Conqueror of Shamballa is one-part Indiana Jones fanfiction, one-part rushed FMA epilogue, and other-part full-on disappointment. FMA 03 is an anime I finished a couple of days before this review that's actually quite underrated and should be watched before Brotherhood. I can recommend this as someone who is a residential Fullmetal Alchemist manga enjoyer and of course watched Brotherhood.
The movie has stellar animation that is very fluid and polished. I'd assess this to be the best production Fullmetal Alchemist ever had not just cause it's a movie but they also nailed the hell out of the art direction. It has the signature grit of the 03 anime but with a nice refinement, filter, and immersive 16:9 aspect ratio. Both Amestris (whenever we get to see it) and 1920s Germany are jaw droppingly gorgeous to look at. Conqueror of Shamballa also nailed the fights. They are choreographed extremely well and easy to follow. They mix up different types of action too between close quarters, gun fights, and alchemy battles. There are also some great moments between Edward and Alphonse.
Unfortunately I don't have many more praises. The list ran short this time around. The movie is plagued with shitty villains like Dietlinde, massive plot holes, rushed character arcs and overall rushed pacing. I felt like it was 2 movies put together into one and that's not too far off the actual production history. Mizushima and company were disappointed that Bones did not give them the resources needed to fully realize their vision. I recommend reading further into the scenario book as it details what I think the movies should have been.
Yeah that's right movies. I would've loved a Lord of the Rings-style trilogy to end this series. It's especially horrific when characters will either be killed off without much of an explanation or start in one mindset, the next scene be a completely different character without any build up on-screen. God it's frustrating. The extra screentime would've remedied this problem. My biggest critique is the Romani character Noa. This is cause they do nothing with her apart from introduce clairvyoance. A mechanic that should not exist in the real world but A. it does B. it's limitations are not explained or easy to intuit and C. is just a magnet for good ole fashion 1920s racism to happen.
And the thematic work is so weak here. The themes of war, racism, revenge, etc. are just as deep as a puddle whereas in any other version of Fullmetal Alchemist, especially the manga and 03 if we're talking about war, they are given way more depth and felt impactful. That's part of the issue with bland character writing. If you write abilities before characters there will be a brick wall when those abilities, I mean characters, need a personality.
I will give one more praise before I wrap this review up. I think the English dub is actually really good. The voice actors gave more of a damn than any corpo executive up in Bones. This really was Funimation at their best. Overall, it's just a mixed bag for me. It does some things well, some things not so well, and then some things are filled with rough draft OverSimplified videos. It could've been so much more but was never was. At least that's what she said.
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