Now using the full power of true Ultra Instinct, Goku proves to be srong enough for Jiren,but a battle of beliefs keeps the struggle going. At the end of the previous episode, Goku finally mastered Ultra Instinct, his hair and eyes turning silver. In this new form, not only does he not need to think to dodge; he also attacks without having to think. Characters are divided on what will happen, with Universe 1's Kai Anat saying he wants to see what Goku can do, Piccolo noting his speed, and Belmod confident in Jiren. Belmod's Kai, Khai, is less confident, worrying that Goku has surpassed Jiren, which Universe 7's Shin also thinks. As Goku continues his overwhelming attacks, Jiren, as Vegeta says, recalls his past trauma, causing his power to skyrocket. Now boosted, Jiren is able to again take control of the situation, tossing Goku around and sending him down with an energy blast. Though Goku comes out of the blast okay, Jiren still overpowers him, hitting him with another blast that leaves him on the ground. With encouragement from Krillin, however, Goku comes back from the attack, saying it is because of his friends, to Jiren's anger. Jiren says such relationships are pointless, but the Z-fighters say they are all in their positions because of being their for each other. Furious, Jiren attacks the crowd, causing Goku to step in and knock the blast away, now showing his own rage. Goku says he might not be a warrior of justice, but he won't let anyone attack his friends, and pummels Jiren, incapacitating him with a Kamehameha. Seemingly reluctant to finish things, Goku prepares to either share energy or knock Jiren out, when he is suddenly crippled with pain. Dark energy emanates from Goku's de-powered body, and Whis says Goku's multiple breakthroughs with god powers has taken a massive toll on him. With Goku again helpless, Belmod tells Jiren to use the chance and win the super dragon balls. The tension builds as Jiren debates what to do and the tournament takes an unexpected turn. Beliefs continue to be a big debatable point in the tournament during this episode, with Jiren asserting his faith in power as Goku relies on friendship. Even now, Jiren's belief feels somewhat flimsy, though it is slightly supported by the revelations about his past. Before, Jiren came off as a wise being, and to me gave off the impression his search for something beyond strength seemed an enlightened goal. The sudden introduction of him being "obsessed" with power came as a confusing surprise for me, though now he defends it vehemently. The episode does well in addressing an anime trope used often in Dragon Ball, but fails using a Dragon Ball-specific issue. A common problem which has appeared often in this tournament is characters continuing to fight when they should be down for the count by now. Vegeta did this while fighting Jiren, but the more obvious character is Goku, who has a long history of being reduced to nothing, until his friends motivate him. In the past, the issue has been addressed occasionally, like when Vegeta, in his Great Ape "Oozaru" form, crushed Goku's body, after an intense battle involving Goku passing his limits with the Kaioken. After this happened, Goku was helpless to do anything, other than having Krillin grab his hand to transfer his collected Spirit Bomb energy. More often than not, however, Goku continues to keep fighting when he shouldn't be able to even move, like he should be after the number of intense fights he's had. As far back as the first time he used Ultra Instinct, it was pretty surprising he hasn't been more drained, even if Frieza shared his energy. On a less successful note is the issue of the tournament's arbitrary time limit, which has essentially been tossed out the window at this point. Each of the past bunch of episodes have ended with the announcer saying how many minutes are left, with each ending at seemingly after just a minute had passed. This happened despite combatants going at it for long amounts of time, occasionally stopping to talk, and the crowd taking a long time to explain the situation. I've brought this up before, as this infamously happened back when Goku fought Frieza, and the Galactic Emperor gave multiple arbitrary times. At different points after Frieza threw his Supernova attack into Namek's core, he would repeat that there was only 30 minutes or five minutes until the planet would explode. Numerous episodes would then go by, and Frieza would again mention that only five minutes remained. At this point, the time limit has seemingly been dropped, along with the strictness of how characters aren't able to fly with energy. Even with Goku down, Frieza still being out there means there is more left to happen, and this doesn't make sense if only a minute remains. If the time limit is, indeed, finally out the window, then Goku's likely demise coupled with the hidden Frieza will give us something to see.
