As entertaining as the final film may be at times, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is not a strong sequel to the original FFVII. Even Advent Children Complete, which greatly fleshes out the story’s arc and themes, fails to accurately represent the original story– muddying up Yoshinori Kitase’s careful and realistic depiction of death in favor of something profoundly Hollywood.
Even flawed, however, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is home to some incredible fights– with a final showdown between Cloud and Sephiroth that needs to be seen. Does Advent Children spit in the face of the original game’s story and themes? 100%, but it’s also home to action akin to watching Level 99 characters duke it out with superbosses. That has its merit.
8 Party Versus Bahamut Sin
When it comes down to it, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is little more than fanservice. Originally it was only supposed to be around 40 minutes before Square realized fans expected a feature length film from the very first promo. Naturally, it shows that Advent Children did not have an entire movie’s worth of story, but the party working together to fight Bahamut Sin should have at least been a highlight.
Tragically, it was not, and stands out as the single worst fight in the entire film. While it’s certainly nice to see the entire party working together (in the same way it’s nice to see the new character models in VII Remake,) the fight choreography is painfully stiff with the camera zooming from character to character, failing to let anyone land an impactful hit.
Worse than Bahamut Sin taking no visible damage is everything forming a tower of friendship to literally throw Cloud into Bahamut Sin– complete with Aerith offering her physical help from beyond. All Bahamut Sin does is encapsulate everything wrong with Advent Children.
7 Cloud Versus Kadaj, Loz, & Yazoo (Wasteland)
Sephiroth’s remnants, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo want nothing more than to reunite with their “Mother,” JENOVA. Much like Sephiroth before them, they carry on his quest. Although none of them are half the character Sephiroth was, all three are designed around making their action as engaging and memorable as possible.
Kadaj fights with a blade, Loz with his fists, and Yazoo with a gun, but their first encounter with Cloud mainly takes place on motorcycles, allowing the main character to show off his Fusion Sword in action from the comfort of his own bike.
It’s a nice early display of action on Cloud’s part, but Kadaj, Loz, & Yazoo are understandably restrained as this is still very early on in the film. While a step-up from the fight with Bahamut Sin and filled with a decent bit of bike based action, an underwhelming score and a lethal lack of build up keep this first set piece from really hitting its marks.
6 Cloud Versus Kadaj, Loz, & Yazoo (Forgotten City)
For as important a role Materia plays in the original Final Fantasy VII, it ends up taking a backseat in Advent Children. Cloud and Tifa don’t even fight with Materia equipped in any of their fights. It isn’t until Cloud’s rematch with Kadaj, Loz, & Yazoo in the Forgotten City that the audience finally gets to see some Materia in action.
Loz and Yazoo end up stealing some of Cloud’s Materia, allowing them to make use of some decent magic during the fight itself. On foot, Cloud gets the opportunity to really strut his stuff and the fight choreography is notably more involved than it was during their Wasteland fight.
At this point in the film, however, Cloud’s Geostigma is at its worst. While he puts up a good fight against the titular Advent Children, Cloud ultimately needs Vincent Valentine’s help to survive. While brief, Vincent’s sequence is a highlight.
5 Cloud Versus Kadaj, Loz, & Yazoo (Highway)
Although Advent Children begins to stumble hard once it reaches its halfway point, the last 20 minutes or so do manage to reel everything back together into something that’s at the very least entertaining. Where the motorcycle fight at the beginning of the movie left quite a bit to be desired, Advent Children does redeem itself with the highway chase.
Clutching JENOVA in his hands, Kadaj races down Midgar’s highway as Cloud chases after him. Loz and Yazoo put up massive resistance against Cloud, but what makes this chase sequence really standout are the visuals. More than the action, the sight of Cloud racing across Midgar is really something to behold. Even now, the sequence has visually aged quite well.
It’s particularly nice to see Reno and Rude get some comeuppance for how much punishment they take from Yazoo and Loz over the course of the movie, but there’s something to be said for how well this sequence builds up Cloud’s fight with Kadaj.
4 Cloud Versus Kadaj
With nowhere else to drive, Cloud and Kadaj break out into the fight audiences had been waiting all movie to see (well, not the fight.) Kadaj himself is far from a compelling villain, but both his design and demeanor at least contrast nicely against Cloud’s. His fighting style also makes for some excellent choreography as he and Cloud bounce back and forth.
Up until this point, Cloud had been mainly fighting enemies in groups, so it’s nice to see him get a proper one-on-one fight. While this fight ultimately transitions into the final battle with Sephiroth, Cloud’s fight against Kadaj makes for a strong penultimate battle, and features some slick swordplay from both combatants.
3 Reno & Rude Versus Yazoo & Loz
Reno and Rude get far more screen time than they deserve in Advent Children. Considering they appear more than most main characters from the original game (including Tifa,) it’s very easy to get tired of them fast– especially since Reno goes from being one of the coolest characters in FF7 to borderline insufferable.
All the same, their two on two fight with Yazoo and Loz near the end of the film does feature some good action. Granted, Reno and Rude more or less get bodied, but these four characters all bring rather unique fighting styles to the table, resulting in an action sequence that’s frantic and full of variety.
2 Tifa Versus Loz
Advent Children takes its time to really get going, and it isn’t until Tifa’s fight with Loz where the film starts to pick up. With a piano rendition of Final Fantasy VII’s battle theme playing in the background, Tifa and Loz have themselves a straight up martial arts match. Even a remnant of Sephiroth, Loz actually struggles to keep up with Tifa.
There’s plenty of dynamic shots, heavy hits, and strong choreography to go around. Were it not for the final fight, Advent Children would have peaked rather early. Honestly, Tifa’s fight with Loz ends up setting unreasonable expectations for the rest of the movie. If only all of Advent Children were this good.
1 Cloud Versus Sephiroth
If nothing else, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children does finish strong. Sephiroth coming back via Kadaj is a lame (if not totally predictable) plot point, but it at least results in one of the best looking fights to come out of any ancillary piece of Final Fantasy media. As a pure piece of spectacle, watching Cloud and Sephiroth fight to the death is incredible.
Beyond the excellent fight choreography, Cloud and Sephiroth both take visible damage. Cloud in particular gets skewered by Sephiroth near the end of the fight, and both the sound design and blood really sell the moment. The best part of the fight, however, is Cloud’s final Limit Break against Sephiroth– a natural extension of Omnislash that puts the One Winged Angel in its place.