The Problem with Fullmetal Alchemist: Conquerors of Shambala

I LOVE the Fullmetal Alchemist series. It is my favorite TV show to ever be released. Many must be thinking how naive I am for worshipping an anime series, but I say this with great pride. I love the messages, characters, plot, humor, effects, and action that is pretty much in every episode of this series. So when I heard of the movie, I naturally went insane. After watching it, I fell into an odd depression. It wasn't that the movie was bad, but the fact that it was melancholy, and offered more questions than answers. So since this movie is going to be released on Blu-Ray, I decided to not do a review, but a critical analysis of problems with this film. While I saw that it did get generally positive reviews and I greatly enjoyed the film, I must offer a critical analysis of it.(Warning, contains spoilers and referances to the film that only those who have actually watched it may understand!)

1. Characters
One of the great things that Fullmetal Alchemist has been known for is the superb characters. Edward and Alphonse Elric are a great team, Ed being the one who acts mature, but is a hothead inside, with Alphonse being the voice of reason in the duo. Even the supporting cast is equally strong with hilarious characters such as Alex Louis Armstrong, to very broken and complicated characters, such as Scar. Unfortunately, the movie tries to do the impossible task of fitting each character into the 1 hour and 50 minute movie, while offering new ones. This present itself as a huge problem, since side characters are given little to no screen time, and new characters really lack the impact that the main characters of the series have had. If the film was longer, restrained itself from offering so many new characters, and focused on the ones that were in the series, than this could have really been a strong aspect of the film.

2. Longevity
I already have mentioned this, but the film is simply too short. 1 hour and 50 minutes, is barely enough time to have all the characters explained in great detail without sacrificing story, causing many events too short, and many characters too lack much substance. The main villain is a prime example, as she has screen time that is under 30 minutes, and gives a reason to her evil doings that is sub par to the reasons of other evil doers "doings" in this series. If the film was by any chance between two hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes, than the problem would have definitely been solved.

3. Ending
(Sigh)...What really caused me to view this film in such a disappointing manner, was the ending. Not everything is tied up, most of the results of the film are left for speculation, too much detail is spent on the Elric brothers, and the most of the main side characters are not even given a hint of explanation over their whereabouts. Here are a list of things that aren't explained:

1. Relationship of Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.
2. What happened to Central after the final battle?
3. The political situation in Central.
4. How does Winry feel?
5. Does Alphonse join the military?
6. The relationship between the Ishbalans and the State Military.
7. Is Dante dead?
8. Why does Edward cause Alphone Hiedrich and Hohemheim Elric's sacrifice to be in vain when coming back to Earth.(Makes sense if you watch the film?
9. What is the ultimate fate of Ed and Al?
10. Etc.(I'm serious, there's more!)

The main problem is that everything is left to speculation, and while it does leave many people with lots of post film discussion, it leaves even more people disappointed with the lack of questions answered.

In conclusion I feel that if the writers focused on trying to offer more answers than questions, than I would love FMA Conqueror of Shambala. Instead, I'm greatly disappointed by the film. While it's still a great film, it angered me when I discovered that they were in fact, shortening the film. Why they did this is completely beyond me, but I am willing to forgive them since it's a solid entry and finale to the FMA series. So if you want to buy the Blu-Ray edition of this film, be my guest. Hoping that the finale to the manga and FMA Brotherhood is better than this, I sign off as I attempt to heal the editors of the swine flu, using human transmutation of course.

Buy Now!

District 9

Neill Blomkamp simply stuns by cleverly blending action, science fiction, and social issues in his first film, District 9.

For years filmmakers have brought forth creations that are concerned with the idea of man making first contact with aliens. Whether it be aliens seeking peace or destruction, Hollywood seems to be clinging to the obsession of humans meeting forms of unearthly life. District 9 is a brilliant science fiction film that implements social issues, creating a scenario that isn’t man vs. alien, but something a little bit more complicated.

In 1982, an alien ship appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. Inside was an alien race that was suffering from malnutrition, so they are taken from their ship, and taken to a government camp called District 9. After about 20 years, much has changed, as the aliens now live in slums, a private military contractor called MNU are now in charge of policing and relocating the aliens, and the people of South Africa want the aliens off their land. MNU has assigned Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) to command the relocation of the “Prawn” (Derogatory name given to the aliens). Unfortunately for Wikus, he gets into contact with an alien substance that causes him to start transforming “prawn”, making him one of the most wanted and valuable fugitive in the world. Friendless and left with no where else to go, Wikus then hides in District 9, where he hopes to stop the transformation before it takes full effect.

