Final Fantasy VII Advent Children 2005 SQUARE ENIX
CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved
The world of Final Fantasy was introduced in 1987, and since
then, that franchise has spawned a countless amount of games that
bear the same name. Once again, Final Fantasy has made it to the
big screen with a sequel to the widely acclaimed Final Fantasy
VII game. Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is being
well received by FF fans around the world, mostly because of the
cult that Final Fantasy VII had already created, but also
because of the CG quality of production. I have to clarify that I
am not a FF fanatic, which means I am not writing from a fans
viewpoint.
Sephiroth 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved
The movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is set
two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII. A strange
sickness, known as Geostigma, struck the children in the city (and
the entire world, I would assume). Cloud, one of the main
characters, due to guilt, decided to live alone because he blames
himself for Aerith's death. In the meantime, three brothers arrive
to the city looking for their mother and plan to bring back
Sephiroth. As you may guess, they eventually accomplish their
quest, and Cloud saves the day. At first I felt the story was
rather shallow. Thankfully a friend explained FFVIIs back-story,
so the second time I watched Advent Children everything made
sense.
Yazoo
2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved
Although everyone has their own opinions as to the logic of the
plot, there is one thing that everyone does agrees on Advent
Children can be considered the CGI event of the year. Although
the characters retain their anime features the characters skin,
hair, and clothing appear natural and extremely realistic. The same
goes for the environments and props. Although, they are not
photo-realistic, because they still have that "CGI" look. It's not
like viewing the character Tifa for the first time and saying,
"wait a minute, is that a CG character or a real woman? ...
however, the closing credits do show a photo-realistic version of
the character Cloud riding his bike on a live-action road. Maybe
it's not ILM, but it
certainly was an excellent way to demonstrate the level of quality
they can produce. In today's animation standards, character
animation is produced using motion capture; with the keyframe
animation taking over when the moves became too complex or
dangerous for the human performers. If you have seen MoCap before
[as in scenes from Lord of the Rings], you will know that the
motion is only as good as the performer. In Advent Children,
the actors who portray the main characters move very realistically.
However, the actors who performed the stunts (you know, the
background characters nobody cares about) did a less than perfect
job. Although this may not hurt the story in any way, I personally
think, that attention to detail is important.
Vincent 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved
When it comes to facial animation, again, the background characters
are not featured with close-up animation, only the main characters.
The background characters are only there to fill the empty spots
and keep the action moving forward. Most of the main characters
deliver very believable performances, which is very difficult to
achieve. There are times however, when you feel they are either
overacting or under reacting. For example, near the opening of the
film, Yazoo says "Don't cry, Loz." Then we see Loz sort of crying,
but to tell the truth he looks like he is laughing, not crying. On
the other hand, Tifa seems to overact a lot, but I think that was
meant to show off the film's "pretty face."
Cloud
and Tifa and 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights
Reserved
The environments, on the other hand, are very detailed. The fields
and forests stretch into the distance, which makes you feel like
you are actually there. There is one particular scene that I love;
when Cloud is riding to meet Rufus, where a continuous forest of
trees surround the mountains to add to the scene ... everything
is flawlessly lit. The forest in the forgotten capital is also a
nice environment, especially because of the "ice-laden trees" that
make the place feels magical and ethereal. As to the plot ... the
movie could be considered average, and, unless you are a big Final
Fantasy fan you won't find anything special about it. One of the
biggest flaws is that most of the plot is just an excuse for an
action sequence. For example, Loz appears at the church and finds
Tifa there. They don't know each other but somehow they know
they have to fight. He defeats her, and then he takes
Materia and Marlene with him. Although it was an amazing
altercation, you still wonder why they had to fight. Fans will not
care about this, as they will be happy because they get to see
Cloud and the others on the big screen.
Marlene 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved
I am not saying the movie is bad, but FF fans hold version VII in
such high esteem that I expected a lot more from it; nevertheless I
can't expect a 90-minute movie to be even half as good as the
original 60-hour game. If you are a die-hard fan you will be
pleased. In fact, many fans consider Final Fantasy VII Advent
Children to be the best-animated movie ever! If you are into
computer graphics, then this movie is a must see. However, if you
want to view it just because you had fun watching
Shrek or The Incredibles ... Advant Children
might be a let down. If you are not a fan of the previous versions
of Final Fantasy, I would advise you to be sure and watch the movie
at least twice. Watching it a second time you will discover new
twists to the plotlines that you didn't the first time, and, in the
end, that is what I really liked about the movie.
Cloud
2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved
There is something I am eager to know, and that's if Square Enix
will be making additional CG movies; either related to the Final
Fantasy realm, or even better, movies based on other titles, or
even original stories that will not be aimed exclusively towards
Square fans. There is one thing that everyone will agree upon
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is indeed one of the
biggest events in the CG Industry for 2005.
All supporting images are copyright, and
cannot be
copied, printed, or reproduced in any manner without written
permission from 2005 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
Animation Alley is a regular featured
column with Renderosity Staff Writer Sergio Rosa [nemirc].
December 5, 2005 |
Comments