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Those of you already introduced to the many worlds of Final Fantasy, the amazingly creative plot lines and twists will already be well known. The span of such story lines takes up many an hour and, although battle scenes do eat away at most of this time, the 'movie like' sequences (which have to include all major plot twists) span quite a bit over the conventional time span for a film. The producers were worried that because of this, turning a much loved point of the franchise into such a movie would detract from the popularity of the characters and the series of a whole. They fretted over whether die hard fans would find something missing in the sequences and new comers might not be as 'hooked' as they would have liked. The truth of the matter is that this film is executed superbly, manics will love it and newbies with find themselves onto a widely selling franchise that will entertain for hours to come. And the story isn't half bad either.

An amazing sequel to the game, 'Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children' is a welcome and much anticipated return of one of the most famous Final Fantasy characters of all time, Cloud Strife. It occurs a few months after the end of the game plot and tells of the return of Sephiroth and Cloud coping with the loss of Aerith and his attempts at rebuilding his life, becoming more accustomed to talking and opening up to others as a result (although that can hardly be hard as besides Aerith, in his later life he seemed to convey all his thoughts and opinions like a ventriloquist).

After the let down of how poorly 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within' did amongst its target audience, this attempt at a new CG animated feature film was as difficult at breaching the market once more. I must admit, the time spent on its animation was well worth it. The scenes are breathtaking and the facial features are as real as the technology of the day would allow (at moments, I admit, I was tricked into believing I was watching real people acting on screen, although that was also accomplished by 'The Spirits Within', especially on the DVD box cover).

Using the generated animation within the fight sequences, the action is brought as cleanly into reality as the technology would allowed. The scenes serve to keep you on the edge of your seat and leave an after-taste inside you that only another viewing can satisfy. I must say that (however embarrassing you may think this) I found a stir of excitement within me that was only last found at the epic sequences of The Lord of the Rings. The genre is exactly to my taste however, so if you don't thoroughly enjoy fantasy/action movies, you may find a lack of the feelings I found, although I still believe you'll still find it most entertaining.

Touching scenes can also be found however if the lock jaw, back to back fights are not what you souly look for in a movie. The return of so many amazing characters allow their personalities to be explored in new ways. Some scenes could even melt the hardest heart and even brought a tear to my Final Fantasy obsessly motivated eyes. I warn you that if you get weepy at such scenes, perhaps you should supply yourself with at least one tissue, but then maybe I slightly exaggerate because of my love or the characters.

Admittedly, the English dub looks slightly off and only detracts partially from the overall enjoyment of the film, but, its a given that Final Fantasy fans will be glad to see such an amazing return, and, as it can be seen as a stand alone project, all newbies to this world of Final Fantasy can enjoy a good hour and three quarters of brilliant animation.

It's a movie that gives great enjoyment to all ages, but before supplying it to smaller children, perhaps it is best to view the action sequences first. Thoroughly enjoyable, Final Fantasy: Advent Children is a treat after a long day, a treasure to those that love the franchise and an amazing addition to Final Fantasy lapse collection.