Fullmetal Alchemist

I never read any of the comics or watched the Anime of "Fullmetal Alchemist", so I had no idea what I should expect from this live action rendering of the concept. I just had a little information about what it was about, so I sat down to watch it with no expectations or hopes, as I found it on Netflix.

It turns out that this movie was actually entertaining enough for what it was, although the storyline was somewhat simplistic, and there were no twists or turns along the ride.

"Fullmetal Alchemist" (aka "Hagane no renkinjutsushi") was long, painstakingly long. And they could have trimmed it down with some more intense and thorough editing, because there was a lot of stuff which wasn't really serving more than being eye-candy and filler on the screen.

The characters in the movie were adequate, although the lead role played by Ryôsuke Yamada was somewhat of a swing and a miss, because he was rigid and monotone in his performance. Yasuko Matsuyuki, playing Lust, was really perfect for the role, but it was a shame that she, as the villain, didn't have more time on the screen. Tsubasa Honda, playing Winry, was carrying a great deal of the movie, as she had to pick up where Ryôsuke Yamada came in short.

The visuals and special effects in the movie were amazing, and they carried the movie quite a long way.

An entertaining movie for sure but it was just way way too long.

If you watched the movie because you are a fan then you probably expected that it was going to be bad as hell. The thing is that as a "movie" it was fine. Compared to the anime though it was shit.

The movie fails in every aspect to deliver the chills that you get from watching the anime BUT we all expected that.

It is understandable though since we do not have the technology yet (We do but it is expensive af) to make a "Good" live action movie. There are things that can be achieved in anime that you simply can't put into a movie, such things include: Facial expressions, the anime faces, the hairstyles (They look terrible IRL), the CGI for the super powers which is bad... like really bad and so on.

In order to achieve the fine perfection the anime has, the budget of the movie itself must be like insanely high. The reason is because first of all this should not be a movie but a series of maybe 20 episodes(1hour each). Cause squeezing all this content to a 2 hour movie is just not going to work.(Even 4 hours is too little I count the sequel as well). Another thing which I PERSONALLY WANT TO BE FIXED is the god damn hair, for the love of god it just looks fake af please moar realism to dat.

Anyway having to write all of the flaws is actually super boring so im going to focus on the positive things.: Nice audio.

Anyway, I really hope the one piece live action series will do great as it will have one of the biggest budgets every like 10m/episode.

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.

Overall, its a decent movies that have many positive aspect, but the cinematography and directing are not as good as the original, pretty good acting, good cg, as any other anime adaptation it would have its story packed short, its a pretty good job for this one though, yet there's lot of good moments in anime left behind, i don't mind with japanese cast even if the anime setting in alternate universe of europe, otherwise it would've been a better portrayal of the character.

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