The acting of Copley as Wikus is outstanding, as he cleverly portrays an ignorant bumbling, if reasonable, worker. It is evident in the first few scenes, that Wikus dislikes the aliens, but eventually grows to understand their predicament once he discovers the awful crimes that his own organization has committed towards the creatures. Wikus’s character is very interesting, and seems to grow more unique as time passes. If their is one flaw, it would be the script Copley is given. While it is solid, it seems that every second Wikus yells seem to be the F-word, almost as if he loves the verb. While the F-Bomb can be entertaining and bad-ass at times, it does get extremely annoying when used as the second word to come out of the characters mouth. Wikus calls everyone he meets an “F-er” and seems to have no regard for a persons feeling at times. In fact, that may be the reason why everyone wants to kill him.

While in most “first contact” films, the basic theme usually is man VS. alien. District 9 is a film where the protagonist and antagonist is left for speculation. The aliens do commit crimes and kill innocent people , the humans oppress the prawns, even going to the extent of eating them in hope of retaining the “power” of the extra terrestrials.

The clever use of the camera is evident in the first few scenes of the cinematic experience. Mixing documentary style footage, with security tapes, and standard third person footage, the film does a great job of making this seem like an actual event. It also adds some little touches, such as blood splashing on the camera, that give this film a very brutal, and real feel.

The action scenes also stand out, as they contain fast paced shooting, extremely cool and creative weapons, remarkable special effects, and the coolest deaths I have ever seen. Whether it be people simply blowing up, in a bloody if oddly clean way, to their arms and heads being blown up one by one in the same manner, the death scenes are gruesome, shocking, and very fun. The weapons range from your simple AK-47’s, to mecha soldiers that seem to be inspired from the gundams, leading to many battles that make Michael Bay’s work seem very uneventful.

Niell Blomkamp has done an outstanding job, as it surprises me how a filmmaker with such a small track record could create such an outstanding film. If you are looking for a film that is fun, brilliant, and provokes much post-movie discussion, than District is one that must be watched.

The Time Traveler’s Wife

The Time Traveler’s Wife is a qualified, if sloppily written, romance between time traveler and wife.
Having never read the novel of the same name, I looked upon The Time Traveler’s Wife and foresaw misery and shame. The movie seemed like a typical romance mixed with science fiction, a combination that would generally ensure instant doom. Surprisingly, the film cleverly blends these two genres, creating a decent, if flawed film.

The story follows the story of Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana), a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to randomly shift through time as he attempts to maintain a relationship with Clare Abshire (Rachael McAdams), a woman who must deal with the surprising departures of her husband during their marriage. The plot fails to explain why Henry has this disease, instead focusing too much on the relationship between the odd couple. The bond is interesting, but it isn’t as absorbing as the infrequent time traveling scenarios are.

The acting of Bana is solid, but the character of Henry lacks any interesting qualities, besides the fact that he can travel through time. McAdams also gives a fair performance, but the character of Clare is an insufferable airhead. This is made clear during a conversation between Henry and Clare, when she suggests that there will be a cure for time traveling in the near future, showing just how silly the writing for this film can get.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is ultimately saved by its brilliant, if seldom, time traveling bits. Sure the movie can get a bit absurd, due to illogical storytelling, but it succeeds at making each of these unique scenes brilliant. Whether it’s the main character visiting the past version of his wife, or the future version of his daughter, the movie displays moments that ultimately save it from being a wretched film. A memorable scene definitely has to be when he meets his deceased mother in a subway. Rather than go crazy and try to explain to his mother what happened to him, Henry decides to casually get information from her, giving her cleverly concealed hints that he is her son. The reason for these scenes being so witty is the way the writers applied these scenarios, as all of these scenes are meaningful and never used as filler.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is what a science fiction romance should be: intelligent, funny and touching. While the film fails at offering explanations to Henry’s cosmic condition, forgiveness can be given when you see some really touching moments, such as someone meeting his future daughter. The Time Traveler’s Wife is primarily a romance, for it merely sprinkles science fiction on your basic love story. It makes good use of the elements it has, and creates an ultimately enjoyable, if messy, cinematic experience.

