Alright, I'll try my very best to share my thoughts about One Piece: Red with you.
First of all, keep in mind that this is the first One Piece movie I've seen so far. Thus, I won't be able to give you any comparison with any other one.
In case you are wondering how I managed to watch it already, it's because France had the chance to get the movie in simulcast with Japan.
Some of you might've seen some videos about the mess we had in our movie theaters when the movie was out. It was especially the case for the firsts representations.
Here's what it looked like in my session :
To be honest, it didn't really bother me, I still had a pretty decent time (you have to believe me).
Time to talk about the movie itself (I'll try my best to avoid any spoiler!).
Uta's singing:
You probably already expect it if you've read the synopsis already, but Uta's going to sing.
Ado did an amazing performance, and you'll surely be moved by her singing.
If you can't wait to watch the movie to hear the song, you can already find most of them on YouTube on Ado's channel.
(I recommend you don't if you want to enjoy the movie at its fullest)
Even though I love Ado's performance, I have to admit some songs were maybe too much. Too many songs can get on your nerves at one point, especially when they cut an impactant scene.
There were about 10 different songs in the movie.
I caught myself sighing at some point because of Uta's endless singing.
Expect the movie to be close to a musical comedy.
Story:
The movie takes place between the Whole Cake Island arc and Wano Country arc.
Our Straw Hat crew is enjoying what seems to be the biggest concert of the world with the superstar Uta.
Some pirates will try to capture her alive so they can ask for a ransom. Luffy and his friends will rush on stage to help Uta get rid of them.
We also learn in the first minutes that Luffy knows Uta from a decade ago, and that he knows she's Shanks' daughter. I find this information a bit too rushed and inconsistent with the manga, but I won't dwell on it.
Unfortunately, I can't really tell you more about the story without spoiling you the important matter.
For those who don't care about being spoiled, here's more:
Spoiler, click to view
We will learn that Uta is the vilain and we'll get to know her motivations: Uta was a singer who was part of Shanks' crew, and git abandonned by her father in the island where the movie takes place. We then learn that she hates pirates, and attack Luffy's crew as if they were mere enemies. Uta's devil fruit power is able to force anyone who listen to her singing to sleep and share the same dream. The majority of the movie will take place is this "dimension" where she can do anything she wants. Get ready to see musical fights with shots alternating between punches and dance choreography.WHAT ABOUT SHANKS???
This is probably the most important question you ask yourselves.
Is Shanks finally doing something, or is it just another let down?
For those who don't want to know, I'll answer you with a spoiler tag:
Spoiler, click to view
YES! Shanks is finally fighting. We have an idea of what he is capable of. That's trully a blessing after all these years of teasing!Visuals:
I don't have much to say. The visuals were great. Uta's choregraphies and the fights were clean and smooth.
There might be a lot of CGI sometimes, but it is pretty well executed.
About some more precise events (spoilers ahead):
About the final fight:
Spoiler, click to view
It was sometimes hard to understand what was going on because we kept switching between the dream dimension, and the real dimension. A lot of characters participate in this final fight, it was a good surprise to see some of them again to be honest.I remember THE scene where Luffy and Shanks are about to give the final blow. What a hype it was.
And, this same scene is interrupted not once, but TWICE because of flashbacks. That really triggered me.
About the vilain :
Spoiler, click to view
Uta being an old acquintance of Luffy, he doesn't even try to hit her when needed. It was really annoying sometimes.Overall conclusion:
The setting of the movie is done in a pretty slow way (1h20), with perhaps too much musics, for a really intense fight scene of about ten minutes.
A few flashbacks triggered me because they ruined the hype of the action.
And I finally didn't really like Uta. She lacked something.
If you know what to expect when you go to see the movie, I am sure you will enjoy it.