The story began in Midgar, where a corporate superpower known as the Shinra Electric Power Company used its monopoly on mako energy to dominate all aspects of life, securing political power in the process. Shinra's mako reactors dotted the city. However, mako was not the "wellspring of happiness" Shinra claimed it to be, but rather the vitality of the planet itself - the source of all life. Some began to realize: If we let this continue, the planet will die.

These individuals set up an anti-Shinra organization called "Avalanche," and began resistance efforts using guerrilla tactics. Among Avalanche's members was Cloud Strife, a former member of Shinra's elite guard, "SOLDIER." Though Cloud showed no emotion and was bound by no principles, a mission with Avalanche awoke in him the need to confront the holes in his past and question his very reasons for being. And that journey, perhaps, took the heaviest toll...

Though Midgar - city of mako, city of prosperity - has been reduced to ruins, its people slowly but steadily walk the road to reconstruction. However, a mysterious illness called -Geostigma- torments them. With no cure in sight, it brings death to the afflicted, one after another, robbing the people of their fledgling hope.

Cloud lives a quiet life with orphans, running a delivery service to get by. The loss of those dear to him during the great battle has left him with scars that do not heal. Overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, he carefully guards his heart.

Then, one day, a phone call comes offering work. The client is requesting protection from a young man named Kadaj. Before long, Kadaj's young and vicious gang preys on the orphans living with Cloud. But why the children? And more importantly, why Cloud? Faced with an inevitable battle, Cloud wavers: Are sins ever forgiven?

After a long struggle, the true battle with Kadaj - a battle beyond human understanding - begins.

The long awaited sequel to Final Fantasy VII was rather disapointing. The storyline's complexities don't get further examined and become literally a minute long process of forced understanding and then action scenes. The action and battles were amazingly great and the graphical view of Advent Children is good, however the short factor of the movie forces unimaginable knowledge that don't get compressed into understanding until later on in the movie.

Being only a mere sixty-minute movie, the developers and producers try to provide all of these allusions to their storyline of Advent Children that you just don't understand until later on. The title of the movie also is questioned and you don't fully understands what it means until the middle crux. When Kadaj and his gang battle Cloud for the first time, you have absolutely no idea what's going on and who's on who's side and so on. Trying to force a storyline on a sixty-minute movie cannot be done, and you'll have to end up watching it over multiple times to actually understand the story.

Overall, Advent Children is a decent sequel to Final Fantasy VII, however because of it's length and storyline shortcomings, it's midly confusing until the very end. With the redeming action scenes, Advent Children only is decent compared to Final Fantasy VII's story.