Just saw the live action movie at Anime NYC, and got to speak to the director too. I’m going to post a more detailed, spoilery post later when i get off the train.
Overall though, i personally thought it did a very good job at keeping the heart of the series accurate(paricularly Ed, Al, and Winry’s relationships), and telling a well paced, two hour FMA story. It adapts quite a bit, so i specifically told the director he did a great job with the pacing.
They aired a message from the actor for Ed and the mangaka herself(who -being very shy- had her trademark cow over her face) speaking about the movie. Ironically, she spoiled in the message where in the manga the movies climax would end.
Afterward, he answered questions from the moderator about the film, his relationship with the mangaka, and possible sequels. I recorded the audio for 80% of it, so i will transcribe what i have later. Though they were strict on cameras during the film, i would not be surprised if video of that is uploaded from somebody else soon.
And there is a post credit scene.
! The movie adapts bits and pieces of primarily the few chapters, covering Liorre, the worst dad/dog owner of the year, while then heading into the Marcoh stuff and source of the Philosopher's Stone and taking bits from all over the manga. The movie begins showing us Ed and Al as very young children enjoying time with their mother. In a quick montage it shows the strong bond they all share, her passing, and Ed and Al beginning to learn about Alchemy. The attempted revival of their mother happens within the first 5 minutes of the movie. They dramatize the result of their transmutation a bit, with electricity zapping out of the circle effecting the surrounding room, and the sheer force of their failed efforts causing the house to begin to rip apart. Al(and the floor he stands on) is ripped and sucked away.
! We then cut to Liorre, with Ed chasing the church's Father, who appears to be using a Philosopher's Stone to perform alchemy. Ed battles him in a pretty awesome fight scene, with the Father creating a bunch of wolf/dragon like things from the ground below them. As one bites his arm, and another his leg, we get the awesome reveal of his Automail. The battle continues with Al jumping in to have him, and revealing that his suit is hollow. The fight ends with Mustang and Hawkeye showing up to stop the reported problem: a short Alchemist causing destruction throughout the town. The Father escapes without his stone, which crumbles in Mustang's hand. He explains that while it seems to be some sort of Alchemic amplifier, the fact that it broke proves it isn't a Philosopher's Stone. The Father escapes, only to be killed by Lust, with Gluttony getting to eat him while Envy impersonates him.
! This whole opening is maybe 15 or 20 minutes, and does a fantastic job of setting everything up that is essential to the story. It skims down the whole first adventure in Liorre to the confrontation, while getting to show off Ed's fighting style, the effects for the Alchemy, and Alphonse. While there are absolutely some moments where the CG can be noticeable with the alchemy, overall it works very well. It seems like they really tried to maintain the idea that this is the exact same amount of matter that was on the ground, it wasn't created but rather built from the surrounding material.
! Now, I watched this in a room full of FMA fans sitting with the director of the movie himself. We all knew what was coming. We all knew where this was going. This man knew exactly how to make this tug at the heartstrings in the best, painful way possible. I don't know if they could have possibly found a more adorable little girl to play Nina. Her yelling about how happy she was to play with Alphonse and Winry, while the dog Alexander runs around them garnered all sorts of reactions, from "aww's" of the cute kind, to "nooooo" for the expectations of what is to come.
! Shou believes he can hypnotize Al(who can't sleep) to find out more about his situation, so while Al will be put under, Ed and Winry go to track down the whereabouts of Dr Marchoh, a man with possible knowledge on the PS. Winry spots him at a different stop while on their train, and they pursue him. They learn he's been going under an alias and is working in town as a doctor for the hospital. When they break into his house, he tries to shoot Ed, only for him to transmute the rifle and it to backfire on Marcoh rather comically. He begins to explain his work vaguely, while mentioning that he believed Ed belonged to another group that he did not wish to return to. Before he can elaborate, he is attacked by Lust. She subdues Ed and Winry before leaving a fatal blow on the doctor. Lust escapes, while Marchoh uses his last words to mention "Laboratory #5". While this happens, Tucker explains to Al that he's never seen someone fuse a soul to Armor, and that it's possible Al has false memories implanted.
! Ed returns to discover that Shou has created a Chimera for the second time in his life, it speaks and everything. This goes exactly how you'd expect and want. They nailed this scene so well. Ed makes the connection after Nina says "Do you want to play?" flashing back to her as a human saying it to Ed. He beats the shit out of Shou(with the whole crowd cheering) as Shou says they're not that different because it's in the name of progress. Al wakes up to stop Ed before he kills Shou.
! Mustang and Riza arrive to arrest him, with Mustang telling the Elric's to get up and move on, as they're military "devils". Ed responds that they're not devils, or gods. They're human.
! Hughes and Lt. Ross help Ed after he begins to spend all of time doing research on Lab 5. The General arrives while they're doing the research and tells him the location of the lab. He also mentions that a riot has commenced in Liorre, with many casualties.
! Throughout this, we get some dream/flashbacks to the night they tried to bring their mom back. In a clever way, they have it play as a dream memory to use the older Edward's actor instead of the child actor they have in the start of the film. It plays out almost identical to manga, with Ed meeting the Truth/God/douche and losing his leg in return for what he saw. He returns to offer his arm for Al's soul. Strangely, they didn't touch on his blood seal at all. Never showed Ed making it or explained how the armor worked.