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Though wounded from the hotel bombing in the previous episode, Frank Castle is more determined than ever to deal out his punishing vengeance on those who've wronged him.
At the end of the last episode, Karen leaves the police wondering where Frank went, and we see that he zip-lined off the building's roof. Frank had just learned that Russo was involved in what was going on, and had, in fact, betrayed him, and Micro had went behind his back to talk to Madani, and he sits at a trashcan fire thinking. He later manages to limp into the hideout, covered in blood from his head wound and the puncture in his arm, where a piece of shrapnel still protrudes. After limping past Micro, Frank sets about removing the shrapnel, immediately oozing blood, and tries to sew the head wound. Frank makes his anger at Micro known, initially refusing to let him sew the wound, and says their work together is done. Micro notes that Frank, in a way, went behind his back as well when he went after Lewis and let himself be seen to the world, but Frank is set that he is on his own again. The episode heads to the Lieberman house, where Micro's family have learned Frank's true identity, with mixed reactions. Zach is naturally hurt and angry, saying his mom could have gotten them hurt by trusting "Pete," Sarah seems unsure what to think, and Leo wants to give "Pete" the benefit of a doubt. At this point, we see Madani begin questioning Russo, but he quickly takes control by noting it is not an official questioning, refusing to tell her anything. When asked about Sam, Russo stays the same, but becomes nervous when Madani mentions that Frank could get to him soon enough. Hernandez is naturally angry with Madani for provoking Russo, but she convinces him to take a gamble and jab at James, hoping to crumble her relationship with Rawlins. Rawlins, meanwhile, has gone to Marion James and admits his shady past, and says Frank is a problem for both of them. Back with the Liebermans, a strange police officer shows up, saying they called about having seen Frank, and Sarah cautiously tiptoes around his questions. Revealed to be either dirty or fake, the man attacks Sarah and Zach, and though Zach runs away, another man catches him and the two are taken captive. Leo makes it out, however, as she had been upstairs when the man entered and Sarah told her to stay quiet upstairs, then told the man Leo was at a friend's house. Frank notices the disheveled house on Micro's screens, and decides to help the family, and Micro searches the cameras, finally seeing that Leo escaped from an upstairs window. Realizing that Russo's men now have their location, because Sarah has his number, Frank tells Micro to call Leo and set up a place for them to meet. Unable to bring himself to talk to Leo, Micro has Frank tell her to go to a pool where they went as a family, and Frank says it will have to be him that goes, as he will be killing the men Russo sends to the hideout. Madani and Hernandez take their gamble, and though James doesn't bite the bait, Hernandez seems to think she's shaken, telling Madani to wait for a reaction. The episode comes to its climax as Frank prepares the hideout for Russo's approaching men, once more dawning skull-painted armor, which calls a "memento mori," a reminder to a person why they need to come back from battles alive. Micro puts everything on the line, having to reveal himself to his family, and the results of Madani and Hernandez's gamble reveals the current relationships for a few people. This episode doesn't let down after the action of the previous episode, but rather improves on it as Frank slaughters Russo's men. Frank's preparation and combat show his expertise, but not in such a way that he feels too unrealistic. A common complaint of heroes without powers, like Batman, is that they often seem to never so much as get scratched, despite their vulnerability. With Frank, however, we see injuries going both ways, as by this episode, he has experienced near-death fighting alongside Gunner, a bullet wound and shrapnel from the previous episode, and new wounds from his hideout fight. While Frank is obviously a master at what he does, him getting wounded keeps him grounded and feeling human. Along with the combat, this one takes a good look at the relationships between characters now that Frank is revealed and information is getting out. The realization that Russo is involved with everything is a massive blow to everything Frank knows, leaving him angry for his interaction with Micro. It is obvious Frank had come to respect and trust Micro, and the hacker's actions meeting with Madani compound on Russo's betrayal. Now that Madani knows that Russo killed Stein, her trust has also been broken, though she has new trust with Hernandez, and she is closer to catching Rawlins. Rawlins and Russo, meanwhile, clearly trust no one, as Russo worries that news of what they did will affect them both, and is paranoid that Rawlins will give him up. These beliefs are founded, as it is obvious Rawlins won't hesitate to throw Russo aside is and when the situation calls for it. A big change for relationships was, of course, between Frank and the Lieberman's, as they are unsure of how to handle the news that "Pete" has been fooling them. Though Leo is more willing to accept the truth of the matter, it is obvious Zach will have a hard time adjusting, especially once reunited with his dad. Sarah, like Leo, is taking the situation slowly, but Zach, who felt angry and alone after the loss of his father, will only be angrier now that his new fatherly role model has been revealed as the Punisher. It's possible Micro's return will prompt a bigger reaction from the family, due to what he means to them and how they've had to feel for a year. The final episode is drawing near, meaning some massive confrontations are about to take place. With Frank and Russo both experts at what they do, a battle between them will be a sight to see. Jessica Jones has returned with her second season, where she is forced to patch together the past she's been trying so hard to keep forgotten.
