AC may have been enjoyable to a degree, but when you get to the final analysis, it was fan service rather than film, and it had a lot of wasted potential. While sitting around idly last night, I developed this concept of a version of AC that is, in my opinion, worlds better than the one we got, because I actually bother to exploit the themes set forth in FFVII. This AU is still meant to be in film format; I'd like your opinions on it. I don't plan to write this or develop it any more than I already have. I'd simply like someone to assess it, critique it, and if so inclined, say what they would have done with the premise of an FFVII film.
Here's how I'd play it:
Setting
I'd change the time frame to six months after FFVII. Instead of Edge, the main city would be Junon. It would be depicted as the bustling metropolis it is with over a million people living there, and will have assumed a social structure much like what Midgar used to be, what with all the refugees from Meteor having flocked to the city. The rich will have inhabited the actual city, while the poor will be forced into the slums. I might or might not keep the Advent Children name; I like it, but it might not be the best fit with the type of story I would have had in mind. Rufus is still dead; none of this "I ducked" retardation. The Turks are nowhere to be found. Finally, Mako is established as being far superior to even nuclear fusion; the return to a nuclear-based lifestyle would cause a notable decline in standards of living. The rationalization for this is that I don't care how stupid Nomura is with regards to technological development, or what kind of FFVII-FFX idiocy he and his team of hash-smokers attempt to propose; if a civilization has functional, non-magic-based antigravity devices and directed energy weapons, they damn well know how to build a nuclear reactor.
Plot Thread 1: The Trial of AVALANCHE and Shinra
Countless innocents died in the war between the two factions, and now that the government is free of Shinra's influence, it's attempting to bring both groups to justice in retribution for the deaths of innocent people. The specific national government here is never identified; a world governmental body named the Coalition is instead made reference to. A new character will be appointed to lead the prosecution against them; this will be a military general, as the deaths in the fight are largely perceived as having been war crimes. Reeve, as the new head of Shinra, has hired top-flight lawyers to represent both his company and AVALANCHE. He's also created the WRO, as he does in the real story; he's financing Barret's planned energy expedition. Their idea is to convert the Sierra into a mobile science vessel and scour Cetra ruins for a solution to the energy problem, as well as doing non-Cetra-related research on the side. (What can I say, I always liked the concept for Crusade.) This is used as a chief part of his defense plan; the government needs all the help it can get to rebuild the world economy, even if it does come from former Shinra employees. The chief theme of this plotline is practicality versus morality, which is a theme carried over from FFVII; as such, it centers around Reeve and Barret, who are the big dogs of their respective factions. Reeve is being tried for the sins of his predecessors, including the destruction of Sector 7, the burning of Nibelheim, Hojo's sick experiments, and no less than 129 other counts of terrorism perpetrated by Shinra against the people of the world. He's also the defendant in a large civil suit by the families of those who perished in Sector 7; they collectively seek payment for emotional and psychological damages to the tune of 10 billion gil. Barret, on the other hand, is being tried for the bombing of the No. 1 Mako Reactor, in which 1255 people died. Cloud was also tried for his role in the bombing and was cleared after Reeve's lawyers presented declassified Shinra documents proving that Cloud was a victim of Hojo's experiments and certifiably insane at the time, therefore rendering him not responsible for his actions. Cloud's hard on himself about it; a good deal of him believes that he shouldn't have been let off the hook, and that he's as bad as Sephiroth, which only compounds his self-guilt regarding the death of Aeris. He holds a certain measure of enmity towards Barret. All three are trying to come to terms with their moral responsibility in the events leading up to the Meteor incident. No one else was charged regarding the bombing; everyone else directly involved in it died in Sector 7.
Progression
~A courtroom scene designed to invoke images of the Nuremberg trials is present in the first part of the film. Reeve and Barret are currently being tried for war crimes, though the scene focuses on Barret's trial for the bombing of the No. 1 Mako Reactor.
