Remember a while back, when I made the entry of early reviews from the live-action 'Full Metal Alchemist' movie, not being the best?
Well.... the disappointing reviews are true! ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
And if you haven't seen it, well, I will spare you the trauma with this entry. Seriously, stay away from it.
To be completely honest, I didn't even make it all the way through the film, before I started to yell, very violently I may add, to my t.v. screen.
There are so many problems with the film, that it is seriously hard to even begin, but I guess I must.
First problem, starting point of the movie.
And yes, I'm aware that film adaptations can take liberties, when it comes to books, manga, anime, etc. But hear me out, taking some liberties, is not always a bad thing. Taking liberties that either completely ruin the plot or totally change film is another.
Oops, went on a tangent there, back to where I was going...
The starting point is one of the problems. They introduce both Ed and Al while they're chasing Father Cornello. Yes, the Father Cornello plot. Not only does the movie completely, skip the crucial part of the Elric brothers chasing the deserter soldier and learn of Scar, (who I may add is a pretty crucial character to the entire fu**ing series) but it just seems odd to start it there. I can imagine that it would be hard for the audience (taking into account that they've never seen Brotherhood or read the manga) to get to know these character without the rush of having to go along with the starting point.
Why would they care about two people chasing another person? Who are those two people anyways? See my point.
Secondly, the Homunculi get introduced WAAYY too early. Ok, we get it, the costuming is amazing, but for all the audience knows, they're just bad guys with superpowers, wow.
I feel like this movie is mainly basing their quantity and flashy-ness over quality, something that the anime/manga were completely opposite of.
Third of all, there is a part in the film, where Ed is having a dream/nightmare about being in front of the Gate of Truth, and realizing that a very important fact that isn't even realized until mid-way in the anime. So, at this point not only are you having an audience try to follow from the starting point, but try to make sense of Ed's dream/nightmare and how all of this fits in.
Yes, it is a convoluted as it sounds.
Ok, lets continue on.
Characters (or better yet, lack thereof)...
This is mainly the part where I seriously started yelling at my t.v. So, Hughes' daughter is not in there, basically they have his wife expecting the child. So, yes, thank you film people for basically, changing the significance of Hughes' death and the emotional connection the audience would have built with the characters because, unlike the anime, it is the very reason WHY Brotherhood is so awesome. It is the emotional roller coaster the audience has that has made it so endearing and awesome.
But, it only gets worse from there, you guys think that they would leave vital characters alone, right? Nope, nopity, nope, nope.
Ed and Winry (in the film) go looking for Dr. Marcoh, and yes, they find him, but Lust actually kills him in the process. Yes, they kill Dr. Marcoh. So, a character that was pretty pivotal in the anime, gets killed off early on, for what? To show off Lust's strength? Her 'badness'? Seriously, WHY?!
But I suppose, Dr. Marcoh isn't the biggest problem, it is the lack of one of the most important characters in the film, that really makes my blood boil.
Where in the f**k is SCAR?! Ok, so the movie didn't begin chasing him, and yes, like I said, I didn't finish the damn movie, so all I know is that he could have showed up at the end, but as far as I could make it, he wasn't there. Absolutely no mention of him, it was like he never existed in the first place.
It seems like the movie decided to do quantity over quality. There is really no character development, and the movie just expects the audience (granted that the audience is familiar with the anime/manga) to just have us re-bond with the characters, like there hasn't been a change to them at all. No, that's not how character development goes, movie! The speed in which the plot goes on and the introduction of characters is also a major problem for the film, the audience is just expected to take mental notes of whom is whom and make mind-jumping conclusions from the limited information that they are given. I get the element of surprise, but this is not just an element, it keeps the audience in the dark, and it's pretty bad, because it hurts the story.
So, I came to the conclusion that, if you haven't seen either anime, or read the manga, you should be fine, because this would be your first exposure to it. But for those of us, who have, it'll just be a torturous time just going "WHAT THE FUCK" for most of the movie (or however much you can take of it).
I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to this film, but I was seriously disappointed by it. Sacrificing story quality over CGI, action and horrible development doesn't cut it.
With all that being said, if you haven't seen Full Metal (the movie) do yourself a favor, go watch the anime because they'll be ten times better than this horrible attempt of a movie.
For those of us, who have, I suggest to go re-watch which ever anime, because, again, it'll be ten times better than this film.
There was no equivalent exchange. Someone needs to loose their state alchemist license for this!
** DISCLAIMER**
Well.... the disappointing reviews are true! ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
And if you haven't seen it, well, I will spare you the trauma with this entry. Seriously, stay away from it.
