Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos: Saving a Nation From a Trash-Filled Canyon

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Grand Illusion

1403 N.E. 50th St.
Seattle, WA 98105

Category: Movie Theaters

Region: University District

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Runs at Grand Illusion, Fri., Jan. 20-Thurs., Jan. 26. Not rated. 110 minutes.

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More About

• Hiromu Arakawa
• Tower of Babel
• Fullmetal Alchemist
• Pseudoscience

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Winner of the award for Wordiest Title of the Month, this Japanese anime also features a very long and confusing plot, extracted from the original manga by Hiromu Arakawa. In brief, the "holy land" of Milos has been relocated, like an entire nation of refugees (echoes of Tibet and Palestine), to the bottom of a vast canyon where its citizens pick through the trash dumped from above. Into the valley come brothers Edward and Alphonse, both alchemists disfigured by their first forays into magic. Ed now sports a prosthetic metal arm, while poor Al, despite his prepubescent voice, has been entirely transformed into a giant iron sumo. (When someone knocks off his head, he calmly reattaches it, none the worse for wear.) There in Milos they meet rebel fighter Julia—also an alchemist, though without any metal hardware. Despite the machinations between rival nations Creta and Amaestris (from whence the boys hail), the three set about solving the mystery of "transmutation circles" that might allow the Milosians to reclaim their old surface domain. The alchemists' battles and special powers involve palm-blasting force fields, suddenly snaking bridges of ice, and stalagmites erupting from the ground. There's a giant wolf in pursuit, and above an elegant squadron of bat-winged guerrilla babes, who swoop over the desert canyons and spindly railroad viaducts. Here the locomotives are powered by steam, the military wears gilt epaulets, and brass speaking tubes are still employed. The Balkan maps and ethnic cleansing suggest recent history, but there are older allusions to Prometheus, Metropolis, and the Tower of Babel. It's silly and excessive, but Fullmetal Alchemist occasionally strikes a note of adolescent truth, as when Ed wishes for "some way to get our bodies back." Every pimply teen will know just how he feels. (Note: 6:30 p.m. show is dubbed, 8:45 p.m. show is subtitled.)