By Brian Costello , based on child development research. How do we rate?
Overly complex threequel has strong fantasy violence.
Parents need to know that Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy is a 2022 Japanese fantasy movie in which humans fight a pitched final battle against demon spirits. It's the third in a series of movies and is based on manga. Expect fantasy violence throughout, including characters attempting suicide. One…
Fantasy violence, some scary imagery. Characters attempt suicide in the heat of
Infrequent strong language: "s--t," "dumbass," "damn," "bastard."
Sex, Romance & Nudity Not present Products & Purchases Not present Drinking, Drugs & Smoking Not presentFantasy violence, some scary imagery. Characters attempt suicide in the heat of battle to avoid capture. Fighting with spells, swords, fire, metal claws, and machine guns. Some bloody injuries -- e.g., swords going through hands. One character attempts suicide by blowing himself up with dynamite. A small monster kills itself by reaching into its mouth and pulling out its organs.
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Parents need to know that Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy is a 2022 Japanese fantasy movie in which humans fight a pitched final battle against demon spirits. It's the third in a series of movies and is based on manga. Expect fantasy violence throughout, including characters attempting suicide. One character attempts suicide by blowing himself up with dynamite, and a small monster kills itself by reaching into its mouth and pulling out its organs. Some bloody injuries include, for instance, swords through hands. Fighting involves spells, machine guns, swords, fire, spells, and demonic powers. Infrequent strong language includes "s--t," "dumbass," "damn," and "bastard. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
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FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE FINAL ALCHEMY picks up where the previous movie, The Revenge of Scar, left off, with Edward (Ryosuke Yamada), Envy, and Ling trying to find a way out of Gluttony's stomach. Meanwhile, Mustang is trying to start a rebellion against the officers of the empire, who aren't actually human but are homunculi plotting against humanity. After breaking out of Gluttony's stomach, Edward must continue his quest to rescue his brother Alphonse from the afterlife; this takes him on an epic journey that intertwines with the battles the others are fighting. One by one, Edward and the other alchemist warriors must dispatch the demons who represent the seven deadly sins, rid the world of homunculi, and restore peace to the kingdom.
So much telling, so little showing. Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy is a truly maddening experience in that it pulls off the miracle of being a blockbuster action movie that mostly lacks action. Instead of action, the viewer is subjected to endless scenes of exposition: backstory after backstory after backstory. This is followed by brief action and conflict, and then it's back to explaining everything. Even those who have seen the first two movies in the trilogy will have a difficult time following the dozens of story threads that distract from the central (and most interesting) story of a man trying to rescue his brother from the afterlife.
If the action revealed the characters and their motivations, this could easily have been a 90-minute movie instead of two hours and 23 minutes of mostly talking and explaining. The best that can be said is that the surreal settings and monster attacks are often creative and inspired. If only some of that creativity could have been applied to telling a straightforward story.