To be completely honest, I didn't even make it all the way through the film, before I started to yell, very violently I may add, to my t.v. screen.
There are so many problems with the film, that it is seriously hard to even begin, but I guess I must.
First problem, starting point of the movie.
And yes, I'm aware that film adaptations can take liberties, when it comes to books, manga, anime, etc. But hear me out, taking some liberties, is not always a bad thing. Taking liberties that either completely ruin the plot or totally change film is another.
Oops, went on a tangent there, back to where I was going...
 |
| Geek Tyrant |
The starting point is one of the problems. They introduce both Ed and Al while they're chasing Father Cornello. Yes, the Father Cornello plot. Not only does the movie completely, skip the crucial part of the Elric brothers chasing the deserter soldier and learn of Scar, (who I may add is a pretty crucial character to the entire fu**ing series) but it just seems odd to start it there. I can imagine that it would be hard for the audience (taking into account that they've never seen Brotherhood or read the manga) to get to know these character without the rush of having to go along with the starting point.
Why would they care about two people chasing another person? Who are those two people anyways? See my point.
Secondly, the Homunculi get introduced WAAYY too early. Ok, we get it, the costuming is amazing, but for all the audience knows, they're just bad guys with superpowers, wow.
I feel like this movie is mainly basing their quantity and flashy-ness over quality, something that the anime/manga were completely opposite of.
Third of all, there is a part in the film, where Ed is having a dream/nightmare about being in front of the Gate of Truth, and realizing that a very important fact that isn't even realized until mid-way in the anime. So, at this point not only are you having an audience try to follow from the starting point, but try to make sense of Ed's dream/nightmare and how all of this fits in.
Yes, it is a convoluted as it sounds.
Ok, lets continue on.
Characters (or better yet, lack thereof)...
This is mainly the part where I seriously started yelling at my t.v. So, Hughes' daughter is not in there, basically they have his wife expecting the child. So, yes, thank you film people for basically, changing the significance of Hughes' death and the emotional connection the audience would have built with the characters because, unlike the anime, it is the very reason WHY Brotherhood is so awesome. It is the emotional roller coaster the audience has that has made it so endearing and awesome.
But, it only gets worse from there, you guys think that they would leave vital characters alone, right? Nope, nopity, nope, nope.
Ed and Winry (in the film) go looking for Dr. Marcoh, and yes, they find him, but Lust actually kills him in the process. Yes, they kill Dr. Marcoh. So, a character that was pretty pivotal in the anime, gets killed off early on, for what? To show off Lust's strength? Her 'badness'? Seriously, WHY?!
But I suppose, Dr. Marcoh isn't the biggest problem, it is the lack of one of the most important characters in the film, that really makes my blood boil.
 |
| Fanpop |
Where in the f**k is SCAR?! Ok, so the movie didn't begin chasing him, and yes, like I said, I didn't finish the damn movie, so all I know is that he could have showed up at the end, but as far as I could make it, he wasn't there. Absolutely no mention of him, it was like he never existed in the first place.
It seems like the movie decided to do quantity over quality. There is really no character development, and the movie just expects the audience (granted that the audience is familiar with the anime/manga) to just have us re-bond with the characters, like there hasn't been a change to them at all. No, that's not how character development goes, movie! The speed in which the plot goes on and the introduction of characters is also a major problem for the film, the audience is just expected to take mental notes of whom is whom and make mind-jumping conclusions from the limited information that they are given. I get the element of surprise, but this is not just an element, it keeps the audience in the dark, and it's pretty bad, because it hurts the story.
So, I came to the conclusion that, if you haven't seen either anime, or read the manga, you should be fine, because this would be your first exposure to it. But for those of us, who have, it'll just be a torturous time just going "WHAT THE FUCK" for most of the movie (or however much you can take of it).
I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to this film, but I was seriously disappointed by it. Sacrificing story quality over CGI, action and horrible development doesn't cut it.
With all that being said, if you haven't seen Full Metal (the movie) do yourself a favor, go watch the anime because they'll be ten times better than this horrible attempt of a movie.
For those of us, who have, I suggest to go re-watch which ever anime, because, again, it'll be ten times better than this film.
There was no equivalent exchange. Someone needs to loose their state alchemist license for this!
** DISCLAIMER**
All trademark, copyrighted material, logos, names, brands, partners and affiliates are properties of Hiromu Aarakawa FUNimation, ANIMAX ASIA, Bones, Warner Bros. Distribution, Square Enix, Oxybot Inc, Netflix, etc.
This post is used with Copyright Act of 1976, 17, U.S.C., § 107. All commentaries made in this post (that are not copyrighted) are my own. This blog is intended for entertainment purposes.
Comments
Post a Comment