Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my favourite manga series of all time, written and drawn by the brilliant Arakawa Hiromu and published monthly in Shonen Gan Gan. So, I was expecting the movie to make up for the lacklustre, morbid anime series. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met.

[spoiler]The movie picks up where the anime left off, with Edward trapped in post-World War II Germany. He's found an alternate version of his younger brother, Alphonse, and is staying with him in his flat. Around this city are several other look-alikes, including alternate versions of Fuhrer King Bradley, Maes Hughes, and Hughes's wife Gracia.

So far as I could tell, Alternate King Bradley is searching for a dragon so he can help his crazy Riza Hawkeye-looking employer open the gate to Edward's world, and that's about where the plot seemed to disappear. From there onwards, the movie seems to get itself muddled in complicated dialogue and poetical, nonsensical statements, as well as the depressingly large number of plot holes. The ending in particular annoyed me; Edward Elric's choice to return to Germany, abandoning his girl Winry seems so completely out of character and a pointless gesture of idiocy to boot. As well as the bit about Al somehow appearing on the other side - the half of the ship he was standing on fell to the bloody earth! There was no WAY he could have jumped that gap, not without Edward noticing. Important secondary characters such as Riza Hawkeye and even other main characters such as Roy Mustang are pushed into the background, treated more as props to try to support the sagging plot line of the movie.[/spoiler]

On the plus side, the fight scene between Gluttony and Wrath is rather enjoyable, if gory, as well as Armstrong's shenanigans in Lior. Even if the plot is hackneyed and mildly confusing, at least the meaning in the movie is fairly obvious; humans fear what they cannot control. The lady who opened the gate feared Edward's alchemical world because she didn't understand it. Also, the animation is very well done, as well as the voice acting (in the Japanese version, anyways), and the music (composed by Michiru Oshima) is undeniably beautiful.

Overall, it's worth tracking down a copy of Shamballa if you enjoyed either the anime or the manga, just to say you've seen it. I wouldn't buy it, but I'd at least borrow a copy from a friend.