The Straw Hat pirates visit a large ship / city on the ocean known as Gran Tesoro but things take a turn when one of the members of the crew is captured and set to be executed.
Story: 7
The story, while interesting, felt like it was lacking at times. Certain parts felt rather rushed while others seemed as if they were dragging on. The first 30 minutes or so were probably my least favourite of the movie. The scenery of Gran Tesoro is beautiful but the number of times the camera pans around buildings and streets starts to feel like an extended 3D tour of the city rather than relate to the plot.
Starting about 30 minutes in is when the story actually takes off and for the most part it's well written. If you know One Piece, you know what to expect. The plot doesn't deviate from the standard One Piece storytelling or take any major risks. I see this as both a plus and a minus. It's /good/ that the writers of the movie didn't try anything new or crazy that might conflict with the overall story and characters of One Piece, but the /bad/ is that the film is very predictable because it follows an extremely familiar story structure.
There were also a few times that things felt out of place. For example, about an hour into the movie there is a sequence when the Straw Hats are breaking up into teams (as they often do) and the whole thing felt like a video game cut scene. While it was artsy and cool to look at, the whole thing was a bit random to me.
Speaking of breaking into teams; one of the best highlights of this movie for me was Luffy and Franky teaming up. Off the top of my head I can't recall that happening recently, but it worked really well for the film. Had a few good laughs in the scenes with the two of them.
Truly the last half of this film is what brought this movie from 'ok' to 'good' in my honest opinion. I personally didn't much care for the first few parts with seemingly random car chases and gambling, but once Luffy and the Straw Hats face off Tesoro the first time is when things start to get interesting, and then later when splitting into teams is when everything gets exciting.
Art: 9
As it is with most One Piece movies, especially in recent years, the art is spectacular. Lots of effort put into the visuals, the sets, and even the clothes... the Straw Hats make at least 3 major wardrobe changes in this film!
The animation is much smoother and more detailed than what we see in the anime, and during the fight sequences is when the animation really shines. For example, we haven't seen Gear Fourth used in a film with a high budget up until this point, and (though it was short lived) it looked great.
Like I mentioned before, the scenes at the start with them going through the city and all the pan shots felt weird, but that's really the only downside to the art that I could see.
Sound: 10
The voice acting was just as good as I wanted it to be; there was heart and effort in their deliveries and I couldn't have asked for more. What should be talked about as well as the voice acting is the soundtrack.
The music in this was phenomenal! One of the best soundtracks I've heard in a One Piece film. A few of the songs in particular stood out to me, some of the darker scenes were made all the more chilling with the music that accompanied it.
Same goes for the more exciting or high energy scenes, the upbeat music was very well timed with the comedy. I would watch this film again just for the sake of this soundtrack.
Character: 7
Our main cast is all present for this movie. Currently in the manga / anime the Straw Hats have split up and it's been a long while since they were all together. So it was refreshing to see everyone.
Not every character gets a shining moment though. Some of the Straw Hats just stood there for the majority of the film. Even characters like Sanji only got a few good kicks in for his final fight and that might be disappointing to many fans.
I'll avoid spoilers, however as a side note, there are characters who I wish had gotten more screen time and I also wish some of the new characters that were introduced had more time to be developed as well. Since it is a movie it's limited in what it can deliver because of time, but I think they could have afforded to give these new characters a few extra minutes.
Tesoro was a great villain with an intriguing past. I wasn't expecting to learn much about his history but we do get a crash course on his childhood / young adult life and the story did well to make him more than a one-dimensional villain. Perhaps not to the point that you sympathize with him much since there were few redeeming qualities about him, but it is nice when the writers put effort into making a character more than just a raging psychopath with no motivation. I wish we could have seen more of his history, but either way I was satisfied with what I received.
Enjoyment: 8
There were several laugh-out-loud funny moments in this film. While not all around comedy gold, there were a few distinct parts where I just folded laughing.
As previously mentioned, the art is great and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how nicely the fights were animated. If anything, the fights in the movie alone are worth the price of admission. There was enough action and adventure throughout the run-time and I walked out feeling satisfied.
When comparing it to other One Piece films, I'd say I enjoyed it more than Film Z, but overall I'd say it is not as entertaining as Strong World.
Overall: 8
If you like One Piece, go see this. If you don't like One Piece, I doubt this will be the movie to change your mind. It still has all the typical and at times “cliche” One Piece moments, and follows the same structure we've seen with many villains and storylines in the original series, but even so it's a fun ride.
While this is not the best One Piece film in my opinion, it still ranks high on the list and is certainly worth watching.
