Last part of the trilogy adapting one of the best anime and manga of all time, “The Final Alchemy” concludes the story as closely to the original as possible, with a 142 minute epic that is probably the best in the trilogy.
While Edward and Ling Yao are fighting Envy inside Gluttony, Hohenheim, father to the Erlic brothers, also becomes a factor in the story, while Roy Mustang realizes that the conspiracy he thought included some of the higher echelons of the army is much bigger than he anticipated. The narrative then focuses on the various arcs of the last episodes of the anime, with Scar still being part of the equation, Ling Yao becoming a whole different entity, Lust, Greed, Sloth, Wrath revealing even more of their secrets, and the gang finding powerful allies in the face of Alex Armstrong’s sister, Mira, and Izumi, the woman who actually taught alchemy to the two brothers.
The revelation of the whole story, which is proven much worse than anyone anticipated, is presented in all its glory, even if Sorry had to rush a number of episodes in his effort to condense 20+ episodes in a feature duration. The role of Hohenheim and his arch enemy in particular is quite appealing to watch, essentially being the one that leads to the final battle, a rather lengthy sequence of epic proportions. It is also in these scenes that the action direction of Masayoshi Deguchi, the cinematography, which includes extensive use of drones, the SFX and the editing come together in a true visual extravaganza, at least in anime adaptation terms. Particularly the CGI of Sloth is excellent to watch, in a character that is quite difficult to depict in a live action movie, but the crew fulfilled his presence in the best way possible. The rather rewarding, and quite sweet actually ending, a triumph to both brotherly and romantic love, closes the movie in the best fashion, cementing the quality of the narrative here.
Despite the fact that all the movies in the trilogy suffer from excessive acting, even more so here, with the many double roles, the casting is actually one of its best aspects Ryosuke Yamada as Erlic, Tsubasa Honda as Winry, Dean Fujioka as Roy Mustang, Mackenryu Arata as Scar all reprise the roles, adding much star quality to the film, but the ones who steal the show are actually two “newcomers”. Chiaki Kuriyama as Mira is great to watch once more, in blonde hair this time, looking both cool and dangerous at the same time, while Haruhi Ryoga as Izumi portrays her character’s brutality and tenderness with the same artfulness.
“Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy” is not exactly the movie that will make its viewers think, but the action and the SFX are enough to provide 2+ hours of entertainment, which is where the film’s true value lies.
