“Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away.”

Based on one of the greatest games of all time, and directed by Tetsua Nomura (Kingdom Hearts Series, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth)

Set two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, ex-SOLDIER Cloud Strife is forced out of isolation when three mysterious men kidnap and brainwash the city’s children afflicted with the Geostigma disease.

Final Fantasy VII is generally considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Set in a sci-fi fantasy world where a mega-corporation named Shinra is steadily draining the planet dry, you played a mercenary named Cloud as he joined a band of eco warriors set to take them down. It was a phenomenal success as launch, bringing the Final Fantasy series into the 3D age. It was the first game in the series for PlayStation and the first to get a release in Europe, opening the floodgates for wider international success.

It’s unsurprising that this success would lead to Final Fantasy VII being turned into countless additional media spin-offs. Several games would follow, including the action-focused Dirge of Cerberus and prequel Crisis Core. But there was also a movie sequel, Advent Children, which focused on what happened after Cloud and friends defeated Sephiroth in the Northern Crater.

Advent Children was Square’s second attempt to produce a CGI movie based on the Final Fantasy franchise. However, unlike the universally panned The Spirits Within, Advent Children was beloved by fans. Developed in-house at Square Enix, the script was handled by one of the game’s co-writers, Kazushige Nojima, and directed by Tetsuya Nomura, designer on the original game and director of the Kingdom Hearts series. The cast were also carried over from their appearances in Kingdom Hearts, with Cloud, Tifa, Aerith and Sephiroth voiced respectively by Takahiro Sakurai, Ayumi Ito, Maaya Sakamoto and Toshiyuki Morikawa in Japanese and Steve Burton, Rachael Leigh Cook, Mena Suvari and George Newbern in English.

It’s been two years since the events of Final Fantasy VII, and a mysterious disease known as Geostigma is spreading around. Children suffering from the disease are being captured by a group who wish to resurrect Sephiroth, and Cloud sets out to defeat them, all while the rest of Avalanche deal with the remnants of Shinra within the new city of Edge.

It’s been two years since the events of Final Fantasy VII, and a mysterious disease known as Geostigma is spreading around. Children suffering from the disease are being captured by a group who wish to resurrect Sephiroth, and Cloud sets out to defeat them, all while the rest of Avalanche deal with the remnants of Shinra within the new city of Edge.

Advent Children is a visual treat for fans of the game. After the grainy pre-rendered backdrops and Playmobil quality 3D models from the original PS1 game, getting to see Cloud, Tifa, Barret and friends in fully rendered CGI was phenomenal in the mid-2000s. These are the characters as we all envisioned them, taking on new explosive threats.

Advent Children is home to at least two iconic fight scenes for fans. The first of these features Tifa, as she battles one of the new villains in a fist fight in a church. The second is the climactic battle between Cloud and Sephiroth, fighting an epic battle across rooftops and falling through crumbling buildings. All soundtracked by a fresh arrangement of Nobuo Uematsu’s classic score from the game. Arrangements so good a few of them even found their way into Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

It’s the perfect time to revisit Advent Children. Final Fantasy VII is currently the process of being turned into a remake trilogy, reigniting interest in the game and its universe. The second part of this trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, landed on PS5 in February of this year to great critical acclaim. With Square Enix pushing a revived cinema release of Advent Children to coincide with the game, there is no better time to jump back in and watch the spectacle.