1. Review of the Story in General.
This feels more of a "large trailer" at the beginning - at some points during the
movie, I thought, woah, that happened pretty quick, couldn't they have put something
in between to make it flow properly? Especially with the Loz and Tifa fight scene,
don't get me wrong, it was a great piece of action from the movie, but, it suddenly
appeared out of the blue.
Further on, things start to seem to fall into place more, and the movie seems to
go along quite good.
To understand more of the story, I suggest not watching the actual movie first,
but watch Reminiscence of FFVII instead - which will be explained later on.
The story was ok for me - it would not get top marks, because things were left unexplained,
but what do you expect really? Something with an award winning plot for like, say,
Brokeback Mountain? No - people who just watch it straight off may get confused, and
think, who the hell was Sephiroth and Jenova?
But to people who have played the game before, and understand the people and past
events, you will enjoy this quite easily... I hope XD.
The best thing about the storyline? Now I reflect back on it, the Geostigma and
it being related to Jenova was something I liked.
The worst part? I would have to say..well, there aren't really any "bad" things,
just, some stuff unexplained which made Lisa a bit angry >:3. For example : How
did Rufus survive the attack by Diamond Weapon? How where the SHM created? I would
mention Tseng, about how did he survive the stabbing by Sephiroth, but there was
no clear indication that he died, while what happened to Rufus, made you very well
think he gone up to Heaven.
Graphically? The CGI was superb, and a lot of the movements were very slick, and
even some of the crowd looked like real human beings when moving - hehe, I'm sure
SE were heading in that direction anyway.
2. Review of the Characters Taking Part.
I'll just list them, with a few paragraphs going into some detail about how I thought
the characters acted etc.
Cloud: The main man of the movie - I've heard some people say his voice was
emotionless, and that Zak/Zax/Zack/Sandslash's (haha) English VA should have taken
over as Cloud's VA. Well I can tell you that would have been a big mistake, because
Cloud surpassed himself in this movie, especially with a voice done by a wonderful
Steve Burton. My respect for Cloud shot up in an instant, and I thought his personality
was really well presented - he went from a struggling young man, to someone with
a new mission in life, once he had the support of his friends and Aeris. Rating:
10/10
Sephiroth: Um...Sephiroth =D Pretty good, needed to listen to it for a bit
first, but it was pretty good, but not as sinister as the Japanese version. Still,
he delivered some sexy lines. Rating: 9/10
Aeris: What can I say... she really did NOTHING for the movie. In my honest
opinion, she ruined the scene where Kadaj was fading away - I was semi-crying for
Kadaj, but at the same time, I was semi-crying for Aeris to get on and go back to
where she was living as a spirit. It wasn't the worst voice in the world, but it
made me cringe, and I really didn't find her appealing at all - we could have done
with someone a lot better then Mena Suvari. Despite what she did for Cloud, her
voice really didn't make me like her at all. will have to give her credit however,
despite the poor VA performance, and I am not comparing her here to anyone other
professional, she still played a vital role in the movie, so I'll give her a few
marks for that. Rating: 3/10
Tifa: At a few times did I think Rachel Leigh Cooks acting seemed a little
bit... out of place during the movie, but the voice acting flowed particularly well,
and with Cloud, it brought out her personality a bit more. Tifa sounded very pleasant
throughout, and you could detect emotion too, especially for her concern for Marlene
and Cloud. Contrary to popular belief, the famous "Dilly dally, shilly shally" line
was spoken not like I thought it would be - it was said rather softly, sighed out.
