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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nNOTE: This film is available in both \u201cSubbed\u201d (Japanese spoken with English subtitles) and \u201cDubbed\u201d (English spoken with no subtitles) versions. This review is based on the Subbed version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This past weekend was a slow, awkward one at the domestic box office. With surefire hit \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever\u201d opening next weekend, not many new releases were eager to step up and do well for exactly one weekend before getting obliterated. \u201cBlack Adam\u201d continued its reign in the #1 spot, while horror movies fell like rocks into Charlie Brown\u2019s trick-or-treat bag now that Halloween is over. Things were so bad that niche anime \u201cOne Piece Film: Red\u201d was able to come in at a relatively strong #2. Unlike that \u201cDragon Ball\u201d movie from a few months ago, I had never even heard of this franchise before I learned its movie was getting a wide release. And unlike that \u201cJujutsu Kaisen\u201d movie from earlier this year, I\u2019m not particularly happy to have been introduced to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The film takes place in a world overrun by pirates. The government and military have vowed to wipe out the pirates, but otherwise they do nothing to help victimized civilians. Pop star Uta has heard the pleas of the masses and has agreed to perform a free concert to give everyone a reprieve from pirates and misery. Good-hearted pirate Luffy and his crew attend the concert, and it turns out that Uta and Luffy grew up together, mentored by wise pirate \u201cRed-Haired\u201d Shanks. Uta is happy to see Luffy again after all these years, but she\u2019s not happy that he\u2019s still a pirate, good or otherwise. Moreover, she has a plan to make sure that everybody gets to enjoy the concert forever and never have to worry about pirates, corruption, work, school, or sadness ever again. Of course, anybody who wants to shield the world from life like that is going to be a villain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Uta\u2019s plan is basically to trap the population in a sort of dream world while their unconscious bodies wither and die. It\u2019s up to Luffy and his crew, and later Shanks, to stop her. The government might also intervene by blowing up the entire concert, but hopefully it won\u2019t come to that. Maybe Uta can be convinced to snap out of her derangement herself, as we learn more about her motivations and tragic past. One thing\u2019s for sure, whatever happens, we\u2019ll get lots of that confusing anime-style fighting where impacts and damage are assigned seemingly at random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were things I liked about \u201cOne Piece Film: Red.\u201d Uta is a sympathetic character and her songs are beautiful. Villain songs are usually my favorites in Disney musicals, and here we get at least two, maybe more if you retroactively count early ones before Uta\u2019s heel turn is official. And some of the comedy works, in that manic-anime-energy sort of way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then there\u2019s the biggest detriment to the film, which is that it\u2019s just so darn confusing. The cast is top-heavy on characters, Uta\u2019s plan is convoluted, and the action is near-impossible to follow. I couldn\u2019t even tell if a certain character was alive or dead at the end. Nor do I have any idea why the film is called \u201cOne Piece Film: Red.\u201d I assume the \u201cRed\u201d refers to Shanks and his hair, and it is undeniably a film, but otherwise I haven\u2019t the foggiest. Yes, I\u2019m coming into this movie without a lick of knowledge about \u201cOne Piece Film\u201d lore, and established fans will probably get more out of this movie than I did, but I can\u2019t say that I found this to be an effective entry point into this series. There\u2019s an effort being made here, but for a non-fan like me, there\u2019s a headache-y quality that the film never quite manages to shake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grade: C<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne Piece Film: Red\u201d is rated PG-13 for violence, suggestive material and language. Its running time is 115 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Bob Garver NOTE: This film is available in both \u201cSubbed\u201d (Japanese spoken with English subtitles) and \u201cDubbed\u201d (English spoken with no subtitles) versions. This review is based on the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":56045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[1902],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56044"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56047,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56044\/revisions\/56047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}