Random Movie of the Week: Stranger than Fiction

Since the start of the school year is coming up, I decided to watch a film that was thoughtful, leaving me with Will Ferrell's greatest movie, Stranger than Fiction. I know this is a pretty bold statement, as for Elf fans are probably going to want to burn me at stake, but after seeing truly dumb flicks such as Semi-Pro and Stepbrothers, I firmly acknowledge this film to be Ferrell’s greatest. While it isn’t his funniest, it is Ferrell’s most intelligent and thought provoking film out their. (Sorry Elf fans, it’s just that Elf wasn’t thought provoking at all.)
Released in 2006, Stranger than Fiction follows the story of Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), an IRS auditor who hates his job, deals with everyone hating him (because he is an IRS Auditor) and lives a VERY routine lifestyle. All of this changes when during a seemingly normal day, Harold hears a voice! A voice that not only appears out of nowhere, but seems to accurately narrate his everyday life. At first he thinks he’s crazy, but then he starts to believe that maybe he is part of a story. Unfortunately, the voice says that the end of the story will be his imminent death. This causes him to freak out and eventually seek help from Professor Jules Hilbert(Dustin Hoffman) who’s knowledge of literature is put to use to stop Harold’s death and figure out what type of story he is in. Meanwhile, writer Karen Eifel (Emma Thompson) is trying to figure out how to kill off Harold Crick, hero in her new book, Death and Taxes.
The performance Dustin Hoffman is solid, but Will Ferrell does a surprisingly good job as the guy who knows of his imminent death and decides to finally live the life he always dreamed. It does make you wonder why he has been wasting his time with Semi-Pro and Stepbrothers. Dustin Hoffman’s character is unremarkable, except for the fact that he is great with literature. Regardless, Dustin Hoffman does a good job with the unremarkable character he has been given. The performance that really surprised the heck out me, has definitely got to be Emma Thompson as the writer/narrator of Harold’s life. She makes killing off character seem like a chore, as for her character firmly believes that a death of a certain character must have meaning and beauty.Emma Thompson is so good at this performance, as for she captures the insanity the struggling writer goes through to conquer writer’s block and finally kill off Harold Crick.
What makes Stranger than Fiction so interesting, is that Marc Forster seems to make the film go at a slow pace, but explains everything in such good detail. Examples of this include when the narrator explains: the amount of brush strokes that Harold does while brushing his teeth, the emotional situations he goes through during life, even what it sounds like when filing papers. It’s almost like the world of Stranger than Fiction is just brimming with crucial detail, making this film feel like an actual novel.
Stranger Than Fiction is also very thought provoking, as for it just makes you want to think what you would do in Harold’s situation. It also provokes thought in the different types of literature, and questions the killing of the protagonist in literature. Whether you are interested in literature or not, Stranger than Fiction is the intelligent Will Ferrell film that I have been searching for. Call me crazy, but I actually like Will Ferrell when he is not an idiot, and actually an intelligent man with values. Thank you for proving that you are more than that hick from Talladega Nights Ferrell!

Ponyo

Hayao Miyazaki is back with his new film, Ponyo, a film about a fish that turns into a girl. The premise may sound stupid, but Miyazaki uses his "magical" writers, animators, and mind to make this an experience that is cute and unique. Unfortunately, Miyazaki is not perfect, as for the flawed storytelling make this an adventure that is so hard to understand, that kids will have a hard time comprehending what lays before them on the big screen.
Ponyo is not a bad movie by any means, but it is an ultimately flawed if unqiue experience. Ponyo is the story of a fish named Brunnhilde, who after leaving (or escaping) from her father, meets and falls in love with a boy name Sosuke. Sosuke, vowing to protect the fish from harm, renames the fish Ponyo, and develops a special bond between man and fish.

I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully. –George W. Bush

While this may sound like the wierdest part of the movie, then you are wrong as for Hayao Miyazaki’s art style, story and concepts are known for being extremely strange. While they may hold deep meanings, the meanings are usually accessible to children and adults alike. Ponyo is an exception, as for the plot is extremely hard to follow, the message makes no sense, in fact, here is a list of possible candidates.

• Fish can make good lovers.
• Don’t disturb the natural balance of nature.
• Don’t Pollute the Ocean.
• Ham
• The Ocean is Evil
• The Ocean is Magic

Keep in mind that these are some of the possible candidates, as for the film is a code that must be decoded in order to fully enjoy and understand. In fact, the reason I chose these is because the film seems to only mention these things, and not go into thorough detail about them (Except for Ham, as for they go into a ridiculous amount of detail about Ham). I just don’t know what direction Miyazaki is trying to take the film, as for better storytelling and characters that were much more realistic could have gone a long to making this a masterpiece.
The artistic style is absolutely beautiful, which is expected of Hayao Miyazaki, an artist of great skill and experience. While the style does contribute to the oddness of the film, it does distinguish it from other animated feature length films. Each character is given a distinct feature that just makes Miyazaki’s world come to life on the screen.
Ponyo is a film that must be studied before enjoyed. That would be the only flaw that stops it from ever rising above Up, Coraline, or even Bolt. That is not to say that Ponyo is a bad film. It’s a film that if you do manage to understand, will be unforgettable as most of Miyazaki’s work is.