Rating: 8/10
Reno: Quenton Flynn was pretty much spot on here, though I half expected
some cheekiness to arise from Reno, and even though I didn't really sense the "cheekiness"
in his voice, he sounded very laid back, relaxed, whenever he spoke, and that reflected
his character to a rather good extent. Reno and Rude really made the movie worthwhile
to watch, as they provided the comedy for the movie, with Rude often on the receiving
end of things i.e. having his shades smashed y reno, being knocked off while climbing
the wall, etc. Rating: 9/10
Rude: Though the voice seemed... to be fitting, I thought it may have been
a little bit too deep for him. I expected him to have a softer tone, as he seemed
to be a generally quiet person, but that didn't really bother me because he seemed
to pull it off rather well in the end. He also appeared to be a very handsome person
in the movie, and to see his eyes for the first time, they looked rather delicious
<3 Well done overall, Crispin Freeman! Rating: 8/10
Kadaj: Another one of my favourite VA's - I think Kadaj showed more emotion
to me, then anyone else - his sadness, his anger at not finding mother, realisation
that he was just a puppet, and at the end, when he seemed calm as Aeris called to
him. He sounded young, youthful, the exact equal to the Japanese counterpart. His
accent appealed to me in general, as quite a few of the characters in this sounded
American, while Kadaj seemed to be detached from that group, and sounded more "European".
Rating: 10/10
Yazoo: There really wasn't anything to be excited about here - Yazoo was
portrayed quite poorly - his manliness in the Japanese version despite his very
slim build, made him more realistic, while in the English dub, his voice seemed
"floaty" and had less of an impact, a positive impact on my ears. It remained the
same throughout, and so it really did not have a lasting effect on me. I shall give
him credit only for the fighting skills he and Loz seemed to convey so well during
the film. Rating: 5/10
Loz: Haha... many of you should know how annoyed I was when I heard clips
of Loz speaking, and it, has not changed my opinions as such when I watched the
movie fully. I have to give him credit for some of the lines he said, which was
the "Don't cry Yazoo!" line and the words he spoke when he entered the church. They
were executed quite well, though the rest of his work was pretty lame, and the voice
overall didn't reflect him - changes that were made to him, may have been minor,
but it was something, as a Loz fan, I did not tolerate well, and I had to put up
with it in the end. As with Yazoo, points given to his rating overall was to do
with the action he was involved, particularly the Tifa fighting scene - which was
extremely explosive. Rating: 5/10
Rufus: I had to think on this one, and in the end, I came to the conclusion
that this was an "average" voice. I listened to it as best I could, but parts of
it made me think - yes, it suited his nature and no, the accent did not seem quite
fitting. It made him sound a lot older then he looked, but it didn't sound that
bad, and it didn't really get on my nerves. As for his inclusion in the movie, it
would have been nice to see him stand up and for us to have a face view of Rufus
as he was getting healed from the Geostigma at the end. Rating: 6/10
Cid: Haha... I didn't really sense any Australian accent in him to be honest.
He had a comical side to him, which we saw in FFVII, especially with his swearing,
and even though there is a lack of that in the movie, his comments towards Yuffie
and Barrett made me giggle =P He didn't sound too rough, but he still managed to
maintain that dreamy manly voice you'd expect him to have. Rating: 10/10
Reeve: Though you hear him for a matter of seconds, the VA for the English
dub was very deep, and I didn't think it was a Reeve type voice. He seemed to have
matured in AC, because I saw him as an upbeatish kind of person in FFVII, and would
have thought that his voice may have been a bit on the lighter side, but I guess
the VA showed us people change over time. The VA seemed to retain some gentleness
that I saw in Reeve in FFVII, and in the message left on the voicemail on Cloud's
phone, showed that as well. Shame it's the only time we get to hear Reeve speak.
