What part of the Brotherhood continuity is the movie supposed to take place, anyway? Is it a direct sequel like the 2003 show got, or is it a side story?
I think it's supposed to take place somewhere near the middle of the series, after Ed & Al discovered "THE TRUTH" about the philosopher stone and Al gained the ability to hand-slap alchemy. Not that it matter, really. That movie is so utterly inconsequential and dull.
I actually hated how wacky the end of the 2003 show got. It pretty much threw out what they had been building for 45 episodes before that and went in a completely opposite direction. I was pretty disgusted. Tge dissatisfying ending probably didn't help matters.
Well, I appreciate that when handed a situation that has
killed other projects (Hellsing, etc.) with the anime having caught up to the manga, the director decided to take the show in its own direction with his own unique (often social commentary-filled) vision all wrapped-up in the concept of Equivalent Exchange. Plus, I thought the original FMA series had better comic timing as well, whereas it comes off a bit forced in Brotherhood.
As for the ending, I liked the sheer nerve it took to do it. It is a somewhat bittersweet ending:
both brothers are restored to their original bodies, but the price they paid for that was to live in separate worlds and for Al to lose all memory of his time with his brother. Then in Conqueror of Shamballa, the brothers give up their home in exchange for being together again with their memories intact. Equivalent exchange. It's quite elegant, actually, aside from Winry getting completely screwed-over.Like I said, Brotherhood is certainly a more satisfying ending, but the original FMA
took chances. Some paid off, and some were more than a little goofy. But I'll take the sheer passion you can see in every frame of the original series over the by-the-books, panel-by-panel, literal, soul-less manga translation of Brotherhood (which is still a
good series, but I don't like it as much).