Hagane no renkinjutsushi: Mirosu no seinaru hoshi

By no means is "The Sacred Star of Milos" a bad film. For those wanting to feast their eyes on flashy Japanese animation, or simply to escape from the dullness of everyday life, this motion picture will be a good time.

That being said, at no point does this truly feel like a "Fullmetal Alchemist" film.

Throughout the entire viewing, I felt as though something was off. It wasn't the animation; though "-Milos" utilizes a completely different kind of design and animation than either of the two anime series, once you've accepted that contrast it's easy to marvel at how good-looking it is (almost like a cousin of Ghibli animation). But the story, the characters (old and new), the action, the (lack of) comedy, the (melodramatic) drama...

It feels as though no member of the production had any previous history with the franchise. That alone wouldn't necessarily make this a less-than-awesome film, but the fact is that I never once cared about anything going on on screen does. I didn't care whether our heroes succeeded or if anyone were to die.

In conclusion, "The Sacred Star of Milos" is a better-than-decent adventure film which features some cool animation, but it lacks the emotion to make us care, and - I feel - won't satisfy those expecting another adventure with the Elrics.

So the companion piece movie to the original FMA was to follow the series whereas this companion piece to FMA: Brotherhood can be watched at pretty much anytime as it is totally unconnected to the actual plot.

This didn't sit right with me and more than anything felt like a cashgrab, and I suppose it is. Just a random tale with the Elric brothers with not a homunculus in sight.

The original voice cast return though it is rather light on familiar characters, what damages it however is that it clearly isn't the same animation studio that made the show itself which was an odd choice. Not only is the animation style different but it makes the film feel less connected to the universe we know and love, doubly so in places where the animation quality is pretty ill fitted.

The story itself is competent enough and it's perfectly watchable stuff but certainly not on the level of the show itself. In fact I question it's existence, it just didn't need to be. I get the companion piece to the original FMA as it served a purpose, this just doesn't.

Watchable but even fans might want to skip over it.

The Good:

Has most of the FMA charm

Has its moments

The Bad:

Animation style is different than the show

Some of the animation quality if terrible

Script is well below par

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Life reflects art reflects life

I'm going to miss those wacky Elrics

If you've read my review on "Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa" already, you would know that I am a fan of the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise, which was originally a series of Japanese graphic novels (often called "manga") written and designed by Hiromu Arakawa for "Shonen Gangan", a monthly magazine published by Square Enix. Yes. That Square Enix. It was turned into two anime television series sometime later, one starting in 2003 while the manga was still being written, and another in 2010 (dubbed "Brotherhood"), a few years after it was finished. Both of these anime series would premier in the United States on Cartoon Network's late night block, Adult Swim.

"Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos" (pronounced Mē-lŏss) is the second feature film in the franchise. While "Conqueror of Shamballa" is spun off of the 2003 series (and serving as its official ending), this movie is spun off of the 2010 series and is an original story, taking place somewhere near the halfway point of the show's run. It starts with a prisoner, an alchemist, breaking out of prison in Central City, despite only having a few weeks left in his sentence. The Elric brothers, consisting of Edward (Vic Mignogna), a young state alchemist dubbed "Fullmetal", and his younger brother Alphonse (Maxey Whitehead), decide to go after him. They end up near the edge of the country border, to a town called Table City, where they cross paths with a young girl named Julia (Alexis Tipton), who belongs to a society called the Milosians. Thus, the Elrics end up becoming a part of a conflict that could either bring peace and prosperity or the extinction of an entire people.

Even though I did say that this movie took place somewhere near the middle of "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood", I cannot say where exactly this movie is placed in the storyline. Even if I did know, the movie pretty much serves as just feature-length filler, and I don't really see that as a bad thing here. However, I do understand that there are a few fans of the franchise that will have a tough time wrapping their head around the overall plot. The animation is also pretty good for a theatrical release, though it's not the best work I've seen from Bones, the studio that has also worked on both the 2003 series and "Brotherhood", as well as other anime series and movies.

So, to sum up, I actually enjoyed this one. Could it be better? Yes, but what I got out of it is a rather thrilling (and sometimes brutal) adventure flick based on a Japanese franchise I hold as near and dear as "Cowboy Bebop". However, if you plan to watch this picture, I would recommend watching at least half of "Brotherhood" first. It may not help you fully understand everything this movie unfolds, but it would make it a little easier than it should.

It's not a bad movie -- the action is good and the animation is excellent -- but, while it's great to see Ed and Al in action again, "The Sacred Star of Milos" is a bit of a let down compared to the series itself (either version).

Were a newcomer to watch this as a standalone movie in the Fullmetal Alchemist universe they'd probably enjoy it more than existing fans who are repeatedly forced to wonder what happened to the laws of alchemy and the entire point of philosopher stones. On the other hand, a newcomer would have a lot of questions about everything else as this movie was clearly made with only Fullmetal Alchemist fans in mind.

The director explains in his commentary that this is a different land so the alchemic laws are different (though Ed and Al have travelled just as far if not farther before, albeit not in this direction) but this isn't mentioned in the movie, doesn't explain the antagonist's overwhelming powers while he's in Central City or why Ed and Al can't catch him (or anyone for that matter), puts into question the entire point of the series if all Ed and Al had to do was travel Southwest to Creta or beyond where the laws of alchemy are supposedly different, and doesn't explain the unnecessary rebound after the disappointing climax. Fans will also catch on to the truth about Table City long before Ed and Al who've encountered the exact same thing before.

Overall, this movie is worth watching, but Fullmetal Alchemist fans should be aware this technically canon movie does a terrible job of following canon.

I was fortunate enough to see this movie at Otakon, the second showing in the United States ever. (The first was a day before at the Otakon convention and I missed it due to a crisis, I would never miss it otherwise.)

The movie was Japanese audio with English subtitles, the way it should be.

I really enjoyed the storyline and the action scenes were none less than amazing!! It had me tearing at one point..someone cutting onions in the room.

As an avid FMA fan, I truly enjoyed this experience. Watching it with other FMA fans at Otakon (other otakus) was quite the movie watching experience as people all cheered, clapped, and laughed at the appropriate times. This movie definitely exceeded my expectations and they were rather high. I saw this movie right after The Last Unicorn, and it was a great way to end the Otakon convention!