One Piece Film Z is a flawed chaotic mess of a film. While that is not unlike its TV counterpart, Film Z is broken up into 3 acts. Fans of this film fondly remember the 3rd act and finale, but the film offer little else in terms of interest before it's 3rd act.
Admiral Z (The titular antagonist) is an interesting take on a broken War-Hero type gone too far. The conclusion to the film is very satisfying and genuine to the character Oda and the director were trying to tell the story of.
The issue I have with this comes on two points:
The pacing is a trainwreck. This isn't uncommon for One Piece but it does make rewatching this more of a chore. A ton of exposition is dropped by a major figure from the series mid-movie, and while it does help round out the antagonist, it doesn't come across as natural information and isnt useful for the heroes at all.
Aside from the pacing, the subordinates of the antagonist are woefully uninteresting characters. They don't do anything unique or strong enough to feel like they actually threaten any of the protagonists. Also the setup for the clash of heroes vs villains is incredibly uninteresting; seeing which characters are afflicted for basically a gag rather than for a conflict resolution.
Overall this is the least-interesting of the "modern" films (starting with Strong World). It does nothing new to the dynamic of the heroes, its rogues are fairly bland, and the only thing keeping this film above water is the film's conclusion.
Ultimately: This is NOT a One Piece film about the Strawhat Pirates. They are simply there as an audience anchor. There are no new dynamics entertained and the villains are so feeble that the tension is non-existent. Zephyr makes for a great tragic character but serves little purpose as a "villain."
Admiral Z (The titular antagonist) is an interesting take on a broken War-Hero type gone too far. The conclusion to the film is very satisfying and genuine to the character Oda and the director were trying to tell the story of.
The issue I have with this comes on two points:
The pacing is a trainwreck. This isn't uncommon for One Piece but it does make rewatching this more of a chore. A ton of exposition is dropped by a major figure from the series mid-movie, and while it does help round out the antagonist, it doesn't come across as natural information and isnt useful for the heroes at all.
Aside from the pacing, the subordinates of the antagonist are woefully uninteresting characters. They don't do anything unique or strong enough to feel like they actually threaten any of the protagonists. Also the setup for the clash of heroes vs villains is incredibly uninteresting; seeing which characters are afflicted for basically a gag rather than for a conflict resolution.
Overall this is the least-interesting of the "modern" films (starting with Strong World). It does nothing new to the dynamic of the heroes, its rogues are fairly bland, and the only thing keeping this film above water is the film's conclusion.
Ultimately: This is NOT a One Piece film about the Strawhat Pirates. They are simply there as an audience anchor. There are no new dynamics entertained and the villains are so feeble that the tension is non-existent. Zephyr makes for a great tragic character but serves little purpose as a "villain."