Review of Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa (2005) by Wayne L — 26 Aug 2007

This movie is good and continues the cliffhanger type ending from the series well. The fact that it uses history to the advantage of the plot (and more accurately than some straight Hollywood movies as well)with what I assume was the 'Beer Hall Putsch' adds even more resonance.

This is intelligent and enjoyable at the same time although admittingly I did feel it dragged during the middle part of the movie at times and partly because of the history aspect. I'd also like to know how Envy turned into a permanent dragon state.

I loved the fact that Al was on the way to becoming the Soul Alchemist as well, completely different to his brother and pinning down exactly his role in the original series as the soul and conscience of the show.

Other series regular characters don't get much of a look in beyond Ed and Al (except maybe for parallel Fuhrer Bradley) yet if your a fan of the series it's nice to see cameos from a lot of characters even if they are the parallel earth doubles most of the time.

Overall not as good as the series and more akin to quality (although not particularly tone) of the last set of 10 episodes (which I felt weren't as good as what had come before) it's still essential viewing for any FMA fan.