T w e n t y S i d e d
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We saw Final Fantasy XII: Advent Children last night. A few days ago Steven made a comment in this post about movies that were made just for the fans. I think this movie was the ultimate example of that. If you’ve never played the game, there is no reason to see this movie. They just didn’t make it with you in mind.
If you HAVE played the game, then you shouldn’t miss it. It’s one big collection of FF7 geek-service. Almost everyone from the game appears in the movie. Some people (the dead ones, mostly) appear only in flashback, but most key characters get some screen time. Many of the key locations are there, as well as the most notable vehicles. A few of the important moments from the game (such as the death of Aeris) are depicted in flashbacks. All of the core party members show up and we get to see them do their thing. The movie even goes so far as to depict specific spells and other gameplay mechanics. They show us materia, which is pretty much like you’d expect: It looks like colorful glowing spheres the size of billiard balls. It shows characters using their famous moves. We see Tifa perform some of her more stunning martial attacks. The only thing that could have made it more geeky was if the words LIMIT BREAK appeared at the bottom while she did it. I can’t believe the movie was made. It’s such a blatant depiction of the game itself that it never had a chance at the theaters in America. This is the movie that fans would have made themselves if they had the ability. Fights are kinetic to the extreme. Everyone, even aging Cid, can jump huge distances and perform the most preposterous stunts. The characters all use their familiar weapons, with the exception of Cloud, who has a new style of sword that can split into parts and be used as multiple weapons. People get smacked with six-foot swords, thrown down from towering heights, tossed around, and blown up, but nobody gets a scratch on them. The only way you can tell if someone is hurt is if they slow down and start talking about the past. Steven Blum is in there as the voice of Vincent. Nothing gets dubbed from Japanese without Steven Blum getting a part. I swear, they could make a dub of an all-female show like Girls High he’d still end up in it somehow. |
The Best of 2016
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2016.
What is Piracy?
It seems like a simple question, but it turns out everyone has a different idea of right and wrong in the digital world.
Do It Again, Stupid
One of the highest-rated games of all time has some of the least interesting gameplay.
Programming Vexations
Here is a 13 part series where I talk about programming games, programming languages, and programming problems.
Chainmail Bikini
A horrible, railroading, stupid, contrived, and painfully ill-conceived roleplaying campaign. All in good fun.
i loved final fantasy VII. it was awesome.
And since it must be said, Loz’s cell phone ring was the most blatant bit in the whole movie (and I know I’m not the only one who was half expecting to hear the victory fanfare at just that moment).
Let’s see i played the game first, and then i found the movie, i didn’t even knw that they made one i heck i bought that sucker and the movie was KILLER.
I showed it to my family (meaning parents and younger siblings) who don’t even own /any/ videogames (I got sidetracked into geek culture as a teen somehow, and while the rest of the family uses computers, I’m the only one with any pretense at being a “gamer”) and they loved it. So I question your “only for fans” analysis, but maybe my family is eccentric.