By Mark Rodriguez
Back in 2012 when this movie was released in the states, Johnny and I were lucky enough to check out a screening at a small theater in the Vegas Arts District. Here are my thoughts.
The Sacred Star of Milos has Edward and Alphonse, the Elric
brothers, chase down an escaped fugitive with strange alchemy powers. Said
chase leads them to a girl named Julia, that in turn, leads them to the slums of
Milos Valley. Caught between a war of two nations, the natives are willing to
do anything to gain their independence, even if it means seeking out the Star
of Milos… which gives the Great Power to whoever possesses it. Of course, you
don’t want the wrong hands to get it, and there are plenty of those in this
story.
The story is very well-written and thought out. It takes a
lot of twists and turns and it takes a while to figure exactly who is who and
what’s going on… which draws the viewers in as they feel just as confused and
curious as Ed and Al do. For fans of the show, aside from the Elric brothers,
we get to see Mustang, Hawkeye and Winry. Armstrong is along for the ride, but
he’s more of less a cameo in this one. It might upset some, but this allows the
new characters to shine, giving us time to care about them and the culture of
their land, rather than stick in a whole lot of FMA cameos without purpose.
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| The new character, Julia Crichton |
The Elric brothers are great in the movie, working just as
well as a team as when they’re apart. Julia even compares the relationship with
her brother, with that of theirs. You also get a basic idea of how the Elrics
relate to Mustang and Winry, without feeling forced or tacked on for the sake
of newcomers. The movie does an
excellent job of bringing up their backstory (and the basic premise of the
series itself), in which as kids, Ed and Al use alchemy to try to bring their
dead mother back, but ended up losing parts of their bodies (in Al’s case, he
lost his entire body and had his soul infused to a suit of armor), and are now
on the quest for the Philosopher stone to restore their bodies. I felt the
movie did well with the series flashbacks, again, without feeling forced and
feeling natural, and doing so makes this movie excellent for everyone to jump
in, even if you’re not a fan of the series or just now heard about it. I dare
say, you can even watch this movie without seeing the series, and if it has you
curious enough afterwards… then dig right into the anime and/or manga. It might make a fan out of you.
I was surprised to find out at the screening, that some of
my friends liked the original FMA series more than Brotherhood. For those that
don’t know, when the first anime series was made, the manga it was based on
wasn’t finished yet, so after a while the series went on its own tangent and
gave it a different ending. With the manga complete, a second anime named FMA
Brotherhood was made, completely re-drawn and following the story closer to the
manga, even adding newer characters that the manga added after the anime was
finished. This movie, however, should appeal to both fanbases since it doesn’t
really have anything major to set it apart from both series. The only minor
detail is that Al can use alchemy without drawing a circle, similar to Ed,
which is something he only learned to do in the FMA Brotherhood series and
manga. Other than that, Brotherhood-naysayers
should still be able to love this movie and enjoy the thrill ride it gives you.
I suppose my only complaint would be the lack of detail on
Ed’s hair. It just looks so sloppily drawn and awfully rushed at times. And I
don’t mean just when he’s off in the distance, I mean when the character is
close up and right in your face too. I guess I got used to the shimmering-gold
effect used on his hair in Brotherhood, but one would expect the movie to look
better than the anime series. Everything else makes up for it however since the
movie is filled with amazing backgrounds and awesome animation, especially
during the fast-paced fight scenes. The final battle really goes insane as you
feel that everything is happening at once and tons of lives lay in the balance
and it’s just intense.
So Sacred Star of Milos is an awesome movie, full of action,
adventure, mystery, comedy, quite a bit of blood and violence, intense action,
and the eternal question of what is truly right and wrong that is sprinkled
throughout the series itself. If you’re a big fan of FMA or even if you’re not
a fan and are curious to see a good anime movie without having to go back and
find the series it’s based on…. Check it out!!!
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