Wasn't a huge fan of this one. Hoping the best for the Film Gold but so far the Oda involved films are my least favorite of the One Piece movies. Strong World managed to scrape by with a 7/10 for me for the amazing visual spectacle that was Luffy's finish to Shiki, this movie had no such moment so even though I think I enjoyed it more, it's rating is a little bit lower, at a 6/10. But that's not super relevant to the discussion so let's move on to the actual films.
First off, minor nitpick, Robin should've been able to grab Binz at the beginning. They made a point to establish that speed is irrelevant factor in combat to her (which has remained true all throughout the manga) so the contradiction to that kinda ticked me off. But whatever, the Straw Hats weren't particularly represented accurately power-wise in Movie 6, which is still easily my favorite of the films so again, minor nitpick.
But what really hurt my enjoyment of this film was the final fight, and Z himself. Considering how quickly he turned on the Straw Hats early on with the reveal that they were pirates, and that his entire goal in this film was to commit genocide, it's a little hard to believe that he'd have a change of beliefs simply because Luffy was a good person who was dedicated to a goal. That felt like such a forced turn of events, like it just happened because the movie wanted to end it with him as a more sympathetic villain, as a good guy capable of sacrificing himself to the Marines. The movie emphasizes just how much tragic events had to occur for him to reach that point, the death of his family, almost the entirety of his battalion (sans Ain & Binz), and then the World Government making the pirate responsible for the latter a Shichibukai. So having the resolution to that being simply being having his emotions swayed thanks to losing a fist fight with Luffy just felt like a natural leap in progression. Was just fighting resolutely for his convictions with another all it took. For a movie that's essentially based around Z's character, this ending dampened my enjoyment in a major way. I did like the touch at the end with Z wanting to be the Great Saiyaman I guess. It punctuated the point that Z was trying to be a hero through his actions of mass-genocide, a nice concluding passage but the impact wasn't really effective for me with the aforementioned conclusion.
As a whole, my interest waned when the movie just turned into, awesome action moments for each member of our crew. I get it, everyone needs to have their shining moment but it wasn't particularly engaging action and I also felt this conflicted with the dramatic stakes set up in this film. The stakes here were massive, the lives of everyone in the New World was basically on the line, and each encounter we got to determine this was practically a squash. Not that I'd want to see someone like Robin struggle against fodder mind you, I'm clearly peeved when they don't treat her powers properly, but it's not a very satisfying sequence to watch. Sanji & Zoro's quick bouts fared better though. Still underwhelming with how drastic the situation was but the animation was probably at it's peak during those bouts and I liked the parallels between the scenes. Zoro in the lava section defeating an opponent while covered in blue with a move he called Water Stream and Sanji in an area with water defeating an opponent while covered in red with his Diable Jambe skill-set.
One more final complaint, the drastic stakes themselves. The Endpoints & Dyna Stones felt like filler. Like, really bad plot devices necessary in order to provide an epic scale and atmosphere because it's a movie, you need to have a grander adventure. I actually cringed every-time they said the Dyna Stones rivaled the ancient weapons in power. Maybe you felt those were a natural extension to the One Piece world, and that's fine I'm guessing most have disagreed with everything I've written thus far, but to me it felt like an ultra convenient intrusion to the world established just so the movie can feel more epic. And considering they opted for a non-special movie final fight, I think it might've benefited the film if they scaled down his plans a little bit. Or his method I guess.
That's not to say I didn't like anything in this movie. The age regression thing was fun, even if the fanservice attached to it was unnecessary but it's One Piece so that's just a packaged deal, & I loved all Kuzan scenes here. He was great. I enjoyed the cast dynamics quite a bit too, the scene where everyone stands up for Chopper not having to regret following his convictions and beliefs for example. Not only was it great because it was just a heartwarming thing to see but because it tied into the overall theme of the movie nicely, providing an early example of it so that the power of conviction isn't solely expressed through the final moments. Or Sanji telling Luffy that he, or Zoro, should take on Z. Something I particular agree with because if you watch that first fight, Zoro easily does the best out of the three. Usopp bragging to Chopper how much money Robin made them only for Nami to swipe the money was great too. And as final praise, the nostalgia was pretty great too. Jonathan from the G-8 arc briefly showed up, also known as the best filler arc in any anime ever fight me, along with several other marines including T-Bone! Also, I got way too excited when they name dropped the sea train (can you tell Water 7 is my favorite arc), I was kinda hoping Kokoro would show up too but I was asking for too much there.
Anyway, those are my rambles on Film Z. Disappointed since I went in hoping to have a second favorite One Piece movie (expecting it to be better than Movie 6 would've been insane [at least for me, I know the opinions on that movie are massively divided]), it definitely sounded right up my alley with a stronger character focus antagonist. But as I've clearly expressed, one that didn't really resonate or work for me. Some strong moments but nothing special. 6/10
I know a lot of you will disagree with me but I think we can all come together and agree that Avril Lavigne singing Nickelback & Joan Jett was weird. |