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zolaObviously, I don't want to spoil this for anyone, so...
One of the first things I noticed was that the scene of Aerith and Cloud in the pool was strikingly similar to the game one of Tidus and Yuna. These kinds of similarities popped up every so often, and when we checked out the second disk with interviews etc, it was confirmed that in some instances they had built on work already done, but with better equipment.
This didn't really disturb me, as making this sort of movie is very difficult and it only makes sense to re-use some aspects if you can. Enough effort was made to add variation that it was more of a "Gee, that's neat" rather than "what, were they too cheap to do something new?"
The American voice acting was very acceptable, but I personally found the pacing to be very, very uneven. I've played all of the Final Fantasy games, and spent literally hundreds of hours on the one that this is based on in particular, but I found it very difficult to suspend disbelief and become emotionally engaged with the movie.
Part of this was too much focus on the oh-wow technical effects and not enough on story. The fight scenes went on way too long, and the movement was too fast too appreciate--not that it should have been slow motion or anything, but at times all I could think of was bouncing stick figures. There was so much action that it became almost a chaotic blur, which took a lot away from any emotional impact the fight scenes might have had.
I wanted to care about the suffering orphans. I wanted to care about Cloud's torment and the persistent memories of Aerith, but there wasn't enough focus on these things. The scene with all of Cloud's comrades watching from the airship was just... huh? I thought Cloud's problem was he didn't want to be alone? So why are you guys watching like a bunch of spectators?
There were some really nice touches, like the cell phone that played the victory music, and the backgrounds were absolutely beautiful--I loved it when they zoomed in on Aerith's flower patch for the first time, which was so real in my mind that I recognized it immediately. I really can't see this catching on among people who never played the game, though--there wasn't enough substance to it unless you already knew and cared about the characters.
That being said, the ending was lovely, and probably the one place in the movie where story and effects really hit their stride and came together.
Still, you have to start somewhere, don't you? This is a quite a new endeavor, to create a movie that looks live-action when it isn't. I very much appreciated the chance to catch up with some old friends, and when I saw Vincent will have a game of his own... well, I'll be all over that one, especially if my favorite voice actor continues to play him.
I give this one a six out of a possible ten. If you are a fan of the game, you will want to own it, if you haven't played the game, pick up a copy and play that first.
Thus endeth the review.
One of the first things I noticed was that the scene of Aerith and Cloud in the pool was strikingly similar to the game one of Tidus and Yuna. These kinds of similarities popped up every so often, and when we checked out the second disk with interviews etc, it was confirmed that in some instances they had built on work already done, but with better equipment.
This didn't really disturb me, as making this sort of movie is very difficult and it only makes sense to re-use some aspects if you can. Enough effort was made to add variation that it was more of a "Gee, that's neat" rather than "what, were they too cheap to do something new?"
The American voice acting was very acceptable, but I personally found the pacing to be very, very uneven. I've played all of the Final Fantasy games, and spent literally hundreds of hours on the one that this is based on in particular, but I found it very difficult to suspend disbelief and become emotionally engaged with the movie.
Part of this was too much focus on the oh-wow technical effects and not enough on story. The fight scenes went on way too long, and the movement was too fast too appreciate--not that it should have been slow motion or anything, but at times all I could think of was bouncing stick figures. There was so much action that it became almost a chaotic blur, which took a lot away from any emotional impact the fight scenes might have had.
I wanted to care about the suffering orphans. I wanted to care about Cloud's torment and the persistent memories of Aerith, but there wasn't enough focus on these things. The scene with all of Cloud's comrades watching from the airship was just... huh? I thought Cloud's problem was he didn't want to be alone? So why are you guys watching like a bunch of spectators?
There were some really nice touches, like the cell phone that played the victory music, and the backgrounds were absolutely beautiful--I loved it when they zoomed in on Aerith's flower patch for the first time, which was so real in my mind that I recognized it immediately. I really can't see this catching on among people who never played the game, though--there wasn't enough substance to it unless you already knew and cared about the characters.
That being said, the ending was lovely, and probably the one place in the movie where story and effects really hit their stride and came together.
Still, you have to start somewhere, don't you? This is a quite a new endeavor, to create a movie that looks live-action when it isn't. I very much appreciated the chance to catch up with some old friends, and when I saw Vincent will have a game of his own... well, I'll be all over that one, especially if my favorite voice actor continues to play him.
I give this one a six out of a possible ten. If you are a fan of the game, you will want to own it, if you haven't played the game, pick up a copy and play that first.
Thus endeth the review.
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Date: 2006-04-28 06:49 pm (UTC)But Cloud's voice in Japanese... *drool* I like Takahiro Sakurai's voice quite a bit.
And maybe one of these days a store around here will have a copy for me to buy. Very popular here and not a lot of copies if you didn't pre-order.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-28 09:50 pm (UTC)They also needed to address the origin of the SHM a bit more. Plus, while it was available for Japanese fans, the origin and when Geostigma occurred should have been made available for the US fans as well (if you'd like a link to the translated stories, I can do that).
I fully agree with your comment "the chance to catch up with some old friends", I felt the same way. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-04-30 08:38 pm (UTC)i was pretty annoyed they went for straight up wow factor
there was too much fan service
sephiroth is DEAD
they could make him in flashbacks, but he didn't need to be here
plus, he is the super badass
after he went bnuts, he rarely talked at all
he talked too much with the taunts and all
and the splitty sword was kinda cool, but why?
but they tried
i realyl hated how tey were tryign to steer the planet towards being like modern earth
they fuck it up when they make thigns liek earth
they need to make up the worlds, then stay in that world
you mean to tell me thy went from an all-mako infrastructure to electricity in two years?
what happened to all the pipes all over everything?
it as just too much fan service, and not enough substance
although i am definitely lookign forward to dirge of cerberus
the thread there is the only reason i got to PCF anymore:)