There are big spoilers here for both the film and One Piece.
Film Red, the recent recordbreaking One Piece movie: is it the legendary film that deserves the level of renown it gets?
And the answer is.. no. I know what One Piece movies are capable of as I just wrote a review on my first one, Film Gold, and Film Red doesn't live up to the standard. However. Whether it's a failure or success depends on how you look at it. (Don't get me wrong I love the movie, but I'm writing an objective review.)
If you look at it as a movie, then it sucks. The title condemns it: "Film Red". A cover picture with Shanks taking up like half of it. The long-awaited "Shanks story" at last. But this movie doesn't do any justice to the titular hero. Shanks might as well have not been in here, though I'll get to that later.
But if you look at it in another way, as a musical, then it's pretty good: The description excuses it's flaws: an "animated musical fantasy". Ado did a great job performing the 7 songs in the movie (although to me the change in the main voice actor was very noticeable..)
The intro description on this site honestly summarizes the whole movie well: "An almighty voice. With fiery red locks." That's all this movie really has to offer: Uta. An idol whose name means, well.. song.
Is she legendary enough to carry an entire movie? ..no, she really isn't. So, she's a new tragic villain who wants to create a 'new world' that's a 'paradise' for everyone.... neat concept but we literally already have a major character like that in the show.
Uta's dances are cool, kinda like the Vocaloid-hologram-dancing-videos (someone remind me what they're called):
and seeing a crazed, half-yandere look on a character in One Piece is a really neat surprise:
but that's nothing fanfiction can't already do. Nothing to add to the story.
Uta's character isn't bad or boring per se: her personality has a twist; her story has multiple twists; but in the end, it's a really basic story. Nothing to build an entire movie and 2 anime episodes around.
Now, I've said it's a basic story, but how do I back that up?
The movie's introduction is as flashy and nice as Film Gold's: great new character outfits, references, a new stage, etc, but then.. it keeps up the hollow flashiness, without anything very interesting to back it up, for.. the whole movie pretty much.
The main problem isn't necessarily that it's non-canon, but that no matter how you look at it, you can't put it into the main story, and if you do anyway there is no benefit from it, besides it making zero sense. And here's why:
Don't get me wrong, alot of them act just as they would in the main series: cool remarks from Sanji, questionable remarks from Robin, etc (and it does add some good humor to the show), but some of the others? They have some.. personality changes from the main series. Luffy's immediate response to Uta at one part, that he does everything to 'create a new era', isn't something he'd be particularly against.. but it's new, and not the same answer he's had since episode one. And the 5 elders.. suddenly they give up on the situation and are unanimously willing to sacrifice Celestial Dragons. Celestial Dragons. To a being that's only been seen once before. And Katakuri suddenly decides to give Haki advice- Haki advice- to Shanks. All I can say is, is this really in character for our cast, or does it go directly against what's been perfectly built up over many hundreds of episodes..?
We finally get to see what looks like Shanks starting to fight, but no, he has his canon power level and simply threatens the navy to stop fighting them with his words alone, which is pretty cool.. or seems so at first. Watching him win with no effort is at least something of a replacement for watching him fight and it does justice to him.. except not because Fujitora decides to steal the scene by having even more determination to not back down. Like what.... Fujitora has been smart and cool in the show up until now, apparently.
Everyone besides Uta might as well have been literal background characters, like they're listed as. They did nothing new, at all, just what they were supposed to do: Robin uses big devil fruit move. Zoro fights with his swords. Etc. Literally nothing new to offer. And Uta's story itself was, as mentioned before, nothing substantially new. It's definitely a new take on the concept, and as a character she's probably more relatable to many of us than many One Piece characters, but besides that, nothing new.
But what next? Usopp now has the same Observation Haki capabilities as Shanks' crew does!? Wait, no, everyone does actually. And everyone instantly has to magically match their (newfound) Haki abilities with some 'matching' person on the other side of Uta's magic world (the person who 'matches' them the most? It's never stated why Luffy matches with Shanks, and Usopp with Yasopp, etc). And of course they don't keep these powers in the main show.
And then later, Shanks does 'fight' the enemy because Luffy is too and apparently it's obligatory for them to both be fighting together.. and it looks like Shanks is putting in 5% effort or so, which makes sense, until suddenly he's yelling as loud as Luffy- along with Luffy, infact- as they both struggle to deal a finishing blow. Makes no sense.. and then the screen keeps flashing between their faces faster and faster to show the apparent intensity of the fight.
There was also a big 'demon king' that reminds me of a certain character named Apoo for some reason.. cool design but was anything expanded upon? Maybe why he was there in the first place? Especially since he's kinda the main antagonist here.. "capable of singlehandedly destroying the world". Which was cool but unexplained.
Like I said before, for a film called "Red", it really disappoints. Shanks is there. But did he do anything new, at all? Acting kind to Uta. Coming in to save Uta. Taking Uta's hand. Literally nothing that a placeholder character couldn't have done.. which does zero justice to him, I mean.. he's Shanks, the legend himself. (Though it was heartwarming to see him call Katakuri by name only once he acknowledged his resolve.) This movie promises some cool story with Shanks in it by the title / cover alone, and fails to deliver. They should've called it Film: Idol or something.
The music is good of course, a bop right from the start.
Being the latest One Piece movie, of course it has the flashiest levels of animation and such yet, but.. it really wasn't much new to speak of. There was an increase in the animation levels and a cool new atmosphere once the final fight started, but then it just stayed at that.. same flashy moves being used in the same flashy 'space world', for the whole fight:
I enjoyed it alot.
As a movie it's mid; as the "Red Movie" it fails; yet as a musical it's good and even rewatchable. Uta is tragic kawaii idol.
