Movie Review: One Piece Film: Red

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A well-made feature film based off the popular anime TV series.


This movie benefits heavily from a really good story. The film does an excellent job of working its way up from something that feels very small and calm to something that is extremely large scale. This is done without ever once feeling forced but instead as a simply naturally turn of events. This is helped by some very atmospheric scenes that perfectly set up a feeling of suspense. Not no matter how large the story gets; it never forgets it emotional center. This is a surprisingly emotional movie that all leads up to an especially big emotional punch towards the end. The emotion of the story is especially prevalent in the flashback scenes. Unlike many films, these scenes do not feel like simple exposition but rather moments that add to the heart of the story. This film also benefits from a wonderful antagonist. She not only feels like a large-scale threat to our heroes, but she manages to feel both creepy and sympathetic at the same time. She is not simply a big baddie for our heroes to defeat, she plays an important role to the emotional center of the movie. Singing also plays a major role in who this character is and luckily the music she is given is great. These songs are a lot of fun, while also adding to the story. While most of our heroes feel a little sidelined here, Luffy gets some great time to shine and we his arc over the course of the movie is excellent. 

Unfortunately, with its large scale, a large number of characters appear. This works in a TV series, when each character has his/her own turn to shine. However, in a feature film, this can make the movie feel too busy as most of them don't get anytime time to really shine. Also this can make it so newcomers have trouble keeping track of who a lot of these characters are and what their powers are exactly. This movie also suffers in the big climatic action scene. This scene goes on for a bit too long and can seem to drag at times. This scene also features too many bright flashing colors and over the top things happening one after the other without any chance for us to take them all in. It simply felt like a bit of overload.

The humor can be a bit hit and miss here. Some jokes land very well, while others simply fall flat. 

Overall this is a really fun and surprisingly emotional movie. It may not be perfect but the things that work are really good.