Quote Originally Posted by Sephiroth View Post
I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT MY POST WAS KILLED AGAIN!
I've been having the same problem. I've taken to copying my text just in case.

When I first saw the movie, I was 12 and I LOVED it. Since High School though I just find it boring. The action scenes (really for a lot of people, the movie's main sell) don't really do much for me because there's no personality to it. A fight can look as cool as it wants, but extended fight sequences are supposed to be more than clashing swords in 30 different cool ways. Empire Strikes Back has Vader trying to lure Luke into the carbonite freezer (while also showing that Luke relies too much on his light saber and too little on the Force), Pirates of the Carribean shows Will's dedication as a blacksmith and a swordsman, Princess Bride establishes the relationship between Wesley and Inigo Montoya, and characterizes Wesley as a show-off. Advent Children has people doing cool flips and trout. I will say, I like Tifa's fight scene in the Church; it's brief and they worked her limit breaks into the choreography (actually reminds me of a lot of scenes in the Street Fighter II movie). The Sephiroth fight also has dramatic stakes as Cloud's super outmatched, but I agree with Kanno that it doesn't exactly make sense for Sephiroth to be as powerful as he is.

Anyway, regarding the plot, I'll go ahead and say I agree with the detractors. Too much is left out for the movie to feel like its own product. I've read a few of the Novellas, and I really liked Case of Denzel and Tifa (the others vary for me). I feel like another problem with the movie's writing is that every non-action scene with Cloud (of which I think there are 3?) is the same:

Rufus: Cloud, help us save the planet...
Cloud: Not interested, let me grieve

Tifa: Cloud, we gotta save the kids!
Cloud: I'm not up for it, let me grieve. Besides, Reno and Rude have this.

Vincent: Exposition, also are you gonna head back to save the city?
Cloud: I dunno... I could grieve
Marlene: Seriously?!
Cloud: You know what, yeah, I'll give it a shot.

I used to be a lot harder on Cloud's characterization in this movie, but I do think that writing Cloud as depressed is a solid believable choice. Despite his character arc in the game, it's very easy to believe he could have a relapse. My problem is that EVERY SCENE that features or involves him is the same (and the only dialogue heavy scenes between multiple characters that aren't about Cloud are about Kadaj asking Rufus for Jenova's location). I'm not really an Evangelion fan, but I like Shinji Ikari because while the character is known for his insecurities and not wanting to act, a large amount of his screen time is spent on his relationships with other characters. He's allowed to exhibit a range of emotions; he gets flustered, irritated, prideful, content. At the end of Advent Children, if I hadn't played FFVII, I would only know Cloud as "that angsty guy with the big sword" and surprise, surprise, that's how gaming culture at large remembers him.

Anyway, I know people personally who like this movie, and I'm well past the age of telling them they shouldn't. That being said, I don't think Advent Children is well written or particularly interesting. Last Order and Case of Denzel are probably the most well written things to come out of the Compilation, honestly. The latter is a great self-contained story with well defined stakes that feels relevant to the original game, as opposed to creating a new threat for someone to deal with "just because" (and yes, despite their relation to Sephiroth, I would classify Kadaj Yazoo and Loz as a "new threat").