Not long ago, I dipped my toe back into the world of Final Fantasy with the action epic Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. As a latent fan of the franchise, it was intriguing to get a glimpse of what had come of this constantly evolving behemoth. I now continue my journey back in the theatrical realm with arguably the apex of the film series, 2005’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete from director Tetsuya Nomura. The hit film served as something of an epilogue to the events of Final Fantasy VII, as it picked up two years after the fall of Sephiroth with the survivors of Midgar facing another threat. While most fans of the series would argue that Final Fantasy VII wrapped up perfectly on its own, those same people would also probably admit that spending more time with these characters is a great joy – even if leaning more towards unnecessary than not. The version included here is the “Complete” version released in 2009 that expanded the story by 26 minutes by fleshing out necessary character elements that enhanced the story greatly.
In this new era, the survivors of Midgar have banded together to form the new city of Edge where life is improving, except for a disease known as Geostigma that is rapidly invading the land and has no cure. Our hero Cloud is reeling from the losses he suffered two years ago and has isolated himself from his friends, including his childhood friend Tifa Lockhart with whom he runs a courier service. He at least has a good thing going in his life as he and Tifa serve as caretakers to orphan Denzel and the adopted daughter of Barret Wallace, Marlene. The relative quiet of life is shaken up one day when Cloud is attacked by three mysterious men named Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, who cryptically seem to be searching for “mother” to no success. Shortly after, Cloud is summoned by Rufus Shinra in hopes of recruiting him to stop these three burgeoning agents of menace, but an inherent distrust of Shinra and a reluctance to step into a hero role makes him refuse. It is only when the children under his care are taken by the trio that Cloud agrees to be the hero he always was inside.
While Advent Children ultimately does not leave you in a much different place than the games, it does prove to be a fairly exciting addition to the canon. It should come as a shock to no one that Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz have a unique connection to Sephiroth, and they intend to use the remains of the extraterrestrial villain Jenova to resurrect him. The Geostigma weaves into this larger plan in a pretty interesting manner, and the inevitable return of Sephiroth brings about some pretty seismic encounters. Especially in this “Complete” version of the story, the action is wildly over-the-top and brutal in the most entertaining manner. At a bit over two hours, the film may seem overly long to casual fans, but the character bits all contribute to deeping the overall impact of each development. Plus, about ten minutes of the runtime are devoted to the ending credits which takes away some of the core length. There are moments where you might succumb to action-fatigue, but the narrative is typically smart about balancing the personal with the action.
The only major fault, if you can even call it that, is that this film is pretty inaccessible to anyone who is not familiar with Final Fantasy VII. Sure, it does what it can to catch you up in the opening and you can most certainly enjoy the film on a visceral spectacle level, but for sheer depth of feeling the average audience member will have no clue why they should care about certain outcomes for these characters. This is a story with a dense mythology, and you can only play catch-up so quickly before you get lost in the details. Also, it is worth noting that while the animation still holds up as very impressive for its time, those accustomed to a more modern technique might find some of the visuals to look a bit dated. Characters do not move as fluidly as those in Kingsglaive and backgrounds are less crisply defined within the chaotic action. Advent Children Complete is a feature very much intended for fans of the series, and that is okay. This franchise is a unique beast and those who count themselves as part of the fandom will love this entry.
Video Quality
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete comes to 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a mixed bag of a 2160p HDR transfer in 1.78:1. While this is not the most beautiful 4K UHD Blu-Ray on the market, this is not a fault of the work from Sony but rather the qualities of the inherent source material. The colors present in this transfer are imbued with much more depth and stability even in the face of a subdued color palette. This feature thrives on shades of black and gray, and the disc handles the black levels absolutely perfectly with no signs of crush in the slightest. White levels also thankfully avoid any instance of blooming in the more brightly lit set pieces. The pops of green in nature stand out as particularly exciting in a feature that is so comparatively dour.
The textures on display from the character designs to the environments offer improved sharpness over the accompanying Blu-Ray, but the source material keeps the upgrade from being a revelation. Those who pay close attention will find steady improvement on minute details such as slightly more defined hair and texture of clothes. The main area where this transfer falters is the aliasing that accompanies this dated animation process. As noted in the feature review, this style is nowhere near the photorealism that has become the norm in recent years. The core materials have been upscaled to provide the best presentation under the circumstances, but the deficiencies in the lower-grade source cannot be ignored when presenting this in 4K. The aliasing and other source anomalies are a pretty consistent fixture with numerous surfaces shimmering. Sony has made this one look as strong as it can given how it was made, but do not go in expecting a night and day difference in quality.
Audio Quality
While the video quality might not be reference level, this new audio presentation may be enough to get even casual fans to upgrade. This 4K UHD Blu-Ray utilizes a Dolby Atmos in both the original Japanese and English dub tracks that gives this action-packed film a real vitality. There is an emphasis on the front channels for a good portion of the sounds, but activity kicks in to the surrounds and rears during the more kinetic and action-oriented bits – of which there are a lot. The film really satisfies when it comes to the music, and this track pumps the sound straight through your body in a really satisfying, enveloping way. The fantastic score from Nobuo Uematsu is a real crowd pleaser.
Dialogue is crisp and clear without ever getting lost amongst the music or sound effects. The low end effects from the subwoofer give certain moments that much-needed extra weight to completely sell it for the audience. The implementation of environmental effects such as explosions and chatter from gathered crowds come through in a natural way. Atmospheric sound effects are rendered appropriately within the mix so that directionality is never an issue. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete will have your house rocking and shaking in the best way. This disc comes with more Audio and Subtitles options than you could ever believe including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Thai and many more.
Special Features
- Legacy Of Final Fantasy VII: A seven-minute piece in Japanese with English subtitles which gives an overview of the Final Fantasy franchise with a specific emphasis of FFVII and the related games. This only delivers a brief tease towards Advent Children
- Reminiscence Of Final Fantasy VII: A 24-minute piece which serves as something of a reintroduction to the original game with subtitled footage from the game including some cut scenes set to beautiful music. You might be surprised to learn that video game graphics have improved a lot in the meantime!
- Reminiscence Of Final Fantasy VII Compilation: A 30-minute piece which serves much of the same function as the previous supplement but with the follow-up Final Fantasy VII games in the series.
- On The Way To A Smile – Episode “Denzel”: A 28-minute anime episode that fills in some details on the character of Denzel between the video game and Advent Children. This is honestly the best supplement in the package.
- Sneak Peek At Final Fantasy XIII: A seven-minute look at the video game that was released worldwide in 2010.
- Trailers: There are various trailers for Advent Children included that were shown at Jump Festa 2009, Tokyo Game Show 2008, DKE3713 2008, Tokyo Game Show 2007 and Square Enix Party 2007.
Final Thoughts
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete is an effort that does not go out of its way to appeal beyond its core group of fans. There is quite a bit of fan service that will hit those who are familiar with the developments right in the heart. The story is deep and complex, but those only interested in watching chaotic action will also find quite a bit to enjoy here. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray that pushes the limits of what little it can do with the video presentation, but knocks it out of the park in the audio department. The package also comes with the original Blu-Ray which includes a nice array of supplemental features. If you are a fan of the franchise and have not picked this one up yet, this stands as the best representation of the content available. Recommended
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
