I'm not a big fan of One Piece and my knowledge of the series
is only limited to a few manga and anime episodes including some youtube video
I've seen. Regardless I will try my best to judge the film fairly. Also there
might be minor spoilers ahead.
The movie centers around the great Pirates Expo, "made
by pirates, for pirates" event where pirates all over the world, including
some of its most infamous ones, join in for a big treasure hunt to find a lost
treasure, this time the treasure belonged to none other than Gold Roger. The Expo isn't what
it seems and things takes a quick turn for the worst.
One Piece Stampede is a decent film even if you are not
familiar with the series like me as they took the extra time to give viewers a
quick summary of the mythos and background about the series during the opening
segments of the movie so if you're not familiar with the franchise you need not
to worry about jumping in.
The movie is a love letter to fans that I'm sure a lot of
people familiar with the series will find a lot of familiar characters. I'm not
familiar with the show so my sister had to point a few key characters for me
every now and then. You don't need to know everyone to enjoy the film but
having the knowledge does adds to the enjoyment of the film. The number of
characters is almost enough to rival Marvels End Game film.
As plot twist goes however this is the typical shounen plot
you would expect from this franchise but I'd be lying if the story didn't tug
at the feels at certain moments of the movie. One Piece Stampede knows how to
do character driven narratives and does it really well. The build up and big pay
off at the end of the film and around the third act really does hits it's mark.
The twist is sadly predictable but is still enjoyable to
watch it unfold. I can count three times where I was thinking this is going to
happen or this character will do this and it just does exactly that. I guess me
watching too much anime does has its drawbacks. I also feel that some of the
side stories and sub plots did take the backseat in favor of the big ones.
Some of the characters also didn't get enough time to shine.
I do feel that the trailer showed a bit too much for this one but that's just
me. One Piece Stampede seem to have played it a little too safe for an animated
full length movie. I'm guess they wanted the film to be more kid friendly
instead of really going all out in terms of a deeper narrative that I'm sure
the film could have gone for if it really wanted.
A lot of the jokes didn't land for me but I did heard some of
the audience in the theater give out a chuckle or two so I guess it's really a
matter of taste when it comes with comedy side of things. As visuals go some of
the cgi used in the film feels out of place in some areas specially during the
third part of the film where things moves at a faster pace.
The movie is also japanese dubbed with english subtitles. This
film would have benefitted from a decent english dubbing. Often times the
dialogue gets too hectic that you seem to lose what the characters are talking
about sicne the subtitles are too fast. And during action scenes your busy
reading the dialogue to actual pay much attention on what is going on at the
big screen. I find myself wishing I had a pause button for whenever this
happens. And it happens a lot.
One Piece Stampede regardless of the shortcomings I mentioned
is still a well made movie. Fans of the series will find a lot to love on this
one. The movie does a decent job of getting newcomers hook in terms of the
story and characters. If you are a fan of One Piece or want to get into the
series than this can be a starting point to get you hook. It's a definite
recommendation to anyone who is a fan of shounen anime or any anime in general.
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