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From the publisher
Two years after the events in "Final Fantasy VII", a disease called 'Seikon-Shoukougun', or 'Geostigma', is spreading through the planet. This disease is believed to have been caused by the body fighting off foreign material that invaded the body two years earlier, at the end of "Final Fantasy VII". Guilt-ridden and haunted by his past, ex-SOLDIER Cloud Strife has decided to live a secluded, solitary life away from his friends while maintaining "Strife's Delivery Service", whose headquarters is located in Tifa Lockheart's bar, the Seventh Heaven. Tifa's bar serves as an orphanage for children stricken with Geostigma. Here, Tifa keeps an eye on Barret's six-year-old daughter, Marlene, while Barret searches the planet for an alternative energy source to the Planet's energy, Mako.

One day, Cloud receives a phone call from the former Shinra, Inc. president, Rufus, asking him for protection from a mysterious man named Kadaj. Kadaj, in the meantime, along with his brothers Loz and Yazoo, are searching for their "mother", and seem to believe that Cloud knows where to find her. Meanwhile, Vincent Valentine has been wandering the planet gathering information on Kadaj's scheme, and Cloud and his friends must come together again to fight these new enemies.

NCS Comments - Sept 13, 2005
We watched the DVD from the LE box that arrived yesterday. There may be spoilers below, so avert your eyes with the quickness if you don't want to read them.

• When it's all over, Advent Children is just a story about three boys looking for Mother. What could be so bad about that?

• The three red creatures (Red XIII, et al) racing in the beginning would fit perfectly in a remake of the Lion King where the beasts rush up something that could very well be Pride Rock. The flock of birds flying overhead carries a tinge of the Disney style.

• There's a short interlude near the introduction of the movie when a young child is narrating the storyline from FFVII and the battles that took place before the current story that will cause many a fan to swat a tear from his/her eyes. You'll know it when you see it.

• When Cloud wakes up, his hair is as perfectly feathered and coiffed as it was before he hit the sack. The same goes for Tifa. Hair is a big deal with individually mobile strands and realistic hair motion throughout the movie.

• Cloud's apparent choice of eyewear is a pair of Oakleys. With the metal rims and the tinted lenses. He also carries a Motorola style flip phone that is water resistant and would work well as an aerator...

• The street scene where a girl is carrying a ratty Mog plush is beautifully done despite the mundane setting. The drab gray metal work and rusted brown palette evince the misery and stark loneliness of the city.

• Kadaj and the Gang - the three villains in the movie - belong in a Japanese rock/hair fusion band. If such a thing exists. Their collective swagger, snarling sneers, and cold eyes betray their lack of humanity.

• The fights are breathtaking with lots of slow-motion special effects mixed with fast paced action. Slow-mo then zoom redux. There are obvious nods (is rip-off too strong of a word?) to the Matrix movies.

• After Kadaj summons a rampaging Neo Bahamut materia, friendly air support arrives quickly and the assembled team eventually helps Cloud vault ever higher in a spectacular mid-air showdown against the creature.

Overall, loved the movie but sprouting seeds may spoil Square's sales. Hmm. Imagine that.

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