Fullmetal Alchemist: the Sacred Stars of Milos Movie

Synopsis
Second Fullmetal Alchemist movie.

Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Fullmetal Alchemist Movie 2, Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Movie 2, FMA Movie 2
Japanese: 劇場版 鋼の錬金術師 嘆きの丘(ミロス)の聖なる星
Fullmetal Alchemist: the Sacred Stars of Milos

related to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (TV)

Genres: action, drama, fantasy, mystery
Themes: alchemy, chimera, demons, steampunk

Premiere date:
2011-07-02 (Japan)


Unfortunately, some of the changes they've made don't work. It's not clear why they decided to tinker with the show's ragingly screwed up emotional underbelly, but it's as if they've removed all the subtlety from the TV series. They're not properly building these characters this time; the only hint we have that Shinji and his terminally walled-off pops Gendo don't get along is a single flash of that famous picture of toddler Shinji crying next to his luggage, and yet in his very first reunion with his dad, who promptly tells him he's going to pilot the EVA-01, he immediately reacts by crying about it and pitching a fit about how he can't and won't and why me and all that blistering angst that generally took a little longer to get to in the TV series. Shinji was reluctant there, but here he's crying about it right off the bat. Other characters suffer from the same problem; some of the conversations are almost hilariously blunt, with Misato just outright discussing her mountain of personal issues as though she's explaining herself to the audience. They're not coming by all this tortured angst honestly; it feels largely out of context, and for many Evangelion fans, the fact that the entire cast was slowly revealed to be a pack of selfish, emotionally mangled mental patients was half the fun. Here they may as well be wearing tee-shirts that say “Hey guys, I'm pretty screwed up in the head!”. A return to some form of subtlety in the next three films would be nice.