YMMV / Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa

• Awesome Music:
  • After having contributed the series' second opening song, L'arc-en-Ciel returns to FMA to provide the bookend songs "Link" and "Lost Heaven".
  • Michiru Ōshima also returns on musical duties and provides a magnificent capstone to her work on the 2003 series.
• Badass Decay: Envy. In the anime, he was a big enough threat that he killed Edward. Here, he's not only a dragon, but one in a world without Alchemy, and yet, very easily, he gets captured by the Nazi occultists and spends the rest of the movie as a Living MacGuffin.
• Complete Monster: Chairman Dietlinde Eckhart is the head of the Nazi's Thule Society. Seeking to use the power of the mystic "Shamballa" to conquer the world with alchemy, Eckhart captures the Homunculus Envy to open the gate to the other world, keeping the monster docile by allowing him to bite into his father Hohenheim. When Hohenheim sacrifices himself to open the gate, Eckhart shoots Ed, no longer needing him for her plans, and leads an all-out assault on his world. Hypocritically fearing the use of the alchemy she seeks in the hands of others, Eckhart tries to wipe out Shamballa, unwilling to share the power.
• Contested Sequel: Some fans view The Conqueror of Shamballa as a touching send off to the characters that ties together most of the loose ends left over from the series, and enjoy it for its share of cool moments. Others see it as a kick in the junk that resolves nothing and simply screws everyone over worse than they were screwed in the series, and also deride the film for its plot feeling rushed and the general feeling of inconclusiveness (particularly regarding series regulars Roy Mustang and Winry). The real real-world connection is also a big part of the contention: Some fans like that it puts the stories' messages, which are based on real historical and contemporary events, back into that context in an unmistakable way. Others think it cheapens the complexity and subtlety of the TV series.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Edward/Alfons is rather popular, due to Alfons being an Ensemble Dark Horse and having a rather romantic interest in Edward (there are scenes that suggest he's upset that Edward is so eager in leaving Earth - in addition leaving him). In fact, shipping them together is way more common than shipping either of them with Noah, who was meant to be the center in a love triangle involving the three.
• Genius Bonus: The fact that Fritz Lang in the movie is looking for a dragon for inspiration for his next movie is a possible reference to Die Nibelungen, in which a dragon marks a important plot point (the film's hero, Siegfried, slays one and bathes in its blood to become invincible). Not to mention that Shamballa is set in 1923, and Die Nibelungen was made in 1924.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Ed's entire journey, revolving around returning to his world in the face of everyone telling him Amestris and alchemy are not real, has a different tune to it after the release of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. With Brotherhood's release came a small new fringe of the fandom viewing the 03 anime as "not real". Though with this comes...
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Alfons' words to Ed about proving Earth and its inhabitants are "real" and not "dreams" can almost read as an argument for the two Fullmetal series to exist side by side.
• Memetic Mutation: "They made Maes Hughes a Nazi!" or similar.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Wrath in the series is a divisive character, with many finding him annoying. However, he's widely considered one of this film's highlights, due to his Heel–Face Turn bringing him some maturity, the fitting end to his arc, and Luci Christian's stellar dub performance.
• The Scrappy:
  • Noah, Rose's real world double, comes under a lot of fire. She betrays Ed only because she thinks she won't be discriminated in Amestris, and then she turns on the Thule Society soon afterwards when Eckhart shoots Ed. It turns out it's a good thing the writers didn't create the Ed-Noah-Alfons love triangle originally planned for the film: a portion of the fanbase didn't like her for taking over Winry's spot, and they would much rather ship Edward with Alfons instead, or with Winry.
  • Eckhart is generally regarded as an underwhelming villain compared to Dante and the Homunculi. It's not uncommon for fans to say that Envy should’ve been the main villain, not her.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Thanks to important scenes with them being cut, Mustang, Winry, and Izumi all feel underused and their character arcs come across as barebones versions of what was originally envisioned.