Fullmetal Alchemist

This movie is well worth the watch, Though i'd recommend watching the anime first. There could be some parts that could be improved though.

This movie is quite the mixed bag which absolutely needed a bit more polish!

I usually know where I want to start with a review but this one was hard. Nothing is so horrible that it jumps out at you, but also nothing so good that it elevates the film. If you want to see a very condensed FMA in real-life form, then here it is!

As the flick condenses a huge manga and anime down into a very long feeling 2 hours, it does a commendable job hitting the key points and dropping the dead weight that isnt needed for the story. That isnt to say that those unfamiliar wont be confused, because they will be for sure! There's just too much lore to go over, and terminologies, for the movie to cover for the average audience viewer.

And those who love FMA will also feel disappointed, but again not in any one thing. The acting ranged from terrible to good, as do the sets, outfits, and actors. Everything is *HERE* but there is a lack of polish, as stated earlier, to the whole thing that will make you wish for someone to have gone over the movie for all the little details that mar this movie, so I'll start there.

The sets and outfits are all a bit *too* perfect, as in they look like stage pieces as opposed to something in a real world. Unfortunately, even when things happen which should impact these sets, such as Lust shooting her fingers out and impaling someone against the wall, there is nothing left behind. No holes, no blood, no damage, nothing at all. That pretty much bleeds into every visual aspect of this film. Its a hallow kind of substance. The few real world locations used, such as the outside of a large house, stand in stark contrast to the rest of the "clean as a whistle" aesthetic that other locations have. It all has a bit of a feeling of a live-action stage play.

The acting is all over the place as well. It is clear that the creators of the film wanted the characters to have the same quirks as their anime counterparts, but in doing so they made some characters over-act so badly that it feels out of place. They made Winry into basically an unnecessary character, there to exchange exposition in one of the numerous info dumps that happen throughout, which is a disservice to her character. Contrasting both of those is that a majority of the class is playing it VERY flat, so it makes any overacting stick out even more. The acting overall has a very 'teen flick' feel to it.

It hits story beats fine but at the same time it feels like you have been watching this movie since the beginning of time when the 60 minute mark hits. There are some major story moments that broke your heart the first time around that are still here to gut-wrench you once more.

The CGI isnt the best, but outside of Hollywood it rarely is. You get the feeling that things have the wrong weight or consistency quite frequently. Even though hes a suit of armor, Ed feels very stiff when moving as well, but he looks spot on!

There was a constantly droning "theme"? running throughout the movie, and they tried to make the strings sing at the right moments but the music felt like a blended mess of nothing that didnt help anything.

The movie gives you just enough of a taste that you'll wish it was something you stole that was still in pre-production as opposed to the final movie. Its not bad but it feels like more of a rough draft than a final release.

A couple of years ago, my brother showed me an anime that revolves around two brothers Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric trying to use alchemy to get their mother by using an alchemical ritual only to end up with disastrous results. Alphonse loses his body and has his soul transferred to a suit of armor while Edward loses his leg and arm. A few years later, Edward becomes a State Alchemist working for the government to find him and Alphonse find the Philosopher's Stone, an artifact that would help them regain their bodies while performing human transmutation without a circle while discovering the truths about their world governed by the law of Equivalent Exchange, the stone itself, alchemy, their family, and evil forces using alchemy for sinister purposes. That anime was Fullmetal Alchemist.

When I watched the 2003 anime and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood with my brother, I was surprised at how beautifully written the story was and how compelling the characters and their motivations where. Their situations make you relate to them during their adventures, but not only that. It deals with deeper themes including the true meaning of family, and the difference between life and death. Nonetheless, I loved both of those shows and are now my favorites of all time. So, when a live-action film adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist was being made, I was really excited, hoping it wouldn't end being like Death Note (a USA live-action adaptation back in 2017 which disrespected the source material fans loved). Then, when it arrived on Netflix, my brother and I watched it... And sadly, it ended up being a disappointment. It's not as poor or terrible as Death Note, Dragonball Evolution, and The Last Airbender, but it lacked something that made both the manga and anime much more complex.

Let's start with the problems. Those who read the manga and watched the anime might be disappointed. I'm not going to spoil the story, but I will say this... the movie didn't include key characters that contributed to the story including Scar, Armstrong, Izumi, and Fuhrer Bradley. If the producers of the film ever make a sequel, they better bring them together. Not to mention the special effects on the Mannequin soldiers are really poor along with the other effects including the Homunculus. Also, the story fell apart. It had a decent start with an accurate depiction of the younger Edward and Alphonse using alchemy to try and bring their mother back, but the rest of the film suffers from some of the biggest problems. The writing is really weak because it had bits of the manga and place them out of order in a two hour and fourteen minute length, which results in uneven pacing that drags too long and because of that, the character development ends up lacking in comparison.

That being said, there are some good things that saved the film. The actors did a fine job capturing the personalities of Edward, Alphonse, Winry, Colonel Mustang, and the bad guys Lust, Gluttony, and Envy. The other actors who portrayed General Hakuro, Shou Tucker, and Hughes also did a fine job. The directing is actually really good. It captures the look and feel of the anime perfectly. Also, the music score is good. It's atmospheric, it has a great use of drama and action, and ends up being really powerful. And most importantly, some of the effects, including the transmutation sequences and Alphonse's metal armor, is nicely detailed and looks good in movie form. Oh, and the costumes are great and are accurate to the anime/manga counterparts. Kudos to the producers for being at least some effort.

Overall, Fullmetal Alchemist ends up being a huge disappointment. It has good intentions and is faithful to the anime/manga, but due to the weak writing and lack of character development, the movie just comes up short. My advice, if you want to see a live-action movie based on your favorite manga/anime, this film is only watchable. However, you might want to revisit the 2003 anime and Brotherhood again and remember the complexity they had. 2.5/5

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Is it perfect, no far from it. I do think it's much more faithful to the source material then the live action Death Note was, like Death Note it is a very ambitious movie trying to pack a lot of story into a short amount of time. As a result, some characters are omitted and the story is condensed. To be honest, it felt like I was watching a fan-made movie with a big budget. This is not a bad thing, actually it was refreshing because it makes me believe those who worked on it really cared deeply about the original anime and did their best to show it. Other reviewer's issues with the show are right, the acting wasn't the best and I would have liked to have seen more comedy. Also elements of the story were passed over or not explained. What I did like was the homunculus, I thought they were done very well. While the story was condensed, it was still easy to follow and the movie had a good (sometimes too fast) pace.

It's gonna be difficult to fit the long and complicated story line to fit around 2 hours. They've all done their best and you can't deny all of the actors and actresses are so similar to the characters and they really did well in bringing those characters to live action. Of course, it's gonna be difficult for fans who have been so familiar with the manga and anime for many years to cope with no element of surprise that may be you feel it's lacking. I know the story line by hard too so there was not much surprises in the movie but seriously, I'm surely satisfied with the casts and cgi and really enjoy the fantasy became reality and no doubt have to give 8 stars.