Moving Pictures: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children/Complete

I’ve now reached my childhood, kind of. While I grew up with the original 2005 version of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, I do appreciate Advent Children Complete. Looking back, this film was a trip. It’s also fun to consider the fact that I first watched it with no knowledge of Final Fantasy VII, so I used to think that Cloud legitimately had three little brothers. Now, I’m aware it’s all symbolic but imagine the confusion.

But what’s the difference between Advent Children and the Complete version? Well, let me explain. The original Advent Children was a mess, and no one really knew what the hell was going on. Did I love it? Yes. Did I understand what was happening? … No. No, I did not. Plus, no one really knew who Denzel was, as the novel, On The Way To A Smile, hadn’t been released in the UK yet, and so the only way to find it was by trawling the internet until you came across thelifestream.net (I think), which meant Denzel was a bit of a mystery to most people.

Since On The Way To A Smile has officially been translated into English, some elements of the film do make a lot more sense. However, I’ll save the events of that light novel for another time. Instead, I want to focus on Advent Children: Complete as a whole film, where you don’t need to read the light novel to understand it.

I’ll admit though, it probably would help a little bit. But unlike the first version released in 2005, the Complete edition has more additional scenes that expand on the backstory of Denzel. See, the main plot of the film focuses on the mysterious illness, Geostigma, of which both Cloud, Denzel, and even Rufus Shinra are impacted. Mostly children are affected, and it’s believed that Sephiroth’s cells have corrupted the lifestream, and so these children, Cloud, and Rufus, are the most affected. Prior to the film, Cloud had already been looking for a cure to help Denzel, whom he’d found outside of Aerith’s Church in the Sector Five Slums. Tifa recommends Cloud bring him back, and it’s a touching scene that helps expand on why Tifa and Cloud are now looking after two kids, instead of just Marlene, who’s been left in their care while Barret searches for oil.

While this is going on, there are Remnants of Sephiroth who are out causing trouble, seeking out Jenova’s severed head to finish what Sephiroth started two years earlier. However, Rufus and the Turks aren’t making it easy for them. While we don’t see much of Tseng and Elena — the two of them having been attacked viciously at the beginning of the film — Reno and Rude are definitely stars of the show. Both Reno and Rude have been keeping an eye on Cloud in the hopes that he’ll help Rufus out in dealing with them. Of course, Cloud’s not interested, especially with Reno opening his big mouth to say that they’ll bring back the Shinra Electric Power Company.

I can’t lie, Reno and Rude have some of my favourite parts of the film. They bring comic relief that’s needed while Cloud deals with the trauma from the original game. With the additional bonus of Cloud remembering how Zack died, with additional scenes included from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, there’s more resonance regarding Zack’s death than there was before.

When the Geostigma kids are kidnapped by Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, it’s up to Cloud to go and rescue them. With Loz having attacked Tifa at Aerith’s Church and taking Marlene and all of Cloud’s Materia with them, Cloud is left to focus on his own skills here. Naturally, he doesn’t have his Buster Sword at this point, the weapon left as a grave marker where Zack was killed, and instead, he has my personal favourite of his weapons: the First Tsurugi (I don't care that it's canonically known as the Fusion Sword, I grew up calling it First Tsurugi because of a mistranslation, and I can't let go of it). Using the Fenrir motorcycle as well, I will always find it cool how many motorcycle battles took place, and the way Cloud could store his weapons in the bike. I don’t care how old I get, that’s just the epitome of cool, right there.

With the kids being brought to the Forbidden City, Cloud is told to stop Dilly Dally Shilly Shallying, he’s on the way. At this point, he’s not too successful at getting the kids back, but he does get saved by Vincent, who’s been keeping an eye on things. It’s also through this film that I really learned how much I loved Vincent Valentine as a character, and it’s entirely the fault of Steve Blum’s voice acting. It’s also now that I realise that Vincent had a more significant role than the rest of the original party, so it’s clear that Advent Children was also made to be almost a promo for the final part of the Final Fantasy VII series: Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, which came out in 2006. Considering this is all about Cloud atoning for his mistakes, it’s poignant that the one he discusses this with is the one man whose entire personality is atoning for the wrongs of his past.