Jessica seems to still be dealing with the end of the Defenders season 1, where Daredevil seemingly sacrificed himself to save New York. More damaging to her, however, is the death of Killgrave, the Purple Man, at the end of her own first season. For a reminder or anyone not too into Jessica Jones, Jebediah Killgrave is a villain with the power to make anyone do whatever he wants, simply by commanding it. Killgrave kept Jessica as a sort of mental slave for years in a "relationship," where he forced her to do horrific things with her powers, and at times evidently raped her. Miraculously, after years of this living Hell, Jessica found herself immune to Killgrave's powers, and when he attempted to make her stay, a vehicle hit him. In the previous season, Killgrave returned, attempting to get Jessica back by pretending his powers still worked on her and that he honestly cared about her. In the end, he got together a mob of people, including Jessica's adoptive sister Trish, in an attempt to win her back, and, after pretending his powers had become strong enough to affect her again, she snapped his neck. Jessica is struggling to deal with this, seeing herself as a murderer, and becoming enraged when anyone calls her a superhero or vigilante. Early in the episode, she shows a woman that a worker of hers, who seems to also have been her boyfriend, was cheating while working. In response, she demands that Jessica kill him, so Jessica tells him about the request and turns the woman down. The woman, angered, asks why this isn't okay when Jessica killed a man just for wronging her, so Jessica flies into a rage, threatening the woman, before saying she isn't a killer and leaving with a pizza. Trish, meanwhile, is performing as her old famous persona, Patsy, at a child's birthday, to get medical documents on Jessica's hospital stay after her family's accident. Trish takes the files to Jessica, and tells her there are days missing from the file, as it shows a 20-day gap between entering and being given a room. Jessica, however, refuses to look into the situation, as she still wants to repress her past with alcohol, and she leaves. The next day, Jessica sits through multiple disastrous requests from potential customers, including a young man who claims people are trying to kill him because of his super speed. Jessica, naturally, doesn't believe him, and is set on not going with any of the applicants, when Pryce Cheng, a rival PI, shows up. He offers to buy Jessica's PI service, and when she refuses, he threatens that he is powerful enough to put her out of business. Jessica follows Cheng, showing her powers to new tenants along the way, but Cheng spots her later, taking pictures of him. The episode heads to Jeri Hogarth, accepting an award revealed to have essentially been bought, in an effort to restore her reputation. Hogarth's former assistant, whom she slept with, is suing her, and even her lawyers's reputations are suffering as a result. Over with Trish, the radio show "Trish Talk" is suffering as a result of no heroics going on, so she decides to convince Jessica again. Trish heads to Jessica's place with her family's ashes, only for Jessica to angrily rebuff her, saying she will cut Trish out of her life if need be. The next day, Jessica gets another visit from "Whizzer," Mr. Speedy, again turning him down before discovering Cheng is indeed taking her business. In retaliation, Jessica finds the dog of Cheng's friend, at the friend's ex's house, where Cheng had previously been but refused entry to. Jessica gives the man her card, saying she can go where Cheng can't, and Cheng soon begins provoking her. After Jessica throws him, Cheng pulls out his tazer, and as is is ineffective, Jessica is able to throw him into the hallway, becoming angrier after his taunting. Security arrives as Jessica realizes what she's doing, she leaves with security, and Trish has to bail her out. Trish, who has been followed throughout the episode, sees Will Simpson as she and her boyfriend, Griffin Sinclair, are leaving. In season 1, Simpson was a cop whom Killgrave almost had commit suicide after using him, and Simpson devoted himself to tracking him down. After Jessica and Trish spurned him, he rejoined a military experiment that provided him with pills, which, though increasing his strength, make him volatile. Back with Hogarth, Cheng is demanding her help in suing Jessica, and Hogarth agrees, and later gets negative news from a doctor about a health problem. Jessica has another run-in with Whizzer, who says "they" are giving him medication to suppress his powers, and are trying to kill him and others like him and Jessica. As he hasn't taken the pills, Whizzer finally shows his superspeed, and in the process the ashes of Jessica's brother are spilled on the floor. Though she gives chase, Jessica is only able to watch in horror as Whizzer is crushed under scaffolding, and impaled. With the revelation of Whizzer's real powers, Jessica is finally motivated