For starters this is filler and no matter how much they try to make it seem like it’s canon, it’s not since the events are never mentioned in the series, nor they fit somewhere in specific. That aside, the movie sticks out from the precious ones, all of which were also filler, by having several pop idol songs, all of which are cringe. They don’t fit in the setting of One Piece and they are mostly animated with CGI so they don’t even look good. But even as a standalone story it doesn’t make any sense since there’s too much going on without proper build up. Most of it happens because the plot said so and not because it follows some sort of logic. This is where I begin spoiling the plot so if you don’t like that, stop right here.
If you are still here, this is why the movie sucks.
-The pop idol that Luffy was ‘supposed to know since they were kids but we never saw her in a flashback’, can trap everyone who listens to her music in an illusion. Inside that illusion she can shape reality as well turn people to toys if she likes. Something she doesn’t do to the Straw Hats and anyone else that helps them, because we wouldn’t have a plot if she did.
-There are a lot of extra characters in this movie and they don’t do anything besides using a special attack and calling it a day, they are just there for the fan service. Kalifa in specific did nothing, she was just talking on the phone throughout the movie. And the Thousand Sunny turns into a mascot animal for no reason. The only two extras that were useful were Law and Blueno and only because they could teleport Luffy wherever the plot wanted him to be, so even they were just plot devices so the story can move in whatever way the idiots who wrote this wanted.
-Then the pop idol uses snails that can project her music in the whole world, effectively introducing the internet and streaming in the One Piece setting, both of which will be forgotten when the movie ends.
-Then the navy is sent to stop the pop idol, and the marines never consider the option to Buster Call the island and be done with it even though it becomes a worldwide threat much bigger than even Ohara. Because we wouldn’t have a plot if they did.
-Then Shanks appears out of nowhere for plot armoring Luffy so the plot won’t end. Which is the same thing he does in the show as well, he just appears out of nowhere just to make sure the plot doesn’t end, and then leaves just as fast.
-Then the pop idol reveals her past which comes down to growing up on an island where everybody besides one man got killed. She never left that island and nobody came to repopulate it, because we wouldn’t have a plot if they did.
-Turns out everyone on the island had been killed by the pop idol when she summoned a demon lord with her music. What’s a demon lord doing in One Piece; it doesn’t fit one bit. It’s something she said she didn’t remember and Shanks never told her because he didn’t want her to feel bad. But he also never came back, never took her to a different island, and never told her to stop singing so the same thing won’t repeat, because we wouldn’t have a plot if he did.
-Turns out the pop idol knew what she did and kept singing, thus Shanks never coming back and not telling her the truth all these years was completely pointless. By the way, a girl that knows the truth but says nothing for years because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and ends up hurting countless people because of that. Does that remind you of something from the main series? Hello, Shirahoshi. They repeat one of the dumbest reveals in the entire show.
-Then the pop idol summons the demon lord, who is of course animated with CGI and looks awful, and everyone keeps punching him until he gets defeated. Because in shonen there is no problem that violence cannot fix. There is also a one second cameo of Gear 5, which doesn’t do anything, it’s just fan service in a filler movie.
-After the battle the navy is about to arrest everyone, but Shanks once again appears and makes sure the plot is not going to end, so everyone escapes. By the way, despite the movie being named after him, the focus of the plot is on the pop idol, not Shanks. Not even the title makes any sense. They named it after a character that not only is not the main focus, but is also the one who ruins the plot by existing just for plot armoring everyone. How incompetent can the people who made this be?
-The movie ends with the pop idol dying so we won’t get any more cringy songs with CGI animation. Thank god for that. And then there is a completely meaningless post credit scene where Luffy asks the ship if it can speak. And it doesn’t. What the shit was that? I waited 5 minutes after the credits rolled for nothing.
And that was the whole movie. What a shitfest. The only things I liked were the trippy animation when reality was merging with the illusion, and the pop idol not being forgiven for all the crap she did and then dying. That’s it. Terrible movie, Baron Omatsuri remains the best One Piece film.