Zack: Ah, the lovely voice of Rick Gomez comes sailing into our hearts once
again - if anyone played FFX-2 and fell in love with the voice of Gippal, then you'll
hear his talents once more. Though Zack really only appears in flashbacks and towards
the end, his voice is what I had in my head all the time, it was a perfect voice
for him. ..Man, I wish I could say more ;__; - another plus point - his hair was
still spiky XD. Rating: 10/10
Cait Sith: Wow, what a shocker - you get to hear his voice more clearly when
on the Sierra, you can hear a distinct Scottish accent, and it's very different,
a lot louder then the other voices you hear. At first it didn't seem to fit in,
but you gotta look on the history of Cait Sith's name to know why he was given such
an accent. Looks the same as he did in FFVII, but upgraded in graphic quality. Rating:
7/10
Nanaki/Red XIII: For only one line, the VA didn't really seem to put much
effort in for voicing good old Red, but in a way, I guess it isn't exactly an easy
job, trying to get the voice of a speaking creature spot on =P. His design was good,
so plus points for that. Rating: 4/10
Barret: Muhahaha... one of the more comical voices. Though he sounded like
Mr.T, he sounded really good, and the "What up foo!" line set me off laughing XD
He looked well presented, which was a good thing. Rating: 10/10
Vincent: Hm... Vincent, I guess he sounds alright, though in general, his
voice wasn't what I had imagined it to be. I was thinking they would stick with
the route that the Japanese had took, making the voice dark, smoothe. Guess they
had different ideas for this version. He looked fantastic in the movie, his eyes
captured me more then anything. Rating: 6/10
Denzel: Yeah, he was cool. Good voice acting, suited him. He was a nice addition
to the FFVII Compilation =) Rating: 9/10
Marlene: Yeah, I know some people didn't really take to her voice, but she
sounded like any normal kid. She sounded really cute too. Rating: 8/10
Tseng: Even though you hear him at the beginning, for a short amount of time,
his VA sounds pretty good, but seeing as you only see him later on when he is not
speaking, I can't really say whether or not it fits him well, so I only really give
an average rating for this. Rating: 7/10
Elena: I wasn't keen on her voice, and though she falls into the same problem
area as Tseng, I cannot really criticise her voice when I haven't seen her on screen
and speaking at the same time. I do however, think at the moment, her voice was
too young for her. Rating: 6/10
Yuffie: Ah, another great VA. Fits her greatly, gives her that youthfulness
and makes her sound as cheery as ever. Rating 10/10
Random Characters: i.e. kids, Moogle girl, crowd at the monument. I
can't give a rating for this, as there is not enough to judge on, but they seemed
to fit in with everything.
3. Lines to look out for which made Lisa go *omfgfaint*
"This'll be fun!" - Loz getting ready to fight Tifa
"Where can i get a phone?" - Vincent when he joins the Bahamut battle.
"What up foo!" - Barret leaving a voice message on Clouds phone.
"Sexist! Sexist!" - Yuffie shouting at Cid on the Sierra.
"Oh, where did you find this strength?" - Sephiroth.
"On your knees, I want you to beg for forgiveness." - Sephiroth.
4. Overall Rating of: Storyline, Graphics, Character Portrayal.
Storyline: 8/10 - it was good overall, though it lacked certain things that
needed to be explained, the fighting scenes and characters in general made up for
it. However, the ending was generic, and you knew what to expect.
Graphics: 10/10 - what more can I say? Stunning, finally seeing your favouries
in CGI, and actually being able to crush on them properly =P
Character Portrayal: 8/10 - Hmm... some of the characters like Aeris, Red,
Loz, Yazoo, could have done with better VA's, while characters like Tseng, Elena,
and Rufus, and even Reeve, could have done more with some showtime, instead of just
hearing voice clips, and seeing very little of them to be fully judging their appearance
properly.
5. Final Mark (Out of 10)
Final Mark eh? 9/10. Yeah, there were some faults with it, some of the VA's could
have been better, a lot of the movie felt very fast, things were not explained,
but there were a lot of plus points - more then half of the voices were spot on,
the CGI animation was beautiful, very life like, sexy even. I used to criticise
AC in the past, say it wasn't great etc, but ya know, at the end of the day, it's
rekindled my love for FFVII, Cloud, and I now have a sudden desire to play FFVII..
once I complete FFIX at least xD. Some people will say my views on Aeris and Yazoo
and Loz aren't right, but meh, whatever. Think what you like XD. You're free to
judge, just remember, this is a review based on my opinions.
Extra additions: Reminiscence of FFVII: I suggest those who have never seen
FFVII before, never played it, should watch this 15-20minute show of what happened
in the events two years previous to FFVIIAC. It will explain a lot of things, and
when I watched it, the graphics were sharp, background graphics were very neat.
You could still see the characters in their former "no-hand" glory! It goes through
the more important parts of the game, and even includes the Lucrecia cave scene,
which up until now, I had never seen before. You'll like this, hopefully, you FFVII
veterans, and hopefully the newbies to FFVII too.
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