to do some digging as the episode comes to its final scenes. Starting off with technical aspects, the show's episode poster is a clever for the show, giving it the feel of a classic detective series. Along with the intentional wrinkles, the picture's style feels like something from a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book. This season, while Jessica is still as violent as ever, she is even more sympathetic as a character, as well, because of what happened in the first season and with Daredevil. Jessica is a very pessimistic character, and while the others may have been pushing her more toward heroics, the difficulties she's faced have caused her to retreat into the bottle once again, as it's the only way she knows how to mask the pain. Snapping Killgrave's neck has caused Jessica to not see herself as a hero, and her continued issue of her family suggests she has survivor's guilt. When already wondering why she survived and not them, it would be easier for the Killgrave situation to make her think she's just a problem. With this episode, Marvel has a chance to expand Trish's story, as she is clearly interested in becoming more. Trish has never been happy with the life she was forced into, and Jessica accuses her of just wanting to use Jessica's notoriety for her show. Trish concedes this to be slightly true, but says it is so she can help people by getting important information out. Trish being followed throughout the episode hints at something ominous for the future; perhaps an experiment like Jessica underwent. In the comics, Trish is the superhero Hellcat, so it's possible that this season will broaden her character to more than just a talk show host. I would definitely suggest that viewers refresh themselves on season one if they haven't watched for some time, as I had forgotten many names and didn't even recognize Simpson. Whether you do or not, though, this episode was definitely a lot of fun and presents many questions for episodes to come. The power of Ultra Instinct returns for the third time as Goku and Jiren face of in one-on-one combat, with the Tournament of Power coming to an epic close.
Last week's episode saw Vegeta putting his pride on the line to protect the things and people he cares about, to ultimately be knocked out. Before doing so, he gave his remaining energy to Goku, who used it to leap back into the fold against Jiren, only to find Blue was still not enough. At the last moment, however, Goku phased through Jiren's attack, revealing his new godly power once again and putting everyone on edge. This week saw the two titans going blow for blow, though Jiren shows he is still more than enough for Goku's incomplete Ultra Instinct. With Goku still thinking about what attacks he needs to make, his moves are ultimately dulled, not on par with his body's ability to move without thinking. Goku attempts the same move that won him the fight against Kefla, charging up a Kamehameha as his body dodged Jiren's attacks, including some of the same animation frames. The attack fails, however, as Jiren uses his massive power to destroy the attack with his own blast, sending Goku hurtling into the air. Toppo notes that this is a result of the battle with Kefla, as jiren was able to observe Goku's movements and learn how he moves while using Ultra Instinct. As he seemed to know at the last second how this would end, Goku manages to keep some of his Kamehameha as a shield, slowly lowering back to the arena rubble. Belmod says Goku will ultimately be unable to beat Goku, but a perfectly calm Vegeta, without so much as moving, reminds the group that Goku's new power is still incomplete. Noting that Saiyans have been breaking through their own barriers throughout the whole tournament, Vegeta says it is entirely possible and likely Goku will perfect Ultra Instinct. In one of his more daring moments, especially considering his past interactions with Beerus, Vegeta asks when the gods became so quick to jump to conclusions. Vegeta reminds Goku that he placed his hopes and promise in Goku's hands, and states that Goku can therefore not lose. Whis says there is nothing to worry about, though a nervous Belmod convinces Jiren to begin hammering away at Goku. As Goku withstands the punches on a single bit of rubble, the others are surprised to notice sparks leaping out, a sign that Goku is countering the attacks. Goku soon Jiren shoots a massive energy blast to finish the fight, but it is instantly clear that, to Whis and Beerus' pleasure, Goku has reached new heights once more. Now that things are more focused on Goku and Jiren, this episode gives us some great combat between the two. An obvious topic for this episode is how, in typical Shounen, and specifically DBZ, trope-form, Goku is suddenly matching, and occasionally beating, Jiren. For some, this is annoying, as it seems Goku doesn't train as hard as other characters, like Vegeta, yet gets rewarded. I personally see the development of Ultra Instinct as