(Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: Kanketsu-hen: Fukushusha Scar)
Japan. 2022.
Crew
Director – Fumihiko Sori, Screenplay – Takeshi Miyamoto & Fumihiko Sori, Based on the Manga Fullmetal Alchemist Created by Hiromu Arakawa, Producer – Yumiko Yoshihara, Photography – Keiji Hashimoto, Music – Reiji Kitasato, Yasuhiro Maeda & Tetsuya Takahashi, Visual Effects Supervisor – Hideto Uehara, Production Design – Takeshi Shimizu. Production Company – Square Enix.
Cast
Ryosuke Yamada (Edward Elric), Tsubasa Honda (Winry Rockbell), Mackenyu Arata (Scar), Keisuke Watanabe (Prince Ling Yao), Dean Fujioka (Colonel Roy Mustang), Hiroshi Tachi (President Fuhrer King Bradley), Kanata Hongo (Envy), Yuina Kuroshima (Lan Fan), Monroe Ron (May Chang), Shinji Uchiyama (Gluttony), Misako Renbutsu (Riza Hawkeye), Senyo Uchino (Van Hoenheim), Fuji Yamamoto (Major Alex Louis Armstrong), Naohito Fujiki (Yuny Rockbell), Kaoru Okunuki (Sarah Rockbell), Kokoro Terada (Selim Bradley)
Plot
While travelling on a train, brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric come up against a group of warriors from Xing led by Prince Ling Yao who have come to Amestris seeking the secrets of immortality. They fight during which the Xingians try to blow up a train before Edward uses his powers to prevent disaster. Edward and Alphonse are then assigned to find Scar who has been progressively eliminating all State Alchemists using an unknown form of alchemy. The brothers soon come up against Scar, during which Edward’s automail arm is ripped off and Alphonse badly damaged. They learn that Scar is a warrior monk from Ishvalan, a country that was massacred in a war with Amestris, and that Scar has sworn vengeance against the State Alchemists who were responsible. Also in the midst are two homunculi who the brothers realise are attempting to infiltrate the Amestris military. The brothers form a tentative alliance with Prince Yao in order to fight these menaces.
Fullmetal Alchemist is an enormously popular manga franchise, created by female artist Hiromu Arakawa. It appeared in Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine in 108 episodes between 2001 and 2010, later collected in 27 tankobon volumes. The saga concerns brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who engage in a forbidden experiment to use the philosopher’s stone, which goes badly wrong with Edward losing his arm and leg and having to have it replaced by automail and Alphonse’s soul becoming trapped in a suit of armour. The two become State Alchemists where they engage in an epic battle against the homunculi (primarily) and other foes. There were several light novel spinoffs and videogames.
The manga was adapted onto screens with an anime tv series Fullmetal Alchemist (2003-4), which lasted for 52 episodes, a follow-up series Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009-10) and two animated films Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa (2005) and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (2011). There was then the live-action film adaptation Fullmetal Alchemist (2017) from director Fumihiko Sori. This was followed by two sequels released to Netflix, beginning with The Revenge of Scar here and followed by Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Transmutation (2022).
I didn’t much care for the first live-action Fullmetal Alchemist but enjoyed both The Revenge of Scar and Final Transmutation considerably more. Director Fumihko Sori returns along with most of the cast from the first film. The sequels draw on the comic-book story saga and there is the feeling that they are works much more at home and ease within the world of the manga this time around. I didn’t like the casting of Ryosuke Yamada as Edward the first time but this time he has settled more into the role, although still comes across as pouty.
(l to r) Brothers Edward (Ryosuke Yamada) and Alphonse Elric
Fumihko Sori creates a great set-piece during the opening sequence with the two brothers encountering the Xingians and the homunculi aboard a train, which ends with train carriages being blown up and Edward trying to prevent the train crashing into the station by warping the rail up into the air, resulting in the bizarre image of the train stopped on the rail curved halfway up in the air and smashed through the glass ceiling. (Although one suspects that in real world physics the track would not be able to support the weight of the train and carriages on it jutting up into the air like that).
The Revenge of Scar is slower paced than a Western film with a runtime longer than two hours. Fumihko Sori is sparing when it comes to the action, fight and magic scenes and the film is instead driven by its story and characters. Introduced this time are quite a number of other characters from the manga and anime, which leads to a complex plot in following the various factions running around and their assorted allegiances that shift throughout. Once the film starts to develop the backstories of the characters, especially Scar and his connection to Winry’s parents, it gains considerable depth and strength.
Eventually The Revenge of Scar emerges as a work with quite a strong anti-war message. Surprisingly it is one that sees the conflict from multiple points-of-view and shows the cost of what such is in terms of human lives and the effects this has. All of which makes the film a far more fascinating and in-depth work than one that is merely about magic.
Director Fumihiko Sori had previously made the SF anime Vexille (2007), the live-action Ichi (2008) about a blind swordswoman, the SF anime Orbital (2009), the live-action fantasy film Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker (2012), and Hakkenden (2024).
