- First, I had written a bunch of stuff to post. Then my computer went putz. Me much pissy.
- Loserz. It's a webcomic. Reminds me of Questionable Content, but nerdier, with inferior drawing and the occasional naked girl. Fun stuff.
Now, on to one of the best movies I've seen in years. The movie that Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within should have been.
Spoilerific!
Seriously
Okay?
Okay.
If you've played any Final Fantasy games, then viewed Spirits, you had to have been walking out of there disappointed. It had the name Final Fantasy, it had a character named Cid (every FF has a Cid), and that was about the extent of the connection between the movie and the series.
Well, Advent Children is going to blow your pants off.
Spirits Within had sci-fi action. Advent Children has sci-fi action, swordfights, martial arts, sorcery, gunplay, monsters, motorcycle fights along the streets of Midgar. Everything that Final Fantasy is known for.
What impressed me most, beyond the fact that this film even exists, is how well they integrated a lot of gameplay aspects into movie. Materia is used to harness magical power. Bahamut is Summoned from the skies above. Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII all take advantage of Limit Breaks, with Cloud smacking Sephiroth around with Blade Beams and Omnislash, Red using a Sled Fang, and Tifa pulling out some damn sweet combos like Meteodrive and Somersault.
Even beyond those aspects, the action scenes in this movie are breathtaking. The movie itself is motion capture CGI, like Polar Express only not nearly so creepy. Because of this, the movements and camera angles are smooth, fast, and just pretty.
Everyone returns, finally seen in all their lifelike glory. Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, Red, Cid, Yuffie, Vincent, and Cait Sith all return (minus Cait's mog, although we do see a nice moogle cameo in the form of a girl's stuffed toy). Aeris/th and Zack are both seen in dream sequences. Marlene becomes a major player, as do Rude & Reno, members of Shinra's goon squad. The two latter characters even become relative protagonists within the film, fighting the Children and assisting Cloud and his crew. Since it's a Japanese film, most of the characters come off as Asian decent, which can be a little jarring to anyone who can only picture their manga counterparts. But it feels more comfortable than FFX's Japanese Tidus and Yuna.
The voice talent doesn't bug me as much as I thought it would, mostly because the majority of the actors have done it before. Mena Suvari does reprise her role as Aeris/th, which still disappoints me, but overall it's good work. Rachael Leigh Cook (sp?) plays Tifa quite well, actually.
Some minor quibbles for the voices revolve around the choices for some of the side characters: Cid's got a Texas cowboy accent, which is fine. Red has a very, um, British/Tony Head kinda voice, which is fine. But they gave Cait a "hey, I'm Shrek!" Scottish voice. Which is okay, considering he barely talks. I just am gonna be irritated when Dirge of Cerberus comes around.
My main complaint? Not enough movie. It was an hour and a half, but I left wanting to see more. Here's hoping they continue this type of treatment, whether it be another FFVII, or if they expand to 8, 9, 10. Hell, give me 6. Hell, give me Chrono Trigger! Keep em comin!
- First, I had written a bunch of stuff to post. Then my computer went putz. Me much pissy.
- Loserz. It's a webcomic. Reminds me of Questionable Content, but nerdier, with inferior drawing and the occasional naked girl. Fun stuff.
Now, on to one of the best movies I've seen in years. The movie that Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within should have been.
Spoilerific!
Seriously
Okay?
Okay.
If you've played any Final Fantasy games, then viewed Spirits, you had to have been walking out of there disappointed. It had the name Final Fantasy, it had a character named Cid (every FF has a Cid), and that was about the extent of the connection between the movie and the series.
Well, Advent Children is going to blow your pants off.
Spirits Within had sci-fi action. Advent Children has sci-fi action, swordfights, martial arts, sorcery, gunplay, monsters, motorcycle fights along the streets of Midgar. Everything that Final Fantasy is known for.
What impressed me most, beyond the fact that this film even exists, is how well they integrated a lot of gameplay aspects into movie. Materia is used to harness magical power. Bahamut is Summoned from the skies above. Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII all take advantage of Limit Breaks, with Cloud smacking Sephiroth around with Blade Beams and Omnislash, Red using a Sled Fang, and Tifa pulling out some damn sweet combos like Meteodrive and Somersault.
Even beyond those aspects, the action scenes in this movie are breathtaking. The movie itself is motion capture CGI, like Polar Express only not nearly so creepy. Because of this, the movements and camera angles are smooth, fast, and just pretty.
Everyone returns, finally seen in all their lifelike glory. Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, Red, Cid, Yuffie, Vincent, and Cait Sith all return (minus Cait's mog, although we do see a nice moogle cameo in the form of a girl's stuffed toy). Aeris/th and Zack are both seen in dream sequences. Marlene becomes a major player, as do Rude & Reno, members of Shinra's goon squad. The two latter characters even become relative protagonists within the film, fighting the Children and assisting Cloud and his crew. Since it's a Japanese film, most of the characters come off as Asian decent, which can be a little jarring to anyone who can only picture their manga counterparts. But it feels more comfortable than FFX's Japanese Tidus and Yuna.
The voice talent doesn't bug me as much as I thought it would, mostly because the majority of the actors have done it before. Mena Suvari does reprise her role as Aeris/th, which still disappoints me, but overall it's good work. Rachael Leigh Cook (sp?) plays Tifa quite well, actually.
Some minor quibbles for the voices revolve around the choices for some of the side characters: Cid's got a Texas cowboy accent, which is fine. Red has a very, um, British/Tony Head kinda voice, which is fine. But they gave Cait a "hey, I'm Shrek!" Scottish voice. Which is okay, considering he barely talks. I just am gonna be irritated when Dirge of Cerberus comes around.
My main complaint? Not enough movie. It was an hour and a half, but I left wanting to see more. Here's hoping they continue this type of treatment, whether it be another FFVII, or if they expand to 8, 9, 10. Hell, give me 6. Hell, give me Chrono Trigger! Keep em comin!
posted by Bill at 10:51 PM
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