Number Rolled: N/A
Movie Name/Year: Fullmetal
Alchemist (2017)
Tagline: None
Genre: Action,
Adventure, Fantasy
Length: 134
minutes
Rating: TV-14
Production Companies:
Oxybot, Square Enix Company, Warner Bros.
Producer: Andrea
Biscaro, Alessandro Tarducci, Mari Yamakawa
Director: Fumihiko
Sori
Writer: Hiromu
Arakawa
Actors: Ryosuke
Yamada, Tsubasa Honda, Dean Fujioka, Ryuta Sato, Misako Renbutsu, Yo Oizumi,
Kenjiro Ishimaru, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Shinji Uchiyama, Kanata Hongo, Natsuna,
Fumiyo Kohinata, Natsuki Harada, Jun Kunimura, Atom Mizuishi
Stunt Doubles: None
Listed
Blurb from Netflix:
While alchemist Edward Elric searches for a way to restore his brother Al’s
body, the military government and mysterious monsters are watching closely.
Selina’s Point of View:
I’m absolutely shocked by how good this film was.
Whenever a book is adapted, or a reboot/remake targets something
you consider a favorite, you always hope it’s going to stay true to the
original work, while still bringing something new to the mix. It is so rare for
anything to really live up to what you hope for – it’s easier to just lower
expectations.
As much as I was looking forward to this live action adaptation
of Fullmetal Alchemist, I was quick
to control my expectations. I figured the characters would all be just slightly
off, the majority of my favorite scenes would have to be cut or significantly
altered, and the actors/director would take the whole thing way too seriously.
Granted, it’s a dark tale when you get into it – but there’s
supposed to be some levity, too. The anime definitely takes into account the
age of the brothers and the cringe that’s supposed to exist at that time in a
person’s life.
When you really get into an anime you also learn to expect
certain mannerisms from the characters. Things that a normal human being really
wouldn’t do. There’s a certain amount of over-acting expected from anime… it
helps to cause the wild and crazy expressions to make sense.
I wasn’t sure how a live action film would translate that
kind of thing. For instance, Edward’s tendencies to flip out when anyone called
him short. It’s physically impossible for someone to react the way his anime
character did in those situations.
The anime is also very reliant on the visual representation
of the alchemy practiced by the majority of the important characters. Not only
that, but Alphonse is just a giant talking suit of armor. That means a great
deal of CGI had to be used, and that can go very bad, very quickly.
So, how did director Fumihiko Sori (Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, Ichi, Orbital) handle everything?
Well, he treated it like an anime. He left in some of the
over-acting – just enough to still get the mannerisms fans expect from their
favorite characters – and he did his best to treat the CGI as if he were making
a live action anime instead of an adaptation. All of it was uniform, but not
worried about hardcore realism. That’s a good thing here, because hardcore
realism would not have worked.
There were a few actors that I didn’t really feel fit their
characters, but there were three that really jumped out at me as being
perfectly cast.
Tsubasa Honda (Wanitokagegisu,
The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio, Night’s Tightrope) as Winry really grew
on me, until I couldn’t picture anyone else playing her. Kanata Hongo (The Kaiju Club, Pokemon the Movie: I Choose
You!, Repeat) mastered the feel and androgyny of Envy. And finally, I knew
the moment I saw Ryuta Sato (My Brother’s
Husband, Kanna san!, Otoko no misao) that there was no one else anywhere in
the world that could have made a better Maes Hughes.
Ryosuke Yamada (Grasshopper,
Hell Teacher Nubee, Cain and Abel) was a toss-up for me. I really didn’t
think I’d like him as Edward Elric. I thought he’d look way to fake to make me
care, but he pulled it off. It’s one of those situations where I saw it more once
I was watching the actual film than I did in the trail or movie posters/stills.
This was definitely meant to be an adaptation of the anime,
not the manga. I urge fans of the series to keep that in mind when opting to
watch this movie.
I tend to be slightly forgiving with adaptations, especially
in cases like this where so much material needs to be packed into just a couple
of hours. That said, I really think even the toughest fan would see the good
here.
Cat’s Point of View:
I was so very excited when I learned they were making this movie. The
fact that it was set to be a Netflix Original gave me hope that it had a chance
to live up to its source material – as much as possible for an adaptation of
this sort, that is. Even so, I’ve had this underlying worry that this story so
dear to my heart would become yet another bastardized cinematic flash-bang show
of all fireworks and no substance – or, even worse, something cartoonier than
the anime or manga pages.
My worries have been put to rest. This film was amazing.
There’s so much to say that I honestly don’t know quite where to start.
I suppose it’s a good idea to note up-front that I’m not really a manga-reader.
(Not for lack of interest; just lack of time, etc.) For that reason, I’m unable
to offer a comparison to the original format of this story. I can, however,
provide plenty of insight comparing to the lengthy anime series that
encapsulates this story.
To that end, I can say that this adaptation was fairly faithful to the
anime. The visuals for the characters were spot on – for the most part. I’ll
come back to that. The landscapes and settings felt like they were pulled
straight from my memories of the show. The opening scenes actually had me
catching my breath and had me a bit misty-eyed even before the real reasons to
have eye-leaking problems revealed themselves in the narrative.
The effects were better than I expected, really. There was only one
homunculus ‘transformation’ that felt a little off for me; but really when
looking at that character and exactly what’s going on with it, I realized that
it was still a decent rendition. Hopefully, in future installments they’ll work
on it.
My initial excitement while watching the trailers for this movie was
tempered by my reaction to some of the aesthetic choices for the characters. I
wasn’t sure I was going to like Ryosuke Yamada (Sensei wa erai!, Assassination Classroom, Miracles of the Namiya
General Store) as Edward. I even scoffed and huffed that they changed
Winry’s hair color.
Let me tell you, though, that Tsubasa Honda (Enoshima Prizm, The Tale of Nishino, Terminal) portrayed an epic
Winry. I didn’t care that she wasn’t blonde. I feel that I understand the
choices made – it certainly gave the movie more ethnic authenticity than the
anime. I imagine we would have heard a lot about white-washing if they hadn’t –
regardless of the nature of the source. I’m glad that particular, if valid,
controversy was avoided.
Along those same lines, I just wasn’t sure what to make of Yamada, at
first. The production team – including costuming, hair, and makeup – really
outdid themselves here. They captured the visual essence of the beloved
character. Yamada breathed life and vibrance into his role. He pulled off the
stubborn, stoic, perpetually worried, Napoleonic-complexed, and sometimes goofy
character of Edward Elric better than I could have hoped.
I’m completely geeking out over Ryûta Satô (Rookies, Until the Break of Dawn, Fire Spark) as Captain Maes
Hughes, though. Holy hell, they even got that little stray curl of hair right
without it looking fakey. Hughes was one of my very favorite characters in the
series, so you can imagine I was head over heels about his excellent portrayal.
Moving on!
Another of my primary concerns with adaptation of this story was the
length. There’s just so much extensive nuanced storyline throughout the anime
(and likely more so with the manga), that I wondered how they could possible
fit it all into a single film. I can’t tell you how relieved I was that they
didn’t try to cram it all in. Director Fumihiko Sori (Pinpon, Vexille, Tomorrow's Joe) is said to have made the call to
develop about a third of the story into this movie. That gives me great hope
that there might be a trilogy in the works. I can’t confirm that for sure, but
it would make sense. This film definitely left me wanting more – and quickly.
I am going to cross my fingers and toes that they follow through with
adapting the rest of the story. I will be waiting with bated breath to see. In
the meantime, I would recommend this movie in a heartbeat. It’ll likely be a
good fit for someone who isn’t so sure about anime but likes action films along
this line.
Languages
Speech Available:
English – Audio Description Only, French, German, Japanese, Spanish
Subtitles Available:
English, French, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 40%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 70%
Metascore - None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.6/10
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating
– 5/5
P.S. There’s a
short scene after the credits that’s worth watching.
P.S.2. This will
be our last Foreign Film Friday for a while. Due to declining popularity, we’ve
opted to scrap the feature. We will be adding some of the foreign films to our
regular queue, so they’ll get mixed in over time. We will still be posting on Fridays,
but it will be our normal themes.
Movie Trailer:
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