Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa (2006)
Munich, Germany, 1923. Two years have passed since Edward Elric was dragged from his own world to ours, leaving behind his country, his friends and his younger brother, Alphonse. Stripped of his alchemical powers, he has been all this time researching rocketry together with Alphonse Heiderich, a young man who resembles his own brother, hoping to one day find a way back home. His efforts so far had proven fruitless, but after lending a hand to a troubled gipsy girl, Edward is thrown in a series of events that can wreak havoc in both worlds. Meanwhile, at his own world, Alphonse Elric ventures deeper into the mysteries of alchemy in search for a way to reunite with his older brother.
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That was an excellent one.
It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
After watching the original FMA series and feeling disappointed with it's ending I immediately watched this movie which was suppose to bring the series to a conclusion. However I feel that the conclusion to this movie left me feeling even more unsatisfied than what the series offered and had me feeling confused with more unanswered questions. The problem with this movie is not only the ending but the writing and run time. It was dull, boring, dragged on too long and felt like a poorly written fanfiction. Nothing interesting happens and the action is lacking. What a waste of nearly 2 hours.
An excellent film ending to Fullmetal Alchemist, featuring the Elric Brothers trapped in different worlds trying to find a way to reunite after a two year separation. The older brother Edward is in Munich Germany in 1923, mixing with historic figures and Nazis, while the younger brother Alphonse is wandering around his world to find a way to reach Ed. Various characters, both old and new appear to either lend a hand, cause trouble or just be there to please fans.However, I strongly recommend moviegoers who have not watched the television show to watch it first before watching this movie. Although the opening five minutes and the opening credits do explain the story of the show, later parts in the film may confuse viewers who have not watched the show beforehand. This film has excellent voice acting, animation and an awesome soundtrack!
This movie is a direct sequel to the Full Metal Alchemist serial. It gives us an insight in what the open ending to the show meant. It does so by giving the entire franchise a nice twist. Instead of focusing on the fantasy world we started to love during the 51 episodes of the show, this movie is set in ''our'' world. To be precise: in the Germany around 1920, in which the ungraceful treaty of Versailles led to rising militarism and hatred towards ethnic minorities.Ed - being amnesic about his previous live as a state alchemist - saves a gypsy girl from the Nazis. Her power to see inside his dreams leads to an understanding of why he is pondering about certain things. Why does he have such vivid dreams of another world? And why does he seem to recognize so many people, without knowing who they are? On the other side of the gate, everything is nice and peaceful. But of course this is about to change when Ed and Al find each other again, and they open up the gate to both worlds.This movie does everything you might expect from it. Almost all the important characters give an acte de presence. The animation is stronger than it ever was. There is more action in it than you'd ever see before. The atmosphere of Europe is nice and ambient. And the charming humor still leads to chuckles from time to time.The thing is that a movie just doesn't have the same depth as a show with 51 episodes. Especially the big villain just isn't that interesting. Unlike the Homunculi and Scar, her reasons to do what she's doing are a bit far-fetched and generic. I also had mixed feelings towards some of the important characters of the show just being side characters in this movie. They do things to enhance the story forcefully rather than being an active part of the movie as a whole.Enough with the bitching; I still love the movie for being as adrenaline-driven as your average Hollywood blockbuster. It's worth to see it by every person who calls himself a fan of FMA. You certainly won't be disappointed. And I do hope that the open ending of this specific movie will lead to another installment of the franchise. I'd rather see a new show, but a new movie would be welcome too.
Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my favourite manga series of all time, written and drawn by the brilliant Arakawa Hiromu and published monthly in Shonen Gan Gan. So, I was expecting the movie to make up for the lacklustre, morbid anime series. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met.The movie picks up where the anime left off, with Edward trapped in post-World War II Germany. He's found an alternate version of his younger brother, Alphonse, and is staying with him in his flat. Around this city are several other look-alikes, including alternate versions of Fuhrer King Bradley, Maes Hughes, and Hughes's wife Gracia.So far as I could tell, Alternate King Bradley is searching for a dragon so he can help his crazy Riza Hawkeye-looking employer open the gate to Edward's world, and that's about where the plot seemed to disappear. From there onwards, the movie seems to get itself muddled in complicated dialogue and poetical, nonsensical statements, as well as the depressingly large number of plot holes. The ending in particular annoyed me; Edward Elric's choice to return to Germany, abandoning his girl Winry seems so completely out of character and a pointless gesture of idiocy to boot. As well as the bit about Al somehow appearing on the other side---the half of the ship he was standing on fell to the bloody earth! There was no WAY he could have jumped that gap, not without Edward noticing. Important secondary characters such as Riza Hawkeye and even other main characters such as Roy Mustang are pushed into the background, treated more as props to try to support the sagging plot line of the movie.On the plus side, the fight scene between Gluttony and Wrath is rather enjoyable, if gory, as well as Armstrong's shenanigans in Lior. Even if the plot is hackneyed and mildly confusing, at least the meaning in the movie is fairly obvious; humans fear what they cannot control. The lady who opened the gate feared Edward's alchemical world because she didn't understand it. Also, the animation is very well done, as well as the voice acting (in the Japanese version, anyways), and the music (composed by Michiru Oshima) is undeniably beautiful.Overall, it's worth tracking down a copy of Shamballa if you enjoyed either the anime or the manga, just to say you've seen it. I wouldn't buy it, but I'd at least borrow a copy from a friend.