Summary

• Fullmetal Alchemist movies on Netflix vary in quality, with the 2017 film being the most well-received, blending action and comedy.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:The Final Alchemy struggled with too much exposition and minimal action, making it the worst of the Netflix live-action movies.
• Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar, while better organized, still had issues with cheesy visuals and hit-or-miss CGI.

The three live-action Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood adhered to the original manga. Several anime movies have been added to the franchise, but as far as live-action, the three films distributed by Netflix are the first to attempt such a tall order.

The first live-action Fullmetal Alchemist movie came in 2017, and it got the ball rolling by covering the first four volumes of Edward and Alphonse's story. The film was directed by Fumihiko Sori and starred Ryosuke Yamada and Atomu Mizuishi as the two Elric brothers. From there, the tale continued into Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy, both of which were released in 2022. For better or worse, this meant the end of the characters' live-action adventures—but how do these Fullmetal Alchemist movies rank?

3 Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy

Released in 2022

The final live-action Fullmetal Alchemist movie had the tough job of wrapping up Ed and Al's stories, and this was no easy task. The Netflix movies more or less follow Brotherhood and the manga's versions of the story, which is decidedly more complex. It was hard enough to get these stories across over the span of several episodes, and the struggle to include all the necessary background information in Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy is evident just from watching. Ultimately, the film was all exposition and minimal action.

The result of this is the worst of Netflix's Fullmetal Alchemist movies. The Final Alchemy earned an abysmal 0% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and though the audience score of 48% is slightly better, it isn't much to boast about. The problem with Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy is that the director seemed determined to include every major moment from the Brotherhood anime but without any of the heart or action that made the series so impactful. The result is a movie that is more a skeleton than a fully fleshed-out story.

All the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist movies are available to stream on Netflix.

2 Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge Of Scar

Released In 2022

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar was a smart choice for the sequel to the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist franchise. Scar was a significant villain for much of the Brotherhood anime, so centering on this character for the sequel was a great way to organize Ed and Al's continued story. Of course, there was room for the various homunculi to start revealing themselves, so there was still a sense in this 2022 movie that the plot was moving forward toward the final conclusion. Still, the sequel wasn't perfect.

Though far better organized than Fullmetal Alchemist: The Final Alchemy, The Revenge of Scar struggled in many of the same ways. Anime is notoriously packed full of backstories and exposition, which is hard to make work in a movie format. Additionally, the makeup, costumes, and wigs could sometimes look cheesy, especially when paired with hit-or-miss CGI. The action scenes are what saved Fullmetal Alchemist: The Revenge of Scar, but the movie still suffered, with an audience score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.

1 Fullmetal Alchemist

Released in 2017

The live-action Fullmetal Alchemist franchise was never quite able to top the first 2017 movie. Though not perfect, the film felt very much like an anime—but real. Since the first few chapters of Edward and Alphonse's story were similar in both the original Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood animes, this first live-action movie had the benefit of aligning with both. There was a fair balance of action and exposition, the anime's comedy was present, and the contrast between the brighter and darker moments of the story was reasonably true to the original story.

Of course, the 2017 Fullmetal Alchemist movie suffered similarly to its sequels. The costumes and makeup felt more like cosplay than movie magic, and the CGI was sometimes difficult to swallow. If this Netflix movie were to be ranked against the Fullmetal Alchemist anime itself, it wouldn't quite stack up. However, when looking at just the live-action Fullmetal Alchemist movies, the first (with its 71% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) is the clear winner.