There aren't any spoilers in this review about what happens in the movie, so I thought those of you wanting to avoid spoilers would appreciate hearing what someone else had to say about it:

Reviews: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

It’s been two years since that fateful day when the planet joined forces with Cloud and his band of heroes to defeat Sephiroth and save the world from Jenova. But all was not solved with that epic battle and the world is unhappy. The people have developed a crippling, deadly disease called Geostigma, the star shaped illness. While the Shinra Corporation searches desperately for a cure to make things right, Cloud and his team have formed a delivery service. But while Tifa, Yuffie, Barret and the others have been living with life and spirit, Cloud has lost his will to fight. Still mourning the death of Aerith he lives his days disjointed and unhappy, but he must pick up his sword once again and fight when three brothers appear searching for their lost mother, Jenova. Will Cloud stop the past from repeating itself, overcome the memories that haunt his every waking moment, and find the will and determination to save the world?

Since the day I beat FF7, sitting on the floor of my bedroom, controller limply in my hand and my mouth wide open in pure awe, I’ve been waiting for this movie. Imagine if you will, pressing the play button to dreams and watching it played on your screen. Before my eye was absolutely gorgeous CG, fluid and beautiful with clever camera angles that put you right in the middle of the action. My favorite characters from the game came to life, created with a beautiful blend of realism and the classic look from the game. Everything was brilliantly done, from the textures on the maps to the motorcycles hauling ass down the highways. The fight scenes were incredible, fluid and fast. When doing a movie entirely in CG, the animators have the opportunity to give you the perfect angle, the angle that all directors search for, and dream about. FF7 Advent Children takes full advantage of this, mastering the art of it. This talent was not only used on the battles but during other moments as well. Nothing was overlooked. It was little things, like realistic hand gestures, furrows in the characters brows, and I found myself amazed with even the simplest of scenes.

The sound was also absolutely incredible. From clever bits where a character’s cell phone rang to the tune of the victory music from the game to new musical scores I was not disappointed. It blended the old and the new together to simply blow the audience away. The voice acting was also excellent, Cloud sounded somewhat dark and forlorn, while in contrast Yuffie was the epitome of a hyperactive schoolgirl, exactly the way it was supposed to be.

The plot, I will admit, could have been stronger and explored more. After all, it assumes you remember exactly, or for that matter fully understood, what happened in the game concerning Jenova and Sephiroth.. I feel they could have expanded upon this a bit more. But this opinion could simply be because I wanted more than an hour and half of Cloud and Sephiroth on the screen. Overall, though, this movie was beautiful and breathtaking, and is sure to be a fan favorite in the years to come.

The first thing I noticed on starting the movie is that time is not wasted here. In the first ten minutes stunning visuals and a motorcycle mounted chase/fight scene are positively hurled at you. The tone and pace of the movie are set firmly at the beginning. Peaceful lulls just begin to settle in when you're suddenly thrust into another pounding action scene. While the lulls are important for the story, make no mistake this is an action movie. A word of warning regarding this point: there is little to no character development in this movie. If you are not familiar with Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth and the rest of the crew from Final Fantasy 7 this movie is going to seem extremely shallow to you. Square definitely presumed heavily on the audience's previous familiarity with the game. Although the plot is better developed than the characters, the same warning applies. Without the backstory of the game things won't make much sense to you.

The goodies are here in spades though. Square has once again kicked the bar a couple meters higher in terms of photo realistic 3D graphics. This is undeniably a gorgeous movie. The action is also very well done. The large scale fight scenes involving multiple participents are very reminiscent of the game fight sequences. It's hard to explain, but even in full motion Square has managed to capture the pace and feel of their game's turn based fight system. This is not true of the one on one battles, which owe a lot more to the Matrix than any other source. Full of stop time, split second turns, flips, jumps and slashes the fight scenes between individuals are well thought out, well choreographed and best of all, seldom predictable. Combine this with Square's patented archaic yet futuristic weapons and gadgets and you've got some of the best action sequences of any movie this year.

Now, I'm sure some of you are wishing I'd just tell you what happens in the movie. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little bit longer for the still uncertain US release date. If you are a fan of Final Fantasy I will say that you shouldn't hesitate to pick up a copy. If not, you might want to make it a rental. Do see it though. It's well worth your time and effort.

Source: Warcry Network (Part 1) (Part 2)

I've seen it, and this review pretty much does cover everything! It is a very emotional movie. My advice: tissues. Lots of 'em, girls.