! Ed, Winry and Al go to the Lab, which is a closed canning company's building. The building is empty, which causes Ed to breakdown in frustration. In a very emotional scene, Al vents about his situation, and believes what Shou said about Ed giving him false memories. He even questions if Ed is his real brother, and if he ever has a body. This leads to a very awesome fight scene between the two brothers, both going full out in a non-alchemic fight. Ed is only punching Al with his real arm, causing him to bleed through his destroyed glove. Even though Al tells him to stop, Ed continues even harder, making his hand worse. Winry ends it by calling Alphonse out, screaming and crying about how all Ed talks about is saving Al's body and asks why he would bother with a lie like that given how much it clearly effects Ed. The two reconcile.
! In the message I mentioned earlier, Ed's actor explained that this scene was one of the more time consuming because he was fighting a CG creation. They really made this feel real, with Ed's bloodied hand against Al's metal suit really selling the fight. The choreography in the fight was amazing and felt straight out of Brotherhood.
! Meanwhile, Hughes -while looking at a map of Amestris- realizes that the other 4 labs were located in places of great conflict and bloodshed, and that they seem to be equidistant in some way. After using a compass to find the radius from these labs, he discovers where the real Lab #5 should be. He realizes that it's a big conspiracy, and is attacked by Lust. She injures him, however he is able to throw a knife in her head, allowing him to escape. He limps to a pay phone and tries to contact Mustang, only to see Mustang behind him. Mustang shoots and Hughes dies.
! Just like Nina, they handled this amazingly. Hughes' actor portrayed everything you could want for a live action adaptation. While his relationship with Mustang isn't pushed much early in the film(as opposed to his relationship with Ed which is very strong), but for the character himself, the actor had this thing down perfect.
! Ed and Riza are detained for being associates of Mustang, now wanted for Hughes' murder. The two escape, and Riza leads Ed to Mustang.
! Mustang has found Lab#5, which is surrounded by the military. It's an abandoned POW camp, so the military presence confirms Roy's suspicion. He enters from underground, only to find the military and Lt. Ross waiting for him, all their guns drawn to him. She warns Roy not to snap his fingers, but before this Ed and Riza arrive. Roy begins to burn Lt. Ross, who starts regenerating. He explains that the real Ross has a mole on her cheek. Envy reveals himself, and is revealed to have been the one to shoot Hughes(transforming from Hughes' wife, to Roy).
! Lust impales Roy, with her and Envy escaping. Gluttony is sent to devour the soldiers present. Ed comes across a transmutation circle in the lab, with Shou Tucker present, Alphonse as his prisoner, and Winry as well. He points his gun at Winry demanding Ed remove his Automail arm or else he would shoot her. Ed complies and Shou and removes his arm. Behind Tucker is giant containers, full of Philosopher stones. Above them, are an army of Homunculi.
! This is one of the biggest changes, and likely going to be one of the more polarizing parts of the film. The army of puppet-like Homunculi from the manga's conclusion are brought in here. The general is revealed to be working with the Homunculi to create this army, and he activates the machinery, injecting the stones into them and bringing them to life. They predictably turn on him, and promptly destroy their "papa". This scene has the worst CGI of the film, with the army of homunculi being pretty badly generated.
! They don't last for long. Winry takes protection inside Al, while Ed fights them off. Roy pursues Lust and Envy while Riza and her army surround the building and begin using headshots to take down the zombie-like army.
! Roy realizes that while the Homunculi have the PS as hearts, and claim to be immortal, they actually are not. He notices that Envy began to heal slowly, and he torches him as he clings to a fence, not healing this time. Lust continues to fight the already injured Roy, with Ed assisting as well. Roy finishes Lust off similarly, with him ripping the stone out of her chest to finish her.
! Roy presents the stone to Ed, however Al objects to using the Stone after learning of the sacrifices of human life needed to transmute the stone. Ed performs Alchemy with the stone and is brought to the Truth once again. While asks what he brought this time to exchange, Ed says that he's not getting Al back today, but that he will find a way. He looks and sees Al's body in the white void, against his gate. Frail, thin, with long blonde hair. Ed yells to his brother's soulless body that he will get him back, before returning without making an exchange.
! Ed tells Roy to raise through the ranks and reveal this corruption for Hughes, with Roy confirming that this was his intention already. Ed and Al vow to find an answer to their problem without the sacrifices of the PS.
! The post credit scene is the burned husk of Envy, with the small version we know from the manga popping out and running along.
! The best parts about the film come from the characters. Nearly the entire cast blew me away with how faithful they played their roles, with Ed, Winry, and Hughes standing out. As I stated, they took multiples aspects of the manga's entire story, despite only adapting a small portion of the overall story. The director stated after the film that while this was a standalone film as far as he wrote it, he'd love to continue this franchise and introduce the character he left out to maintain the pacing.
! I'm sure people will be upset with some of those characters being left out. Namely Armstrong, much of Roy's crew, and the biggest one: Scar.
! The Director filmed our reactions after asking what we thought about the movie. I meant what I said, which was "I thought it did a fantastic job of getting the characters, their relationships, and the themes of the story all portrayed accurately and paced extremely well in a roughly two hour timespan."
! The comedy in the film was great as well. They didn't overuse the "short Ed" jokes, but had just enough. Including the very sad/funny scene of Al asking if his body is taller than Ed's at the end of the film, with Ed confirming.
! I do have a few complaints. The Homunculi army was completely unnecessary to the plot, and took me out of it a bit. They don't pose a huge threat for more than a few minutes, before serving as fodder for Riza to take down. The CGI was pretty bad on them, and it just felt like a big waste of money from the budget that could have been spent on other parts of the film.
! Roy is also a bit of a stick in the mud. More so than usual. His relationship with Hughes isn't expanded on so much, aside from maybe two or three scenes together. But without Scar or Armstrong, he really exists just to be a cold, but calculating Alchemist.
! Oh, and unfortunately, Ed never transmutes his Automail to create a blade. So that was kind of annoying.