a natural progression that is actually somewhat long-running in DBS. It's true that Goku started training later than Vegeta, yet has apparently surpassed him once again, but there is a lot that goes into how fast he progresses. Vegeta is often hindered by his own pride, as well as, like Whis told him, how tight he is while fighting, as opposed to how lax Goku would get. It can't even necessarily be said that Vegeta trains more, or even harder, because both have been shown to undergo extremely rigorous methods, especially pushing how much gravitational force they can withstand. A famous moment with Vegeta came when, in DBZ, he withstood 500x Earth's gravity, and his power destroyed the gravitational generator he was in. This might lead fans to believe Vegeta puts himself under much more strain, but this would forget what Goku does. Goku's blue shirt, wristbands, and shoes are all weighted, so he is constantly walking around and fighting weighted, and there was a point in the series where he trained with weights of 10 tons each on his wrists and ankles. At the same time, we have no reason to believe Jiren can't be surpassed simply because of how strong he is, because his backstory is rather lackluster. When we learned that Jiren became a fighter to take n the villain who killed his family and allies, there was a bit of a timeskip. We were told that Jiren's second meeting with the villain ended disastrously, with his master and many of his allies dying. This was immediately followed by the explanation that he devoted himself to strength, rather than emotional attachments, and became stronger, forming the Pride Troopers. This tells us absolutely nothing about the work Jiren did, or how he became as strong as he currently is. Because of this, it could be argued that Jiren's improvement makes equal or less sense than Goku's sudden surge in power, which was hinted at early in Super. While Goku and Vegeta trained with Whis, they were told that Vegeta is too uptight when fighting, and Goku too lax, and they need to fight without thinking. Whis instructed the two to simply let go while fighting and let their bodies take over, as he does and trains Beerus to do. Later on in the series, Hit was hunting Goku down to kill him, and it was later revealed that Goku was training himself to be able to sense and overcome people like Hit, and be able to just react to whatever happens. There were moments in this segment where Goku would close his eyes to undergo this training, as he has done while recently using Ultra Instinct. Essentially, it would seem that Whis' ultimate goal in training Goku and Vegeta the way he did was to help them achieve Ultra Instinct. Throughout the episode, Beerus seems to be in a thoughtful trance, fixated on the fight, rather than the goofy demeanor he has had throughout the tournament. For most of the fighting, Beerus was incredibly stressed and would yell things to the fighters, yet for much of this episode, he doesn't say a word. Considering not just how he has been during the tournament, but how he has normally interacted with Goku, it is quite surprising, though maybe it is a sign of things to come. If Beers is impressed enough to sit and watch quietly, it could mean Goku is about to pull of some amazing things that will shock the crowd. And of course, as I've repeatedly mentioned recently, there is still the issue of Frieza, who is still missing since 17's sacrifice a few episodes ago. Despite Goku being again in Ultra Instinct and the obvious suggestion that something will happen, he doesn't have much left in him. Before 17's sacrifice, Goku was so weakened after his continuous fighting and this attempt at going up against Jiren again, that he was lying helpless on the ground. At one point in this episode, Whis states that, because of how low on energy Goku is, the next time his new powers leave him will be the deciding factor in the fight. With such a threat on the horizon, but Goku currently able to stand up to Jiren, we could very well see the two exhaust each other to the point that they can't move. With Frieza still missing, he would be in a good position to step in and eliminate both of them, and take home the dragon balls as his prize. This would be the ultimate version of Super's repeated use of catching characters off guard to damage them, as happened to Goku in Resurrection F, Black in the Zamasu arc, and Jiren recently against 17. With Goku using Ultra Instinct right now, there is no way to catch him by surprise, so waiting until he has left the form would be Frieza's only chance to strike. This theme is honestly somewhat annoying in the series, though it would make sense for Frieza to take advantage of the characters being off guard. Whatever happens, fans can rest assured that Goku and Jiren will soon bring us some impressive combat as the tournament comes to a close. Fullmetal Alchemist has returned for the third time in the form of a live action movie, and the results are less than enjoyable.
