Forum - View topicREVIEW: Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos
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TG72
 Posts: 334 |
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Two things sank 'Milos' for me:
1. Horrible dialogue. The Funimation crew gives it the old college try, but sadly they had very little to work with. 2. It throws off the storyline of the series because spoiler[Ed and Al already know about the final ingredient for the Philosopher's Stone. For both versions, there's not enough of a gap for this story to take place.] Hopefully the upcoming Brotherhood OVAs will balance this movie out.. |
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uguu
Posts: 220 |
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This wasn't a movie that was meant to stay on-model at all times. It's blatantly obvious that the action scenes were meant to be loose and show off each animator's style, and it was like this from the get-go. Nothing stood out as out-of-place because there was no single style for the action scenes that they *occasionally* strayed from; the entire movie was very loose. Which I guess means 'poor artistry' for some reason. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18175 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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If the issues I complained about were just limited to the action scenes then I might have give the visuals some more leeway (although I hate that approach as an artistic style). But they aren't. You can see them in the regular artistry, too, in simple, nearly static scenes such as the distorted designs of characters standing in the background when Julia was talking to Al in the cell. |
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jsieczkar
Posts: 139 |
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I saw the movie at WFAC 2011 and it was easily the worst of the films shown at the event. I found the dialog to be bad, the artwork was inconstant, and the plot seemed forced. The movie suffers from trying to create a plot without anything that would retcon part of the show, which never works out right. It really did remind me of the DBZ movies as both were purely money grabs for an established franchise.
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uguu
Posts: 220 |
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"Distorted designs" that tends to happen in a lot of anime, it can be hard to draw characters on model when they're very far away from the camera. There's really brilliantly animated stuff like Gurren Lagann where this also happens. Occasionally they try to fix this by drawing detailed characters, minimizing them and putting them in the background but that looks TERRIBLE. It didn't happen that often in this movie anyway. Generally the art during the normal scenes was fine (unless you're REALLY bothered by the character redesigns) and the sketchy look fit the action scenes. I think the biggest problem might not be the quality of movie itself but the fact that they went for a different art style, kind of like One Piece movie 6. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tcl4Z2meRU#t=1h19m20s the action scenes were full sketchy distorted stuff, and the slower scenes also looked pretty sketchy: 
Both movies had great animation staff, and both are pretty different from what the franchise normally looks like. To be honest I like the One Piece one far better (it's top 10 material for me), but Milos looks pretty good too. And both had super sketchy art for characters that were far away from the camera. I know you hate your style and I'm not trying to change your mind, just offering a different perspective. |
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R315r4z0r
 Posts: 717 |
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Did either of the TV series suffer from poor artistry to this degree? No they didn't. That's why it's a perfectly legitimate complaint about this movie.
If there was nothing to compare it to then it could be brushed off as simply design decision... but that isn't the case. There are two separate TV series with which to draw comparisons to and this movie obviously falls short of what was expected. |
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uguu
Posts: 220 |
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So just because it's an art shift and not an original work it can't be an artistic decision? I totally understand that it's hard to deal with a pretty big change after years of FMA but your point is very strangely worded. |
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Ausdoerrt
 Posts: 481 |
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Because it looks, at least subjectively, worse than the series. If a movie - and movies tend to have higher budgets and less tight schedules than the series - struggles at least to keep the same level of quality, it makes me cringe. And Milos comes off a sloppy many times throughout the movie.
The shots you posted from the One Piece movie don't really change anything. It does look like the typical "let's save some money here" design expected of a cash-in movie x for a never-ending shounen series y. Except, that's not the standard of quality that FMA fans are used to. While FMA may be typed together with the rest of the typical shounen series, its animation design history and circumstances are completely different. So for all purposes, comparing anything FMA to some of the worst-looking series on the market is apples and oranges. |
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UltimaShadowfax
 Posts: 288 |
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I'm puzzled by the comparisons to Dragon Ball movies a bit. The DBZ movies play out like any of the story arcs in the series; in fact some of them just copy elements and characters from the series themselves. But no one is watching those movies for the story. No one really cares if the movie's stories are out of place or they interfere with established canon. Viewers just want to see some good fight scenes, and in that regard, those films deliver.