Of course, Vincent is also in dire need of a phone, so it’s also a phone advert. (Look, there was a big promotion on the special edition Cloud Strife phone in Japan, and a part of me still grieves for the fact that I really wanted that flip phone, regardless of whether I needed it or not). Considering Cloud lost his phone during the fight with Yazoo and Loz, it leads to one of my favourite theories, that Cloud is so bad at using his phone, that Aerith would manifest in the lifestream to actually call everyone else to come help him out. Is this the canon response? Probably not. It is funny to consider, even though Tifa probably called in for backup at the bar.

With the kids having drunk from the corrupted water at the Forbidden City, they’ve all now been completely corrupted with Jenova cells. So, they’re perfect fodder to complete the plan to destroy the Meteor statue at Midgar’s Edge, where they believe Jenova’s hidden. Of course, it’s not, but we do get to have plenty of time to get everyone from the party together to save the kids and help Cloud. It also gives more time for Marlene to make an adorable impression of Barret to snap Cloud out of his slump. By far, it was one of my favourite additions to the Complete version that shows how Cloud’s grown from Final Fantasy VII, and explores his relationship with the kids. It’s also one of the first times that Cloud bloody smiles in this entire thing, and he’s so flabbergasted, and look, I just love Marlene Wallace. She’s adorable.

By this point, Kadaj is with Rufus Shinra and Rufus is messing with him, which leads to Kadaj summoning Bahamut SIN to destroy the statue and cause chaos around the city. Of course, Cloud and the others defeat it, but not before saving Denzel, and allowing him the chance to escape back to Seventh Heaven where he can be reunited with Marlene. We also get to see how Denzel got back, which leads to a moment where he knocks a Fiend out by breaking a Fire Hydrant with a metal pipe. All while this is going on, Yazoo and Loz are fighting Reno and Rude, and when Cloud joins the fray, we see more of Reno and Rude literally blowing them up with a stupid firework bomb.

Prior to this, Rufus revealed that he’s had Jenova’s head with him the entire time, and Kadaj attacks him. But, Rufus’s attempts to stop Kadaj are in vain, as he takes Jenova and brings it to Aerith’s Church, where when Cloud meets him there, Cloud is cured of Geostigma with the help of Aerith in the lifestream water. Kadaj still fights Cloud, and the two clearly parallel Cloud’s original role, where Sephiroth manipulated him throughout the original. It gives the chance for Sephiroth to return, and Cloud and him do battle one last time, which is considerably more violent than the 2005 release. There’s more blood, as Cloud has been slashed multiple times by Sephiroth and impaled. But, Cloud uses his Limit Break to defeat him, and after an attempt on his life by the previously believed to be dead, Yazoo and Loz, following Kadaj’s death, the building blows up.

Aerith and Zack have been helping Cloud out through the lifestream throughout everything, and I have to admit, it’s a nice touch. While they don’t directly help, their presence helps Cloud come to terms with his grief and trauma and gives him a chance to let go of the past. So, the ending in Aerith’s church allows Cloud the chance to… for better terms, become Geostigma Jesus and cure Denzel’s Geostigma, as every other child who was in the rain was healed through Aerith’s influence. Aerith and Zack finally move on, and Cloud finally does his first genuine smile, with the touching OST “Cloud Smiles” playing at the end.

As an addition, Cloud even takes Denzel to visit Zack’s old Buster Sword, thus continuing the cycle of having a Living Legacy. It’s all very poetic, and I do enjoy it.

So, I have to admit, and this might still be personal bias, but Advent Children: Complete is so much better than the original. While I don’t hate the original, it’s a lot better. It’s also a film that is very 2005. If you were an emo kid in 2005, you’d probably enjoy it a lot anyway, and it helps that the soundtrack has a lot of guitar riffs that are impossible to dislike. The additional guitar to “One Winged Angel” is a banger and one that I will always happily listen to on the playlist.

Not only was the music good, but Kadaj felt more like an ominous Sephiroth-like threat. The additional scenes increased the stakes and brought out more emotion than Advent Children, and because of it, I wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of the series.

While it might not be the best for those who don’t have a connection to Final Fantasy VII, I still think that Advent Children is a good entry point. Plus, if you want to know more about Denzel, or anything else, there’s the additional OVA: Episode: Denzel that covers his story in On The Way To A Smile. Or, if you want to know more about the light novel, then you’re in luck because I’ll have to re-read that for Episode: Denzel and to expand on what everyone’s been doing since Meteor.

What did you think of Advent Children when it came out? Got any thoughts on it? If so, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments.