Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror Of Shambala

Movie Reviews
Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror Of Shambala
By Hervé St.Louis
August 7, 2006 - 06:54

Starring: Rie Kugimiya, Romi Paku, Hidekatsu Shibata, Kazuko Katou, Kenji Utsumi, Masane Tsukayama, Megumi Toyoguchi, Michiko Neya, Miyuu Sawai, Shun Oguri, Toru Ohkawa
Directed by: Seiji Mizushima
Produced by: Seiji Takeda
Running Time: 105 min
Release Date: 2005
Distributors: Funimation

Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror Of Shambala
Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Shanbara wo Iku Mono

This film picks up where the last series ended with Edward Elric, the alchemist stranded on a parallel Earth in the Weimar Germany during the 1920s. Although he has no power in our world, men and women continue to conspire, hoping to harness the powers of alchemy. Thinking he has remade his life, Edward must combat Nazi sympathisers while helping Alphonse and his team built new power rockets. Alphonse, however, bears a strong resemblance to the Alphonse of the other world that big brother Edward abandoned.

If you have never watched or read a Fullmetal Alchemist cartoon or Manga, you will be confused with the beginning of the story which seems to be part of the last episode. As well as jumping dimension constantly, the film also jumps through time meaning we see younger and older versions of Edward or his younger brother who looks much like him.

This where the movie failed for me. Although it was quite enjoyable and moved quickly from one scene to another, there was just too much to try to figure out coming in with no background. Fans in the audience, seemed to enjoy themselves and catch little nuances that I didn’t. Setting a movie as a direct follow up to the continuity of a television series is always difficult. The transition was not smooth.

Near the end, much of what didn’t make sense at first started to clear up though. Edward’s character was very motivated although I found him annoying at times. More information on the characters in his home dimension would also have been welcomed. One can sense the rich interaction and background of those characters, but the film only hints about something deeper.

The one thing I didn’t like about the Fullmetal Alchemist was the 3D animation. It didn’t fit in well with the animation as it was too fluid. Anime art, which uses fewer frames and more exposition don’t fit well with 3D, even with a cartoon shader to flatten the 3D art. It’s out of synch even when the traditional animators took great care to composite the animation and match it correctly with the 3D elements. The large monstrosity fighting Edward’s friends during the climax were a cool creature and much better looking than the 3D dragon.