Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy

This looks more like a cheaply produced television soap than a fantasy movie. Honestly, I cant this serious. Perhaps only suited for a diehard kind of niche group of fans who are into these kind of stories?

The bad; this movie has got incredibly cheap looking special effects. That's a real bummer for a fantasy movie, in which it is paramount that we, as viewers, get to believe in another fantasy world. None of that.

More bad: the actors look the part, with all sorts of weird kinda hairdos and makeup, but that's about the only thing positive that sets them apart from C-listed actors who would usually only star in television soaps.

THE FINAL ALCHEMY is the final instalment of the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST trilogy...and thank heavens for that! It was shot back to back with the second film, and while I didn't particularly like that or the first one, this one is astonishingly bad, complete with CGI that would look out of place in a modern video game. It's a bloated, overlong affair which mainly consists of different characters squaring up to each other and making various threats while CGI swirls and flows in the background. Some of the visuals are okay, but as a competent, coherent film this is a huge mess and has to rank as a disappointment whichever way you look at it.

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.

Plot: Overall a miss.

Revenge of Scar is probably the best if I were to choose? Likely because there's not a lot of plot points that busy themselves in the story telling. So much of the plot points and what made FMA great wasn't present in these movies because they had to cut off so many. They just took what they thought were good memorable points then threw it in the pot with no seasoning. I am wondering if someone who hasn't seen the source material can really bond and understand the nuances of the characters.

Acting: Mostly miss if you're not used to the styling.

They chose to do an 'animated' telling... you know how in anime they react dramatically? That's in here. The slapstick comedic timing, exaggerated reactions etc. I have watched a lot of Japanese shows that do it this way so to me I'm used to it but I am aware it can be so cringy because it takes you out of the moment.

CGI: Miss with very few exceptions.

The bad effects are too noticeable especially in the first and third film. I know people can tell it's CGI because normally it's quite impossible for it to be done irl since it's clearly not animatronic nor practical but see they also didn't do the CGI any justice. You can tell they poured their heart out in making Alphonse look good because he actually is able to blend in with the environment, perhaps some of the alchemy effects as well are good but the rest... not so much

Costumes: Average.

Wigs were bad and you can tell they're wigs. First film Yamada (Edward) dyed his hair and it was really a trashy job people thought it was a wig. They sorta fixed it next installment but...eh

Costumes were I think the better part of the film. It looks worn in for the most part and they tried to really replicate what the anime characters were wearing so that was nice.

---- Overall not really something I'd recommend for a live action show but well some people clearly like it so who am I to say what other people will like or not but this review isn't it. Perhaps if you view this as like a fanmade trilogy with more budget in it then you might have a better time.

This movie is by no means perfect, but I still had a lot of fun watching it. No live action adaptation of an anime is ever going to be good, especially when they're working with 27 volumes. Still, it was a fun watch.

Uchino as Hohenheim is by far my favorite part of the film, and seeing his ending scene with Trisha was really sweet. I was always bummed that hadn't made it into the anime, so I'm glad this film included it. Also, his voice acting for Father as a blob was really enjoyable! I was also happy they included Hohenheim's "vintage armor" line, as the anime didn't. Overall, I think these films do a better job at adapting Hohenheim's funnier/softer side than the anime does, but that's just me.

The CGI was definitely not great, but I was able to look past it.

My main complaint was how long this film was. I think cutting out the Briggs stuff entirely would have benefitted them. As much as I liked that arc in the manga, it didn't work here. I think they could have removed it, and still made the film work. Still, Olivier's actress was really spot on.

I also felt the ending scene was a bit awkward, as they only show one image of Edward while no music plays. I think it would have been cute to show multiple cast photos, like the manga does, along with some music.

Speaking of music, the score for these films is really disappointing. Especially if you've seen both the 2003 anime and Brotherhood, the scores there are incredible.

Overall, the main parts I enjoyed were Hohenheim's scenes. I'm a sucker for hot dads with depression.

I certainly wouldn't recommend these movies to people with no knowledge of the manga or anime, but if you are a fan then sure, watch 'em. Just don't go in expecting anything groundbreaking. These movies are just fanservice at the end of the day.