The movie follows the same basic premise as the original story and adaptations, centering on brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric. The film opens on the death of their mother, Trisha, as they are practicing their alchemy, the mystical science of controlling elements to transform objects. The brothers, now alone as their father is gone, decide to break the biggest alchemical taboo by bringing their mother back to life. The process is a catastrophic failure, with their "mother" being only a horrific mess, Alphonse losing his body, and Edward losing his left leg to a cloudy figure after seeing beyond the "Gate of Truth." Ed, learning he was close with the experiment, begs to see more knowledge, only for the figure to tell him he would have to make another sacrifice. He wakes up, and, determined to not lose his brother as well, performs another trade giving up his right arm to bond Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor. In place of his arm and leg, Ed is given prosthetic "automail" limbs, made of metal and fully functional, as they attach directly to his nerves. Years later, Ed, using his knowledge and ability to use alchemy without transmutation circles, becomes a state alchemist, called "Fullmetal" due to his prosthetics. The two are searching for the fabled philosopher's stone, which is said to be able to freely transmute, so they can restore their bodies. Arriving in the town Reole, the brothers encounter a priest, Cornello, who has fooled the townsfolk into believing he causes miracles when, in fact, he is using alchemy. Ed notes that Cornello is using a stone in his ring to use alchemy without transmutation circles, and assumes it must be a philosopher's stone. After chasing Cornello through the streets, Ed proves him a fake when Cornello takes a woman hostage, then distracts the priest with an alchemical creation before punching him. The stonoe falls from his ring, and is picked up by Colonel Roy Mustang, who arrives to take Cornello into custody and hold Ed. Mustang is a fellow state alchemist, known for his mastery of the rare and dangerous flame alchemy, which allows him to set ablaze anything ini his path of sight with a snap of his fingers. With a single snap, Mustang destroys the stone, proving the stone a fake, as in this movie the stone is a perfect, indestructible material. Here we get our first look at Lust, Envy, and Gluttony, three of the main antagonists from the series. The three are "homunculi," alchemical creatures made in man's image, who the characters learn have philosopher's stones at their core. Lust was one character performed well in this movie, with the actress managing to play the sensual and sadistic character well enough. There isn't much to say about Gluttony's, but his CGI for certain scenes is ridiculous, and Envy is just plain awful, giving an over-dramatic "not caring" performance. On the same vein, Lust's design easily transfers exactly as it was in the show, but Envy's hair and Gluttony's large figure look goofy. Edward soon meets up with Captain Maes Hughes, leaving longtime fans in anticipation of pain for the future. I don't know about other fans, but for me this portrayal of Hughes felt a bit insulting, because he was a bit of an antagonist for Mustang. In the manga and anime series, Hughes and Mustang were best friends, with Hughes being incredibly supportive of Mustang's goal to become the next Fuhrer. Here, Ed also meets General Hakuro, changed from his original interpretation as well, seemingly friendly toward Ed, but in such a way that will make you suspicious of him. Ed then leaves with Hughes, encountering his childhood friend and lose interest, Winry Rockbell. Winry's interpretation is another questionable part of the film, with the actress seeming happy and silly in classic moments of Winry being enraged at Ed. The two bicker over Ed's combat leaving his prosthetics, which she crafted, broken and sparking, and the group heads to Hughes' house for the night. We get another interaction between the homunculi, who kill Cornello for failing them, and have Envy take his place with his transformation power. After dinner with Hughes and his wife, Ed has an awful night re-living his and Al's failed transmutation. The next day, Mustang advises Ed head to see Shou Tucker, the Sewing-Life Alchemist, known for having created a chimera years before that spoke, asking to be killed. Ed, Al, and Winry meet Tucker, his daughter Nina, and her dog Alexander, and learn about his work as he