Full Metal Alchemist was one of, if not, my favorite Japanese anime series. I haven't watched a ton but I have it up there, or above, "Inuyasha," "Bleach," and "Naruto." So, needless to say I was excited to see a feature film of "Full Metal Alchemist."
I was a little put off to start. The characters in the anime speak Japanese but not a single one of them is actually Japanese (but then again that's the case with just about every Japanese anime) yet all the characters in the movie are Japanese. After I got over the initial shock of a blond Japanese man playing Edward Elric I settled in for the story.
The movie was more-or-less a recap of the entire series. Of course they had to leave a lot out but it seems they captured most of the important moments--although, I don't know if that was a good thing. The show had its run and it didn't make sense to try to recapture it in a movie. Honestly, I think they should've made an entirely different story formatted specifically for a 90-110 minute movie. This movie was around 140 minutes and still missed a lot of things.
The CGI was excellent with the transmutations and most of the characters were spot on: Al in the armor was perfect, Gluttony, Envy, and Lust were precise and even Hughes was a great replication of the anime. Even with the excellence of the CGI and the accuracy of the characters I think the movie was too long and should've gone a different direction than trying to recapture the entire series.
I was a little put off to start. The characters in the anime speak Japanese but not a single one of them is actually Japanese (but then again that's the case with just about every Japanese anime) yet all the characters in the movie are Japanese. After I got over the initial shock of a blond Japanese man playing Edward Elric I settled in for the story.
The movie was more-or-less a recap of the entire series. Of course they had to leave a lot out but it seems they captured most of the important moments--although, I don't know if that was a good thing. The show had its run and it didn't make sense to try to recapture it in a movie. Honestly, I think they should've made an entirely different story formatted specifically for a 90-110 minute movie. This movie was around 140 minutes and still missed a lot of things.
The CGI was excellent with the transmutations and most of the characters were spot on: Al in the armor was perfect, Gluttony, Envy, and Lust were precise and even Hughes was a great replication of the anime. Even with the excellence of the CGI and the accuracy of the characters I think the movie was too long and should've gone a different direction than trying to recapture the entire series.