FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN
Our favourites returned, being just a little ‘noughties emo’
Not a fan of 2001’s early-era CG movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? Then Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was the answer to your prayers. For starters, Advent Children actually had something to do with the videogames, its story being a direct sequel to the events in the PS1 game, which certainly helped.
It’s not like the visuals were the most important aspect of the PS1 game, but in 1997 they were one of its most striking and impressive features. The same animation team, Visual Works, which was put together specifically for that game, animated Advent Children. And boy, CGI evolved a lot between ’97 and Advent Children’s ’05 release. Since this, the team’s gone on to continue creating jaw-dropping animation for Square Enix in both videogame and movie form (FFXV’s tie-in movie, Kingsglaive, was also its work, and of course it’s handling Final Fantasy VII Remake’s cutscenes, which we can confirm look amazing). Advent Children established Visual Works as a powerhouse producing gorgeous, stylised, fantastical animation, and perhaps Square
Enix’s own Ultimate Weapon. It’s even worked on the likes of Deus Ex and Tomb Raider.
Dripping in fan service, Advent Children is almost utterly impenetrable to anyone not deeply familiar with the lore of Final Fantasy VII, which meant that while non-gamers could appreciate the beauty of the animation, it bounced off a lot of people. But oh, what fan service it was! All the fan favourites returned, looking hotter than ever before, while also being moodier. In some aspects it’s a bit cringey to look back on now, as it’s just so 2005, but we can’t help but have a grin on our faces when we rewatch it, because of how great it is to see our Final Fantasy looking so amazing in a full-length movie.
“ALL THE FAN FAVOURITES RETURNED, LOOKING HOTTER THAN EVER.”