Review of One Piece: Stampede (2019) by Davrosdaleks1 — 27 Oct 2019

7/10.

Understand that this review is for the average viewer. If you're a big One Piece fan, my rating may be too low for you. This whole thing is one big fan service. There was a lot of clapping in the theater I was at. The movie squeezes a TON of existing characters from the anime's extensive roster and manages to do so with a reasonable explanation of how they're gathered all in one place. You also get a ton of fighting.

But putting the fan service aside, I can't say this is a perfect movie. The last two One Piece movies, Z and Gold, were really good. (The former's strength is in it's plot and the latter is in showmanship and worldbuilding.) In fact, I think they're some of the best anime films based on TV shows. (A lot of these films feel like uneventful filler.) In regards to story and execution, I don't think this compares to them.

The thing about this movie is that there are so many players in this that it is mostly just showing the characters and action. The plot is thin. Some of the main characters from the show really don't get to do much. It doesn't help that the secondary villain is rather extraneous.

Of course, some may only be interested in the action. The movie is jam-packed with it but there are so many character move sets that you don't get much time to focus on any of it.

On the plus side, the villain, who is basically a mountain of muscle, is a pretty good threat. There's also a visual design that I can't go into detail but looks really, really good. Plot-wise there are a couple strong emotional moments.

If you haven't seen the show before, this isn't the best jumping in point. I think they explain enough so that you understand the general story, but all the character appearances will probably leave you lost.

As a movie in general, I don't think it's bad, just okay. I may see it again some point when I want some light watching. But as mentioned, if you love OP, you'll probably want to see this soon because it doesn't disappoint when showing you stuff you already like.