This is a smish-smash of a lot of my thoughts, focusing on the characters. (Look out, it’s long.)

(SPOILER)First up: the Turks. I think they were done perfectly, though Reno's face had a bit of a strangeness that I didn't expect from him. He seemed just a little too goofy, which is disappointing. In VII, he seemed like a much more dangerous man. Here, he looks and acts like a goofy teenager. Funnily enough, I was more bothered by the fact that he didn't whip out that Nightstick of his and give Yazoo a shock. I don't see why they didn't give Reno a chance to use his weapon. Also, when did Reno become Peter Parker? O_o The weirdness of that moment left me gawking.

Rude on the other hand, seemed to be spot on. The glasses bit was very nice too, but they should have gave a visual cue as to why Rude covered his eyes. I don't want to hear that it's just because he thinks it looks badass. -_- lol

I also didn't understand some of the apparent humour behind the scenes with them. (Like when Reno and Rude face off with Loz and Yazoo, they get all touchy and weird-faced about something, and I really don't get it. I was also a little lost on exactly how much good and what the purpose of those explosives were.))

Lastly, regarding the Turks.


.....why the @#%$ is Tseng still alive? He was EXPLICITELY stated to be DEAD in VII. Like, Elena found his dead body, fer crisakes. Rufus, I could understand, and forgive, but Tseng? No. It's probably worse than bringing Aerith back in terms of logic. (People say it is Shion. Does Shion look EXACTLY like Tseng? O_o)

Still.

Bad Square. Bad Nomura. Bad. *swats*

Rufus: Liked his VA, and when we actually get to see him, he looks good enough, except for one thing: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM.

The bandages fall off and we don't see any of the gruesome burns or disfiguration we were expecting. Just our everyday, pretty-boy President on the job. Why was he in a wheel chair, covering himself if he was able to stand (and assumedly, walk), and had no visual scars to speak of?

Still.

Bad Square. Bad Nomura. Bad. *swat*

Well, he had Geostigma, didn't he? I suppose that could explain the covering, but I still thought he would be a little more roughed up from that huge power beam from the Diamond WEAPON. And I still don't get why he's in a wheelchair, unless I completely missed something. Was it all really a ruse to hide Jenova?

Maybe I won't be complaining so much when they give it English dubs, and hopefully, everything makes more sense.

Tifa: Well done, but I think her voice actress was a little too feminine, how ever that is possible. I've always seen Tifa as a strong, independent, girl-of-the-mountains, so when she sounded so effeminately young, it threw me off a little. Not a huge complaint, just my own personal perspective. I also think they would have done better in toning down her 'Asian-ness'. It worked with Cloud, but when I look at Tifa, I feel like I'm looking at an entirely new character. Like I don't even know her.

(Also, I think they needed to cut back on the slow-mo in her church fight scene. I'd rather marvel at the speed that she bounces around and fights back then get a freeze frame every few seconds. Takes away from the fluidity of her normal movements, and the entire battle. There are a few instances where the slow-mo was necessary, but I still think it was over-used.)

Though this is obvious, she felt like the ‘narrator’ of this story. Someone mentioned that Tifa didn’t change or develop much as a person in this story, for being a main character in it. That only seemed right to me, though. It’s kind of hard to keep up with an ever-changing narrator.

Vincent: *claps*

Few, if any, complaints here. Even his part in the SUPAH-HYPAH-CHEERLEADER-JUMP-SEQUENCE was given Vincent’s familiar touch of class by not being over the top, and just the word “Fly!” to encourage Cloud on.

Oh, he flew alright.

Even when Vincent is fighting, he seemed to be less cheesy, and more natural. I think he was the most plausible character in terms of fighting. And his VA was parfait as well. Loved the tone.

Yuffie: I thought her redesign was well-done, (though I’m wondering if she’s got short-shorts, or panties on underneath that utility belt), and her personality was very nice as well. I couldn’t help but grin at the way she acted when we did see her. It seemed perfect. (Though I expected her to have a bigger mouth, and look more tom-boyish, less feminine, due to her attitude (and possibly character art) in FFVII.)

Battle-wise, she got a little crazy with the flying stuff too, but never so bad that I will complain.

Cid: His appearance worked for me. Just right. No complaints.

Red XIII & Cait Sith (The two-headed beast): Why did they leave him out so much? WHY!? (And what was so special about his voice actor that they wrote ‘special appearance’ next to it? Mind you, I thought the VA was perfect, but I don’t get if it’s supposed to be someone important or what…)


Also, he looked too bulky, and his paws were too cartoonish. The fur also seemed to be off. I’m disappointed in how he was overlooked. I was also annoyed that Cait Sith was riding his back. Sure, it was amusing for a little while, but pointless. It’s not like he DID anything in battle. -_-


Barret: He looked WAY too young, and that shirt was just… no. Other then that, he was rather in character. Alright, I guess.


The Three: Hrmmm….

I thought Kadaj was actually quite well done. He seemed like a little kid. A toddler trapped in a teenagers/adults body. I honestly liked how his character worked out.

Loz had me cocking my head to the side occasionally. If Kadaj was a toddler, this guy was infantile when it came to the whole ‘mother’ thing. He served his purpose, but didn’t seem to be much use.

I think Yazoo worked out better than Loz, to be honest. Something about his voice, and his eyes. His face looks as though he is sick, almost, especially in the eye area, which I thought made him look interesting and more villainous, instead of just some feminine, waif-like flunky to Kadaj. I think they could have done more with this character, but there was no point, since he was just one of Kadaj’s henchmen, it seems.

Sephiroth: Done well enough. My sub took away a lot of the meaning behind his dialogue, I can tell, but what can you do. He seemed a little… bulkier than I’m used to, and I wanted to see him poise his sword up by his ear, like I remember. I don’t think he was as lithe as the Sephiroth I remember, but that’s my only real complaint. The black wing at the end made me think someone was trying too hard, but whatever. One Winged Angel, blah blah blah. Style over substance, perhaps? Or was there some deeper meaning behind that?

Music: I loved most of it, except I couldn’t STAND any of the rock tracks, except for the One Winged Angel remix.

Cloud: Ahhh, Cloud. Our little bundle of angst is back. *pats shoulder*

I won't bother going through his motivations or feelings, though. They were pretty apparent for the most part, no matter how weak at times.

I must say though, the very last scene, before the credits. Cloud’s expressions were perfect. In fact, that whole little bit at the end made up for most of the bad crap in the movie, in my eyes.

Lastly, in that very end scene, I wish they would have given Zack’s face a little more expression.