Fullmetal's original story is a well-crafted plot, and allows for few, if any, sidetracking. While the series did have its arcs, for the most part it is a continuous narrative, a series that is really only one because it is divided into chapters. Any film adaptation is going to be judged primarily by its story and character arcs, and where it fits into the overall story of the Elric brothers' quest. You could make a strong argument that the Sacred Stars of Milos is a better film than any of the Dragon Ball Z movies. You would have a tough time arguing that it is more satisfying and enjoyable than them though. I would be much more comfortable comparing DBZ films to those of Pokemon, Naruto, One Piece, etc. |
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uguu
Posts: 220 |
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Actually that One Piece movie is by Mamoru Hosoda, the guy behind The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Many people with knowledge of drawing and animation will tell you that it's one of the most visually impressive and creative things to come out of the franchise. It has wonderfully striking, atmospheric visuals and a lot of scenes that are just really technically impressive (and also a good plot, but that's not the current topic). Speaking of Mamoru Hosoda... have you ever looked at The Girl Who Leapt Through Time? I mean... actually LOOKED at it properly. It has lots of the same type of sketchy, messy drawings. Just look at these shots: http://i.imgur.com/Br3rq.jpg (the people in the background) http://i.imgur.com/1hMnz.png http://i.imgur.com/Z4rpR.jpg And you know what? That doesn't matter, because it's still an absolutely beautiful movie with some of the most mind-blowing visual acting out there. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18175 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I disagree. I certainly noticed those artistic quirks when I watched TGWLTT and they bothered me just as much there as they did in this FMA movie, enough so that I wouldn't give TGWLTT a high grade for artistry, either. Defend that all you want as being beautiful, but I see it as sloppiness. But then, I don't appreciate Shin-chan's artistry, either, and no one will ever convince me that it's not ugly. |
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Sam Murai
 Posts: 1051 |
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Having just reviewed the title myself, I could find even worse examples than that. I never noticed how so many scenes really looked until I had to go digging for screenshots, some faring better than others. However, with the relaxed, slice-of-life style and feel of the movie, it wasn't terribly distracting or out-of-place most of the time. It really depends with the type of anime and the style in which it is done. The non-key animation scenes in Code Geass R1, for example, can a downright embarrassment to watch due to the harder and less-relaxed look of the series . I've sort of downgraded TGWLTT's level of artistry since then, but I still consider it high enough due to the way the film was done. I can understand the sentiment, but if the film's a particular way and isn't incredibly wreckless with its artwork, I can give it a reprieve. But, if Milos and TGWLTT didn't agree with you artistically, Key, what do think about this upcoming film? 
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18175 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Definitely a different style. Hardly my favorite but a step up from the worst elements in Milos and TGWLTT. |
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gatotsu911
Posts: 457 Location: US of East Coast |
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I went out of my way to see this in a theater last month, and man, what a disappointment. Apart from some admittedly sweet animation (that werewolf transformation scene was pretty whoa), everything else about it is utterly, painfully mediocre in every way conceivable. It's everything you'd fear a crapped-out franchise spinoff film to be. Say what you will about Conqueror of Shamballa, at least that was more than just a transparent money-grab.
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barrelroller
 Posts: 104 Location: Maryland |
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I saw this at the premiere down at Otakon 2011 last year. I was thrilled that they made an FMA Brotherhood movie. After seeing it, it was alright, I thought it was more violent then it should of been. Not that I have a problem with it, but some scenes, I was like "Did that really just happen?"
Seeing at Otakon also made the experience pretty crazy. The line was a crowd. People were screaming and clapping at the weirdest things. And if I remember correctly, the director was in the room watching it with us too. Before the movie he said this was around Episode 26ish, but I could be wrong. It's been six months since then so it's not exactly fresh in my mind. A guy asked the audience after the movie if it was better than the first FMA movie and everyone thought it was. I'll buy it on Blu Ray when it's out... it was different from Brotherhood, but I liked it. 
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