Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar

FMA anime/manga is one of my favorites, I just finished the trilogy live action just to see it and.. well it really didn't live up to any sort of good expectations for it.

Out of the three this is probably the better film for me. Plot point is more centralized thus we're not bombarded with tens of plot lines that never go any deeper.

CGI stuff is an improvement from the first but still nothing to rave on.. Acting and action is passable here. There's less of the usual Japanese style animated reactions that don't really translate well but it's still present.

The best part are the costumes and that's sad because it's like expensive cosplay but I guess at least they did give effort to make the characters wear something that blend in with the environment and not some fake looking uniform.

Title says it all, but to elaborate a bit - Japanese anime is somehow better because the 2D drawings lack emotional depth, so the sometimes-ridiculous dialog doesn't seem bad because it isn't paired with ridiculous acting. On the other hand, Japanese live action shows often have ridiculous acting on top of over-the-top dialog, which is just a bad combination.

Which is the problem THIS film has, which is evident almost immediately - the acting varies from stiff to overly animated with over-the-top and/or bad acting typical of a live action Japanese adaptation. Don't get me wrong, not all of them are bad, just most of them.

I start by saying that I evaluate the film only on the basis of the film and not the affinity with the cartoon / comic and not even with the affinity to the general plot of the whole story. The film itself is a decent film, full of breathtaking action and full of jokes and light moments that manage well to dampen the frenzy of everything, but the fact remains that the film is still very boring because of its really too excessive duration, the film is too long, really too long, it bores you beyond belief and after a little more than half you start wondering how long the film will last because the film is really very dense and at the same time slow and this thing wears you out a lot.

The dialogue is stilted and the performer's were limited.

Given the fan base, and the success of western animation adaptations it's a shame that studios continue to make live action films that do not cater for a broader audience.

They absolutely horrible dubbing in English. Listen to it in Japanese with English subtitles and you will spare yourself the over acting and melodramatic dialogue.

The production values are not all that bad and the special effects are pretty good. But, oh there is horrible dubbing.

As far as casting it looks like they pretty much used all wannabe boy band members from Japan.

I greatly enjoyed the tongue in cheek names and nicknames of the characters once I realized they were not meant to be taken seriously.

Gather with some friends, break out the beer and popcorn, and visit as you watch. It's a pretty good experience.