This is a retelling of the Arabasta arc, the final arc of the Crocodile Saga from the One Piece tv show. The arc in the show is one of my favs, scoring a rare 10/10 for me and I was expecting great things from this movie, expecting the definitive version with upgraded Animation.
I saw the relatively low score on this site and was puzzled. i soon realised upon watching, this is a train wreck of a movie that has little resemblance to the Arabasta arc.
There are two huge problems with this movie. The first, the lesser of the two problems, is the technical failures, referred too in other reviews.
Trying to squeeze so much into episodes worth of Anime into a movie was too much for the creators. The directing and editing is poor. It's like the director is given a list of story events to cover and reels them off, paying no attention to the perfect way they are presented in the tv show. The events are quickly rushed through, the fights suck. The animation is not improved from the show. In fact it just looks shinier, the detail is worse. The voice acting is still good but is poor compared to the tv show. Each scene is rushed so no time for the characters to match the impressive acting in the tv show.
It assumes you have seen the arc before. Any new people will be confused by most of the stuff going on. If it was an original film the screenplay would render the film a total confusing mess. Key events that would allow the arc to make sense are cut out. Key events left in still make no sense. Plot holes abound because of this lack of attention.
The second and more critical flaw is the lack of heart and emotional resonance, which is in abundance in the tv show version. Everything happens so fast there is no time to build up the tension and all the emotional and epicness is lost.
There is no sense of Vivi's suffering and horror at seeing her Country tear itself apart. They ruin many epic Poignant fights. No danger and overload of desperation during Usopp and Choppers fight. No sense of ascension and achievement during Zoro's fight with Mr 1. Luffy's first fight with Crocodile loses the poignant annihilation he receives at Crocodile's hands. Crocodile's character doesn't feel even slightly threatening, unlike the tv show in which he feels like an unstoppable juggernaut for most of the arc. Crocodile's below par voice acting contributes to this, unlike his fabulous acting in the tv show, it lacks the eloquent menace you normally get from Crocodile.
It is sheer travesty that Luffy's final fight with Crocodile is reduced to a pathetic whimper. Most of the right lines are said but the bad directing and editing kill the emotive and epic symbolism of him defeating a Warlord of the sea through sheer willpower. One Piece is the king of Shonen battle because it transcends the genre to become one of the best drama's of all time. That is not present in this movie.
I could go on and on but will just mention one more. The ending, where the crew show they are Nakama to Vivi by showing their marks of friendship, does more accurately reflect the arc of the tv show. But without the Vivi Character development with the Straw hat crew present in the show and the years of suffering, loss and perseverance Vivi has gone through, it lacks all meaning. It's like the ending of the Shawshank Redemption without the character building earlier on in the movie.
If they made the movie 2 and a half hours and made it true to the original then they could have beaten these problems. As this film stands now, it's just a reminder of how bad one of the greatest Animes of all time could be if directed wrongly.
Don't bother watching this, it will just make you weep how badly One Piece is destroyed.
