First, I'd clarify the reason why I watched this movie is because I'm watching all the movies from the 1,000 "Box Office Mojo's All Time Worldwide Box Office". I usually don't watch movies without watching the prequels, but in the case, the prequel for this would be around 1,000 episodes of the One Piece anime and 14 other movies...so I wasn't going to do that.

So, is this movie understandable for the people who haven't watched the prequels? Basically, yes, but also, I'm sure that whatever made fans enjoy this, is precisely that, having the context for the actions happening in this movie. I can imagine having that many characters might have been epic for them, but for the rest of us, it just helps create a mess of a movie that spends too long going nowhere.

Overall, this is not a movie I'd recommend for anyone unless you are familiar with One Piece, even I'll dare to compare it with the "Demon Slayer Movie: Mugen Train" because that movie is also part of that list I mentioned, but it does a much better job at telling a story, both, understandable for the general audience that haven't watched the anime (because I haven't watched anything else from Demon Slayer previously either) and in making a movie that actually feels like a movie and not like a long episode. I don't know the general pacing of a One Piece episode, but nothing about this felt epic enough to be a movie. Should have been an episode, a season finale if you shall, but not a movie.

Kinda good but also kinda not. While Film Red certainly tries to do a lot of interesting things, I feel that the only one of them that it does really well is the music, which was sort of a given considering Ado's known talent. Uta was a good villain as far as these sorts of movies go, her motivation was good and it was interesting to see how someone completely disconnected from the world of One Piece would try to rectify what they see as problems. What I really didn't like in the movie was its over-reliance on cameos and guest characters, which seriously interferes with the flow of the film. While some inclusions make sense (Koby, Helmeppo, Bartolomeo to a lesser extent), some feel really forced. Like did we really need Blueno, Kalifa, Kizaru, Fujitora, Katakuri, Oven, AND Brulee to take up so much of the movie when the Straw Hats barely get anything to do? I would have much rather some of these characters been cut or given more interesting roles in the story.

Despite being the film's namesake and a major part of the marketing push, Shanks really only shows up for about one-third of the movie, and even then he's not very consequential until the final battle. For the sake of fairness, I do have to mention that seeing his crew in action after such a long wait was really cool, but went by a little too quickly to leave much of an impact. In fact, just about everything about the Red Hair Pirates in this movie just feels like sort of a cheap way to garner more interest in a story that would otherwise be less interesting to the One Piece fandom at large. Also, Tot Musica is an insane bullcrap addition to the film, rivaled only by those ridiculous volcano things from Film Z.

Although I was very critical of the way that this film handled certain elements, I do still believe it's a pretty solid addition to the One Piece films, even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of some of the more recent outings. The film has a lot of crowd-pleasing moments and some truly spectacular music and animation, even if it is muddled by the subpar story and the abundance of forced fan service. Also, my ranking of the most recent five One Piece films:

1. One Piece Film Z
2. One Piece Film Gold
3. One Piece Strong World
4. One Piece Film Red
5. One Piece Stampede

Nope, sorry! Didn't get the memo. This is just a mess. "Uta" is a famous singer who believes she may have the power to use song to unite the largely dysfunctional world against some marauding pirates. The world government and it's navy tries hard, but it cannot quite combat these ruthless and quirky characters - amongst whom she must count her own father "Shanks". The thing is, though, that "Uta" and her slew of unremarkable power ballads strides two dimensions and gradually we begin to worry that she is perhaps not the altruist that it appears at the start. Perhaps she has evil aspirations of her own; or is being manipulated in some way? I am a big fan of Japanese animé usually, but this is all over the place. The story is weak and nigh-on impossible to follow with the characterisations shallow and almost non-existent. The supposedly cherubic voice of the young girl got right on my nerves from very early on, and the animations (except for, perhaps, at the end when the are lively and vivid) are almost comic book page-flicked in their delivery. Of course there is an inevitability about the ending, but in this case the journey to that conclusion is a maelstrom of confusion and un-engaging plot and personalities that left me cold. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood - but I just could not get into this.