*****WARNING: SPOILERS THIS WAY*****
Oh yes, while the CGI was absolutely ~stunning~, that was essentially all that this film had going for it. Pity that a slew of pretty pictures can't fully compensate for an utter lack of substance. (No one learned anything rom The Spirits Within.) See, movies need all kinds of things like plot and character development and non-spastic camera movement. Having Kadaj frantically search for his mother like a lost kid at a store wasn't an adequate catalyst. Square Enix should have just kept it as an in-game movie, or to the original 20 minute feature planned, according to director Tetsuya Nomura. Cutting it up would have removed the need for transitions, another aspect that was glaringly absent.
This was an overblown vehicle to bring back Sephiroth for another epic battle between two *hot bishies*. Eff everything else. Why, there can be rampant character shielding: Reno and Rude were intending to become suicide bombers for Shinra, but everybody survives because they're just too hot to be blown into bits. In the final confronation, Sephiroth didn't deliver the coup de grâce when he could have, though he's very well a natural born killer. And then when Cloud presumably dies from Yazoo and Loz's self-destruction blast (they did it right at least), Cloud doesn't die because he's not supposed to die... yet. What. A. Cop. Out.
There can be gaping holes in the story: The antagonists, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz rustle up an army of child soldiers that prove vaguely useful as very small walls. Even though they were all being mentally controlled by powerful influences, all it took was a loud explosion to get Denzel out of his zombie state. Cool.
There was no reason for most of the fight scenes. Cloud is attacked and almost defeated by Yazoo and Loz until Kadaj calls them back and they just leave even though he's the one in the way of them getting to Jenova. Tifa fights Loz, who doesn't really know what he's looking for until child snatching is conveniently added to the to-do list. The camera angling was sloppy, which didn't help make the faster-than-the-eye fighting any more viewable.
The dialogue was flat and mostly consisted of psychotherapeutic chat with the ever brooding Cloud or Kadaj's constantly screamed "Mother!"
This film was entirely fanservice. Girls enjoyed all the androgynous hunks and guys liked it because there was ass kicking and Tifa's nipples were poking through her top. Those who played the game all liked it by default because they could recognize and point out Barret, Yuffie, Red XIII, the old gang, (who appear to weakly push the story on by saving Cloud/other people in peril at the nick of time) and feel all "in the know." Fans were quick to attack critics for not comprehending the "deeper nuances" of the movie.
The credits, no less, looked like they were produced by a high schooler using iMovie, which clashed horribly with the aforementioned 100 minutes of beautiful graphics.
Watch this if you've played Final Fantasy and/or want to be mindlessly entertained by yet another flashy film devoid of all else. Don't watch this if you have regularly working thought processes.