tries to help them with the stone and figuring out Al's sitauation. Mustang, meanwhile, talks with Hughes, in one of the odd moments of Hughes suggesting he rise to the top, but be wary of everyone else, including him, as they could be trying to get in his way. Back with Ed and the others, Tucker advises that Ed find the missing Dr. Marcoh, who researched the stone, so he and Winry leave while Tucker examines Al. In this movie, Tucker then suggests that Al might be a fake consciousness created by Ed to serve as his "brother." The two find Marcoh, and after some suspicion, he talks to them about the stone, but only manages to tell them to find "Laboratory 5" due to Lust coming and killing him. They go back to Tucker, and Ed discovers he has created a new chimera, just in time for his military evaluation. To his horror, Ed realizes this chimera is made from Nina and Alexander, and the previous was created from Tucker's wife. Al prevents Ed from doing anything rash, and Tucker is arrested, so the group regroups with Hughes and his subordinate, Maria Ross. Soon after, however, as in the series, Al's fear that Ed created him causes an outburst, and the two fight. Winry soon stops them and scolds Al, saying Ed constantly thinks about him and how to get his body back, because of how much he loves him, and the two reconcile. Hughes soon comes to a realization about wars that have taken place in their country and Lab 5's location, but is attacked by Lust as he tries to go tell Al. He escapes Lust by throwing a hidden knife in her forehead, but as he tries to call Mustang in a phone booth, he turns to see Mustang standing behind him with a gun. Word spreads that Hughes was murdered, and the military hunts down Mustang and anyone who knows him, leading to Ed and Mustang's lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye, teaming up to find out what's going on. The two head to Lab 5, where Mustang enters a standoff with Ross and military forces, only for Mustang to burn Ross, revealing her to be Envy in disguise. Likewise, it was Envy who killed Hughes, initially disguised as Mustang, then Hughes' wife, then Mustang again to frame the colonel. The trio and military forces now begin a fight against the homunculi, leading into the climax where information on the philosopher's stone is revealed. Despite the director being a fan of the show and doing relatively well into squeezing plot points from the series into one movie, it doesn't work nearly as well as fans hoped. The film ends on the implication of having a sequel, so it was unnecessary to cram so many plot points into one movie. Doing so resulted in too much being rushed, and therefore lacking a lot of the plot and emotional depth that made the series so great. Especially egregious is the changes made to Hughes, with his and Mustang's relationship changed, and so little time devoted to Mustang's reaction to his death. In the original series, with them being best friends, it crushed Mustang when Hughes died, and he spent much of the series trying to avenge him. His death is consistently heart-wrenching for new fans, with Ross framed for his murder until Mustang notices Envy incorrectly copied Ross, with her recognizable mole on the wrong side of her face, used again in this movie. Later in the series, Mustang kills both Lust and Envy, in satisfying vengeance for his friend, which is totally lost here as he faces them a day after Hughes dies. The story also removes Hughes' daughter, with his wife instead pregnant, when in the series her reaction to his death shatters hearts. On a positive note, the Tucker storyline is handled well, but with Nina getting so little screentime, it is partially just because I already know the series and characters. As Robert Walker said in his thoughts on the movie, emotional attachment to the characters here is dependent on having prior knowledge and attachment. The effects, I would agree, are mostly passable, especially from a non-Hollywood film company that doesn't have access to all the best technology. There are also some character losses that were definitely a negative for me, as the film lacks fan-favorites like Alex Armstrong and Scar. Armstrong is one of my personal favorite characters, and his background was key to how the series looked at how war ravages everyone on both sides. Pars of this movie are certainly passable, but overall I would say it could be confusing for newcomers, and in some ways anger or frustrate fans. |
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