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Review: 'One Piece Film Gold' has great themes and good visuals

Secret ending? No.

Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)

“One Piece Film Gold” is a 2D animated action adventure and the thirteenth film in the “One Piece” film franchise. It sees the Straw Hat Pirates going up against the world’s richest man, Gild Tesoro. It features the voice talents of Mayumi Tanaka (Monkey D. Luffy), Kazuya Nakai (Roronoa Zoro), Akemi Okamura (Nami), Kappei Yamaguchi (Usopp), Hiroaki Hirata (Sanji), Ikue Otani (Tony Tony Chopper), Yuriko Yamaguchi (Nico Robin), Kazuki Yao (Franky), Yuichi Nagashima (Brook), and Kazuhiro Yamaji (Gild Tesoro). It is rated PG.

“One Piece Film Gold” delivers more “One Piece” action on a much grander scale. It fleshes out Nami’s backstory, and introduces many memorable new characters who will hopefully appear in the anime itself. More importantly, it shows us how money has become such an integrated part of the world that we all have become slaves to it.

Highlights

Theme of materialism

Gild Tesoro (Kazuhiro Yamaji), being the world’s richest man, lives up to the usual stereotype of being a wealthy tyrannical bully. Despite his riches, we see how he and his minions are slaves to wealth, with a constant theme that money equals power, and those without money are powerless. It’s eerily similar to the real world, and reminds us how we’ve ironically become beholden to a manmade concept.

Wacky premise and action

The madcap antics of the Straw Hat Pirates, as well as the fantastic fictitious elements of the One Piece universe, help to immerse us in the fun adventures of Luffy (Mayumi Tanaka) and company. It provides the comedic, light-hearted tone that pervades most of the movie, and is an enjoyable aside from the current story arc.

Evocative locations

Since the film’s antagonist is the world’s richest man, it makes sense that he would own the world’s flashiest casino, the Gran Tesoro. Golden showers, streets that are literally paved with gold, and the sheer opulence of the animated sets show us just how much 20 per cent of the world’s wealth (which Gild Tesoro is said to own) can buy. It might very well be one of the most unforgettable locations in the anime.

Letdowns

Opening felt pointless

While opening with an exciting action sequence grabs your attention, the other objectives are not immediately apparent. It’s to establish Gild Tesoro’s wealth, but the intro provides no other necessary information nor does it give new insights to the characters. As such, it’s a visual spectacle that feels hollow, and could have been trimmed for a more pacy film.

Gild Tesoro isn’t initiating hostilities

If you consider the film from Gild Tesoro’s perspective, he’s actually minding his own business in his own personal fiefdom without intentionally going out of his way to attack other nations or organisations. It’s true that he enslaves those who are caught up with gambling in his casino, but the fact is that his victims are gambling addicts who knew the consequences of their bets anyway.

It’s the Straw Hat Pirates who end up getting into trouble because of their greed, and their inability to pay up leads them into a confrontation with Gild Tesoro. He’s not the one initiating hostilities here. He’s really no different from any casino owner.

“One Piece Film Gold” has good themes and great visuals, even if the story might be a bit of a broken Aesop.

Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.

Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? Nah.

Score: 3.0/5

“One Piece Film Gold” opens in cinemas:
- 25 August 2016 (Singapore)
- 18 August 2016 (Malaysia)
- 31 August 2016 (Philippines)

Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. He Tweets/Instagrams at Optimarcus and writes at marcusgohmarcusgoh.com. The views expressed are his own.