~Instead of Cloud's flashbacks to talking with Tifa that appear midway through AC, the flashbacks are to an argument and eventual fight between Barret and Cloud about their responsibility for the bombing. Cloud accuses Barret of having enveloped himself in a titanic web of rationalizations for his actions, and Barret defends it by saying that Shinra needed to be brought down for the sake of the whole planet. Cloud wins both the fight and the argument, but adds the caveat that he's guilty of the same thing; a plain and simple failure to consider the consequences of his actions.
~A massive urban battle between Deep Ground and the military would take the place of the Bahamut Sin fight; read the section on the second plot thread for more details about them and their relation with both this plot and the canon version of the Deep Ground SOLDIERs. Here's how the battle breaks down.
On the Deep Ground side:
-Normal gang members armed with automatic weapons and stolen Shinra hardware (14400)
-Deep Ground SOLDIERs equipped with magic and Materia (120)
-Summoned creatures (Bahamut, Shiva, Ifrit)
-Cetra X-5 Sentinel Mobile Base "Alexander" (is portrayed as a war machine cast into the Lifestream to be summoned at will)
On the side of the Coalition forces:
-181st Infantry Division (15000 powered-armor troops including heavy armament plus 7 M2 hovertanks, 7 M4 treaded main battle tanks, 3 heavy projectile artillery units)
-1st WRO Robotic Infantry (5000 drone soldiers including heavy armament)
-2nd WRO Robotic Armor (40 DoC spider walkers)
-3rd WRO Infantry (Shinra powered-armor troops, 1000)
-Junon defense grid (Antivehicle beam weapons, antiaircraft flak guns)
-Cloud Strife (Ultima Weapon, Shield Materia)
-Vincent Valentine (Cerberus assault rifle, grenades)
-Barret Wallace (50mm chaingun, 300 kW X-ray laser, massive amounts of Materia)
If it weren't for the summoned creatures, the deck would be heavily stacked against Deep Ground. As it stands, Barret and Vincent shoot down Bahamut, taking out a large force of DG infantry in the process, and after a heavy bombardment by allied forces, Cloud defeats Alexander with Climhazzard, chopping it cleanly in half. Note that none of the figures I provided for army sizes or weapon power are exact; they're approximations that would be changed to whatever reflected the situation best if this had ended up being AC.
~At the end, the General abandons his fiery crusade against AVALANCHE, and so do the courts, for the simple reason that the world needs AVALANCHE. They sure as hell don't like it, though.
~Yuffie is only briefly mentioned as rallying support for the WRO's energy crusade in Wutai.
~Red XIII is the guardian of Cosmo Canyon, and has donated all of the now-dead Bugenhagen's scientific equipment to the WRO.
Plot Thread 2: The Plight of the People
This is where the other half of the story is centered. Tifa, Cloud, and Marlene have relocated to Junon along with the rest of Midgar. While Tifa runs the newly reopened 7th Heaven, Cloud has joined the local police force and military in an effort to help quell the civil unrest; he's regarded as "the last SOLDIER" even though he actually wasn't one. Cloud's personal motivations are the same as in the real AC; redeem himself for the death of Aeris. This plot features him trying to track down a terrorist group of pro-Mako zealots, comprised of both rich and poor, who aren't ready to abandon its use. His training, his sheer power, and his association with AVALANCHE make him uniquely qualified to handle this. The group is similar to the Deep Ground SOLDIERs; in fact, the gang's name is simply "Deep Ground." Instead of the Zvets, however, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz are kept intact as the leaders of this group. Unlike the real AC, they're some of Hojo's Sephiroth clones; I never liked the "remnants of Sephiroth" angle. In fact, I think it's completely fucking stupid. In this story, the SHM will have termed themselves Deep Ground SOLDIERs because they've been infused with Mako; the most devout of their followers are also infused with Mako, trained to fight, and given this title.
Progression
~The beginning of the movie features Cloud singlehandedly defeating and arresting an entire group of DG SOLDIERs, all of which wield Velvet Nightmares and some of which have magic and Materia. Cloud is depicted as being possessed of a Wolverine-style healing factor, sustaining several gunshots without any noticeable decline in combat performance. It could be said that he possesses something of a healing factor in AC as well, as he sustains several normally crippling wounds but retains the ability to function almost at his maximum, though it's clearly not at Wolverine's level. Regardless, the DG SOLDIERs do not have this ability in any measure, and are defeated with relative ease.
