FFVII: Advent Children
The Story
Advent Children, as stated in the first AC section, is set two years after the end of Final Fantasy VII. Midgar is in ruins as a result of Meteor and a disease called "Geostigma" has infected most of the population, including former President Rufus. Because of the illness' energy draining effects, Rufus is wheelchair bound. He's using his loyal Turks to search the planet for the effects of Sephiroth and a way to cure his sickness. During one of these missions, the three silver haired Sephiroth clones (Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz) down Tseng and Elena's helicopter. Kadaj brings the ID badges of the two Turks to Rufus, trying to push him into surrendering the one thing he recovered: Jenova's head.
Rufus' role in the story is substantial; The most gripping scene taking place between himself and Kadaj in an abandoned building. Kadaj summons Bahamut while his brothers search the city for Jenova's head, and Rufus reveals that the sheet he's been hiding under isn't covering disfigurement or anything of the sort. He gets up and pulls it off, looking hotter than ever, even though he does have a few bandages wrapped around his head to cover one eye. Oh, and he also lets Kadaj know that he's had Jenova's head in a box in his lap the entire time. Rufus then proceeds to toss the box of the side of the building, prompting Kadaj to fire materia at RUfus. He dodges it skillfully and leaps off after it, pulling out his shotgun in the process and unloading a few rounds at the gas pipe above Kadaj. After a couple tries, he also manages to put a bullet hole through Jenova's box before he is caught in midair by Elena and Tseng, who have returned, conveniently with net guns. Sweet.
I suggest going here for a full plot summary, but the story does end happily. Rufus is cured of his Geostigma and has full plans to rebuild the ShinRa empire.
My Thoughts
On September 12, 2005 I saw. Advent Children. I think it took about three days before I stopped spazzing out. The movie was good, the CG was great, the fight scenes were kick-ass, and Rufus was absolutely orgasmic. In my opinion, he lived up to every bit of praise I've ever given him. Which as you all know has been a HELL of a lot. The biggest and most important thing I can say about Advent Children Rufus is that he's gained a lot of his sanity back. You know in 7 he goes from being ambitious with goals of running the company 'right' to coming very close to losing it and going mad by the end of FFVII. Rufus states in the movie "We at ShinRa have a big debt to repay to the world." That admission shows that he knows he went off the deep end and that he's certainly not the "villain" anymore.
I've never insisted about Rufus turning over a whole new leaf if he lived, and if he'd turned out to still be evil I admit I'd have been just as loyal to him as ever, but this has made me truly happy. He wants to rebuild ShinRa and start over, and he has honestly learned from his mistakes. Oh, AND he kicked ASS shooting all Matrix-y out of that window. I'm so proud!