(May 10, 2006) — There is one universal rule in the realm of cinema: video games turned into movies are not good. Theatric releases of video game titles like Tomb Raider , Doom and BloodRayne have proven that the two separate entities of media do not mix. However, what if you kept the video game in its realm of 3D animation and created a feature-length film composed solely of computer generated graphics? The formula results in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The movie is based on one of the most popular video game franchises of all time: Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy VII is an extremely popular and heralded video game and fans will be happy to know Square Enix, the creators of the series, have done everything extremely well. The movie features some of the most beautiful computer generated graphics of any game or any form of media. The beautiful lighting and character renditions are some that cannot be matched on any level thus far. Not all is well in paradise as the movie’s story is highly dependent on information that was presented in the game. This leaves many viewers, who did not play the original Playstation game, in the dark. Fortunately, the action and eye-candy are enough to overcome the story’s shortcomings. One great worry of fans around the world was voice acting. Characters who did not speak in-game required voice actors to bring them to life. Luckily, Square Enix did a great job in casting the voice talent for the movie. All fears aside, rest assured that the characters all retain their personalities and lifelike qualities, even with the voice acting. The DVD itself is nothing truly special. In the United States fans have waited around six months since the release of the feature in Japan. The DVD, though plagued by many delays, is finally out; however, it disappointingly lacks many special features. Overall, the movie stands to disprove the universal misconception that all video games turned into movies are not good. Though only fans will be able to enjoy the story, the movie stands as a testament to how far computer graphics have come.