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Overanalyzing Anime
Blog Owner & Lead Writer
After a tragic accident left them both scarred, the Elric Brothers set out on a journey to retrieve that which has been taken from them.
There’s a lot to be said about the new live-action adaptation of the beloved anime/manga, Fullmetal Alchemist; unfortunately, most of it is.. well, less than flattering. Let’s start with the good.
If there’s one thing about this movie that deserves praise, it’s the effort it puts forth; whether it’s the sets, the costumes, or the CGI - all of it accurately represented the source material. However, even with how incredible that all was, I couldn’t help but feel that it failed to reach the same level as the source material. I don’t really fault it for that, though - it’s a recurring issue I have with live-action adaptations of anime/manga, wherein they usually fall short of the original material. It makes sense, especially given the fantastical nature of anime/manga worlds such as FMA; it’s close to impossible to fully capture the essence of such unique worlds, but this movie does a better job than most.
Unfortunately, that’s about all this movie does right. While I have a lot of issues with FMA, my biggest issue stems from just how much the movie tries to do in two and half hours. I thought Netflix’s Death Note adaptation was doing too much for trying to condense the conflict between Light & L to an hour & a half, but this movie takes it even further by not only trying to tell the entire story of FMA Brotherhood, but also inject elements of the original FMA anime series as well. Even with its extended runtime it tried to incorporate *way* too much.
In addition to incorporating too much, it also tells the story in a very incoherent & messy way; often jumping back & forth between iconic moments in the anime - some of which were dozens of episodes apart - in a matter of minutes. This led to moments either being significantly less impactful, or just downright ridiculous.
All in all, while seeing some of my favorite characters brought to life was a treat, it doesn’t make up for the fact that this movie was an absolute mess.
My rating: 6/10
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