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Parents' Guide to

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Overly complex threequel has strong fantasy violence.

Movie NR 2022 143 minutes
Fullmetal Alchemy: The Final Alchemist Movie Poster

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy Movie: Scene 1
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy Movie: Scene 2
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy Movie: Scene 3

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What's the Story?

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE FINAL ALCHEMY picks up where the previous movie, The Revenge of Scar, left off, with Edward (Ryosuke Yamada), Envy, and Ling trying to find a way out of Gluttony's stomach. Meanwhile, Mustang is trying to start a rebellion against the officers of the empire, who aren't actually human but are homunculi plotting against humanity. After breaking out of Gluttony's stomach, Edward must continue his quest to rescue his brother Alphonse from the afterlife; this takes him on an epic journey that intertwines with the battles the others are fighting. One by one, Edward and the other alchemist warriors must dispatch the demons who represent the seven deadly sins, rid the world of homunculi, and restore peace to the kingdom.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

So much telling, so little showing. Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy is a truly maddening experience in that it pulls off the miracle of being a blockbuster action movie that mostly lacks action. Instead of action, the viewer is subjected to endless scenes of exposition: backstory after backstory after backstory. This is followed by brief action and conflict, and then it's back to explaining everything. Even those who have seen the first two movies in the trilogy will have a difficult time following the dozens of story threads that distract from the central (and most interesting) story of a man trying to rescue his brother from the afterlife.

If the action revealed the characters and their motivations, this could easily have been a 90-minute movie instead of two hours and 23 minutes of mostly talking and explaining. The best that can be said is that the surreal settings and monster attacks are often creative and inspired. If only some of that creativity could have been applied to telling a straightforward story.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about sequels like Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy. This is the third in the trilogy. Why are sequels almost always never as good as the original?

  • Was the story easy or difficult to follow? Why?

  • Does the fantasy violence feel necessary? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

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