Director Fumihiko Sori is back again with the last installment of “Fullmetal Alchemist” Movie Trilogy. This time with an even more rushed plot and even worse VFX and animation. The movie feels rushed. The writers have scrambled to cover a lot of the plotlines from the manga, but in vain, as they have made a bit of a mess of it. The VFX did not improve; it did feel like it drastically diminished the quality. “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy” served as an ending to the long and winding journey of the Elric Brothers. It provides a good conclusion of everything ending well and being sorted out. However, it simply felt that the authors were forcefully dragging the plots to a rushed ending. So, without any further ado, let’s explore the story of the final installment in “The Final Alchemist” live-action series.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy’ Plotline: What Is The Movie About?
The second movie ended with Gluttony, the homunculus, swallowing Ed, Envy, and Ling Yao. They end up in a mock Truth Portal with no exit. Ling Yao and Ed provoke Envy accidentally, and Envy changes form into a monster to target them. Al and Gluttony sit outside, lost in contemplation of their next move. “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy” begins by discussing the identity of the secretive Van Hohenheim, Father of Al and Ed. It then picks up from the cliffhanger of the previous movie and shows a face-off between Ed, Ling Yao, and Envy. Ed and Ling get tossed around by Envy’s monster form in retaliation; however, the fight stops, and Envy returns back to his original form when Ed finds a way out. Meanwhile, Al accompanies Gluttony to meet his Father to bring back Al, Ling, and Envy. On the other hand, Mustang prepares for a coup d’etat and tries to figure out if any of the generals are against the Homunculi and knows that Bradley is a homunculus.
Ed, Ling, and Envy eventually escape from Gluttony’s portal, and Ling ends up sharing his body with Greed. With the help of the Greed, they reunite with Scar and Mei and find out about the plans of the military and the Promised Day. Ed sets out to enlist the help of General Armstrong, who leads the Briggs army. Scar and Mei wrap their minds around what Scar’s brother had left behind, and they find out it was a flipped Transmutation circle. With the preparations in place, they find out that the military has been preparing for the Promised Day and that Bradley was helping out his Father. The impromptu group launches their attack to take down the military and King Bradley, while Hohenheim helps them take down Father with the help of the 500,000 souls inside the Resurrection Stone he owns. Al sacrifices his soul to Truth and returns back to his body instead of the armor to help Ed end the battle. The movie ends with Hohenheim dying and returning back to his beloved wife and Alphonse getting his body and soul back and returning to his family.
Who Is Father, And What Does He Have To Do With Van Hohenheim?
The “Dwarf in the Flask” is the Father of the Seven Sins. He created these Seven Homunculi after he experienced emotions, although he had none, and not being able to feel any served as his downfall. He experienced these emotions through Van Hohenheim, Ed, and Al’s Father, who he had saved from slavery and offered to help him if he was helped. Van Hohenheim and Father are intricately related, which also makes the homunculi Van’s children as well. Father or The Dwarf in the Flask had escaped and used Van to get to the King obsessed with Immortality. Father was already joined to Van, thus not killing him off. He took over the King and the lives of his citizens to fuel his plans to get the power of God. Van realized his mistake and set out to correct his wrongdoings by formulating a plan to overthrow and nullify his Father’s plan. However, Van could not stop him from attaining the power of God but instead made the souls that were already inside him, due to the takeover, comply with his plan and destroy Father from the inside. This weakened the powers of the Father considerably and allowed Ed to put an end to his tyranny before it began. The connection between Van and the dwarf is just glossed over and not explained in the movie, which considerably weakens the plotline as well.
Did The Homunculi Die? What Happened To The Mustang?
In order to begin the Human Transmutation so that Father can gain power, Mustang is forced to take part in the ritual, which results in Truth taking away his eyes. Mustang then rejoins the group without his eyes, and Riza, his trusted subordinate, helps him fight by being his eyes. With the Father gaining power, Selim, who is actually Pride, kills Gluttony to take his power. Envy kills himself off because he feels insulted that the humans were pitying and letting him go considering the difference in their strengths. Greed got sucked into Father for his powers. However, he assisted Ling Yao in defeating Bradley, who is also Wrath. One by one, all of the homunculi lost their lives, and Father himself was forced to retreat back into his prison. However, Mustang does not regain his eyesight back and Riza offers to become his eyes until they find a way to get his eyesight back from Truth.
‘Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy’ Ending Explained: Did Alphonso Get Back His Body?
At almost the end of the battle between Father and Ed, Father has weakened considerably. However, Ed gets stuck to the wall with no way of fighting or escaping. Alphonse has no way of saving Ed due to his metal body being destroyed in the after-effects. Al, with the help of Mei’s alchemy, sacrifices his soul and returns back to the empty shell of his body, waiting with Truth to save Ed. Ed regains his arm back, just in time to save himself and also to end the battle once and for all. Van offers to sacrifice himself to bring back Al, but Ed refuses and instead sacrifices his beloved Alchemy to bring back Al intact. Truth accepts the sacrifice, calling it worthy, and lets Ed take Al back to their realm. Ed is overjoyed to have his brother back, and the group celebrates their victory. The citizens gain back their lives, and the city returns to its glory. A budding romance begins between Winry and Ed.
Did Van Hohenheim Die? The Ending Of The Films
The movie ends with Al returning to Ed and his friends after Ed’s sacrifice and Van Hohenheim dying peacefully in front of his wife’s grave. Van offers to sacrifice himself to bring back Al and Ed’s missing limbs; however, Ed refuses it. Van helps Ed and his group defeat the monster, Father, who had attained the power of God, and ultimately sends him back through the door in the portal of Truth where he belonged, putting an end to the decades of suffering that he had brought along.
Final Words
The storyline of “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy” fell flat as the director tried to wrap up an entire universe in around an hour and a half. This movie made its predecessor, “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar,” feel like a cinematic masterpiece with the designs, the monsters and the incredibly fake look it achieved. The character sketches of the monsters and the VFX designs were a letdown, and it just reinstated the fact that the live-action adaptations are simply not it. The messed-up timelines, the hasty introduction of characters, and not establishing the backstories of the existing characters properly, led to the trilogy being a huge letdown. Although it was a nice try to bring in an anime adaptation, it did fall flat. If you like live adaptations of anime, then sure, go ahead and try it out. I won’t judge, maybe, no promises.
“Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy” is a 2022 Action Fantasy film directed by Fumihiko Sori.