~Contrary to the real story, where it took a direct statement from Nomura to convince fanboys (one of the few good things he's done completely on his own with regards to FFVII), Cloud and Tifa are concretely depicted as being in love, and are shown having sex immediately after he arrives at home after defeating the initial group of DG SOLDIERs. However, their relationship is rather strained; Cloud is still feeling guilty for Aeris' death, the No. 1 reactor bombing, and the fact that he worked for Shinra in the first place.
~Denzel does not exist in this continuity. Priscilla is used in his place, having been taken in by Tifa after her parents were killed in a drive-by shooting perpetrated against their entire street by Deep Ground. She is killed in the Junon Riot, accidentally getting the top half of her head blown off by a misdirected DG sniper bullet. Yes, you read that right. FFVII wasn't afraid to kill off main characters and to depict horrible atrocities, and I'm not afraid to pop the brainpan of some annoying little orphan kid. I'm sick of the unrealistic and stupid protection they're afforded in RPGs anyway. More orphans need to die. As a final note, fuck you, Mr. Dolphin.
~Aeris' role would be about the same as it is in the real AC. She may or may not appear at the end of the movie; her appearances, as well as Zack's, will likely be concentrated in flashbacks.
~Vincent brings Cloud a tip regarding a DG gathering. He's established as being a field operative for the WRO's intelligence agency. The gang leaders aren't too terribly smart about that sort of thing; infiltrating them was an easy task.
~After the defeat of Alexander, Cloud sequentially fights Yazoo + Loz, Kadaj, and then Sephiroth. It goes down almost exactly as it does in the real AC, with the exception of the Sephiroth fight.
~Sephiroth himself is a bit different; out of religious fervor, Kadaj sacrifices his soul to the Lifestream to be used as spirit energy, which is then channeled to find and return the fragments of Sephiroth to the living world. Kadaj's body is mutated into Sephiroth's likeness, but Sephiroth himself isn't all there. He has none of the self-assuredness that he did in life. In fact, he's no longer even capable of rational thought, and his entire knowledge base consists of "DESTROY CLOUD" in stark contradiction to his real-AC state. He attacks like the raving madman he is, but Cloud defeats him nonetheless, and without too much trouble. Omnislash V is still the finisher.
~Cloud's revelation is quite a bit different here, and arguably much more realistic; it's more along the lines of Peter Parker in the first Spider-Man movie, who refuses to get close to people because they end up getting hurt by association with him. He draws even further into himself, and at the end of the movie, he leaves Tifa, seeking spiritual awakening to atone for the deaths that he's both committed and failed to prevent.
~The Turks may or may not show up. They don't have too much relevance to the plotline, but the one I've set up here leaves the opportunity for a sequel. They're mercenaries now, and they have their own quirks that I've decided on ahead of time: Reno's the polar opposite of who he is in AC. He's a dark and brooding character trying to come to terms with the fact that he's been responsible for a lot of evil under Shinra's employ; really, it never even occurred to him before, because working for the Turks made him almost a complete sociopath. He's become an alcoholic and cocaine addict and has a new, upgraded Asp that can shoot even more powerful energy bolts, as opposed to the crappy, budget version he got in AC. Rude is depicted as having the same problem, but dealing with it in a very different way; he's actually going insane, sometimes softly singing children's songs while cutting himself or crying himself to sleep. He has a Mako addiction that may or may not be the cause of his insanity, but it certainly can't be helping. The only thing it does do for him is that it's turned him into a very powerful telepath capable of inducing horrible, nightmarish visions into someone's mind. Depending on the severity of Rude's psychic assault, it can do anything from simply horrifying a target into impotence to causing them to attempt to claw their own eyes out or sometimes commit suicide to make the visions stop. He can render people vegetables with this attack; of course, there's the more obvious danger of them having a heart attack and dying. Finally, his psionics can manipulate his enemy's nerves, forcing them to kill themselves. Reno is the only one Rude will respond to or even acknowledge the existence of. Tseng and Elena are depicted as being lovers.
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