Fullmetal Alchemist – The Live Action Movie?!
A live action adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist has been slated for winter 2017 in Japan.
And its giving me conniptions. So before I sound too negative I will say that the Fullmetal Alchemist series is amazing. The manga, animated series’, and movies (thus far) are all excellent pieces of work! Fullmetal Alchemist has been one of the most widely known and favored anime worldwide, it has qualities that pretty much any audience can enjoy – new or veteran anime enthusiasts. That being said…
I really hope a live adaptation wont be a blemish on FMA’s record
Live action movies of anime series’ haven’t had the best reception in the past. News broke roughly on the 24th of May in Japan that Warner Bros. would be creating a live movie of FMA (Director interview and casting pics here: Japanese entertainment site Natalie ) and they very explicitly note that it will feature an all Asian cast. Personally, casting doesn’t offend me at all, and the American mentality of A-list & B-list stars being the only acceptable actors for movies is overrated, foreign countries produce excellent movies by casting appropriately rather than name dropping. Some may suggest that because the setting of FMA was a fictional European inspired continent that the actors should be European, but artistic liberties must be taken in order to practically produce this movie in Japan. After all, it began as a manga
What really has me worried is the execution. Live action and anime simply don’t mix well. A major quality of anime and manga is that they deliver entertainment and values via drawn action and text. The artists can show and tell the audience using artistic themes and subtle dialogue expressed on screen or paper. Live action can do the same thing, just in different ways. You could almost think of it as translating a book from one language to another; you’ll miss some of the idiosyncrasies of the content in the process.
How much will the movie cover? How will the fantasy related action scenes and alchemy use be done, with heavy CGI? I foresee several hurdles that must be cleared for a FMA live action movie to actually be made, let alone made well. If the movie is heavily reliant on CGI in a way that breaks immersion for the audience, it’ll come out looking awkward (here’s to you, Dragon Ball Evolution) which is one of my biggest fears. The Japanese interview does indicate that there’s been casting for Colonel Roy Mustang, and some of the homunculus characters, but not all will be revealed yet. The director even goes as far to say that he wants to cover as much as he can in this movie, which could be dangerous considering just how much happens in FMA. An overworked team cramming over a hundred chapters of material into a 2 hour movie? No thank you.
If the producers are careful and cover just enough of the story to stay true to the series’ appeal, i’ll be pleased. Until more information or a trailer comes from Japan, i’ll be dreading yet another series that could fall victim to the curse of awful live action anime.
