In which I have thoughts about Advent Children

[lebateleur]

So, I've had a week to grok everything.

Advent Children was pretty. Oh, it was pretty. But if you were in it for anything but the pretty, it was disappointing.

I'll start by admitting that Advent Children jossed my preferred interpretation of FFVII's ending - that Holy didn't completely protect the Planet and humanity was wiped out - by the very fact of its existence. Still, I had hoped against hope that Square Enix wouldn't go with a crowd-pleasing happi endo at the end of AC, that humanity's death sentence had been issued a stay of execution but not pardoned.

Instead, not only was humanity pardoned, but everyone got the happy end...except for my favorite character. Of course, it's a given that if anyone survives, it's going to be Cloud & Co, followed by the Turks, so the fact that they did just that wasn't much of a shocker to me. Kadaj's redemption at the end was a nice (if cliche) touch, but I am torqued by the fact that Rufus is alive. Especially considering the fact that Sephiroth isn't.

Despite what anyone claims to the contrary, Sephiroth is not the main villian of FFVII. He is the main figurehead (a somewhat sympathetic one at that), and this is an important distinction. He's also the product of a rotten system, and the people who created that system are the true villians, which is why Sephiroth's second death and Rufus's survival make for such a morally bankrupt ending.

Again, Sephiroth is the culmination of a system that Shira/Rufus et al. created. He was the immediate threat, and from a narrative perspective where Cloud's survival is paramount, he needed to be eliminated. But from a narrative perspective where the Planet's survival is paramount, he's a red herring, because I don't believe for a second that Rufus is reformed.

But Sephiroth tried to destroy the Planet, you protest.

To which I answer, which would you prefer: slow death on a Mako-impoverished planet or a quick one by Meteor? Sure, Rufus claims he's going to put right what he made wrong, but that sounds suspiciously like staying the course to my ears, especially when he thinks the havok he's unleashed on the Planet is 'so fun I can't stand it.'

There's a certain amount of ambiguity wiggle room within the Advent Children storyline - Kadaj's "As long as you guys exist, this is just going to keep happening again and again" line, I'm looking right at you here - that I can't entirely rule out the possibility of another cash cow sequel should the mood strike SE. I just wish the ending for the sequel we have had been better.


これで以上です。