Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was groundbreaking when it came out. It was a visual spectacle for fans of the series along with CG moviegoers in general. It was high caliber even by Pixar standards. Does it hold up today?
Well, yes and no especially with the remake out, but that’s not the topic today. Instead this article will focus on the variety of things that either don’t make sense in the film and or are just funny to point and laugh at. There are a lot of great moments in it so let’s get to the guffaws. And of course, there will be spoilers for this almost decade-old movie.
10 Mother Lover
Who could possibly say, “Mother” more than Buster from Arrested Development? The Sephiroth triplets of Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz could. Okay so technically Buster does say it more as there is more hours of that show than there are this movie.
The point of this meme is to indicate how annoying it can be to hear that word spoken throughout two hours of film. Play the drinking game and pass out halfway through.
9 Cloud Vs Goku
This meme is so good that it needs no words. To fill in the gaps, Goku from Dragon Ball Z can summon a giant blue orb of death aka a Spirit Bomb. In Advent Children Bahamut summons something that looks similar to which Cloud just soars through like it was nothing. Unlike the games Cloud really did get Saiyan-like, over the top powers. Goku vs Cloud: who would win in a fight?
8 Swiss Army Cloud
How could Square Enix top the ridiculousness of Cloud’s giant Buster Sword for this movie? Easy. Make a bigger sword with tiny swords inside. How does the Fusion Blade work? No idea, but logic aside it does look cool even if it does make Cloud into some sort of Swiss Army Knife wielding warrior of doom. Between his hair and blades, what’s deadlier?
7 Welcome To The Black Parade
As it was mentioned earlier, the Sephiroth triplets are looking for their mother aka Jenova. They are on the emo side of neediness and also have the looks. Maybe Loz’s hair isn’t as emo infused as his brothers, but the leather matching jumpsuits certainly screams it. For whatever reason they try to recruit kids which can remind one of the titular song from the My Chemical Romance album, “Welcome to the Black Parade.”
6 We’re Children
This might be the most obscure reference on this list. Children playing in the streets of a ruined town and screaming out, “We’re Children” is from Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.
It’s a divisive film from 2002 parodying martial arts movies. It’s weird and perhaps a bit immature nowadays, but diehard fans will get a kick out of this meme. Advent Children has an odd abundance of orphans in it.
5 Lion King Spoilers
Whenever someone is hanging off a cliff with someone else gazing down at them, it’s hard not to think about The Lion King. It’s one of the most traumatic scenes in any Disney movie what with Scar digging his nails into Mufasa and sending him off to die only to have Simba cry and run off afterwards. It’s chilling. In this context it’s a bit funnier though with Cloud.
4 Star Crossed Brothers
When two forces are opposing each other, like Cloud and Sephiroth, referencing Star Wars for a meme is instant gold. This is of course an abridged version of the conversation in The Empire Strikes Back but it still works. In the context of Advent Children they are actually more like brothers, but hey, close enough.
3 Our Lady Aerith
One of the strangest scenes in the whole film is when Cloud is essentially baptizing kids in the church pools. The reference could not be any closer to a religious analogy if they tried. Well, Aerith could have died on a cross, but besides that it is obvious.
She was a martyr after all who does come back to save those in need. Oh wait. This is also kind of like Force Ghosts. Is this just another Star Wars reference?
2 It’s Cold In Here
Tifa’s clothing may be less revealing this time around but that does not mean the team at Square Enix didn’t have fun with other exploits. Denzel even noticed to which this screenshot perfectly encapsulates how mad someone could get if they caught someone staring at their chest. Hey, Denzel is a growing boy after all. Maybe it’s time to get a sweater Tifa.
1 Forbidden Cloud
Tifa can have some daydreams too it seems. No, this face was not made on purpose. Tifa never really hungrily stares at Cloud unlike Jessie does in the remake. It just goes to show that pausing any scene in a film, be it animated or live action, will often grant great results. Animated films and shows often have the higher caliber of out of context stills.