Lupin the Third the Castle of Cagliostrou Movie Review
- DropofVenus
- Sep 3, 2015
- 3 min read
Full Review
Pro: A perfect example of what a movie is and what they should do
Con: The only Lupin movie Miyazaki directed, requires a little background knowledge on the original series
Final Thoughts: I went into this movie blinded and somewhat unconvinced that it was really worth watching unless you have watched the oringinal series. However with this mvoie being Miyazaki's directoral debut I could not simply ignore watching it for long. Needless to say, it is without a doubt one of the best first films a director could have and one of my absolute favorite animated films period. Even if you have not seen the original series all you really need to be familair with are the main characters and that they are theifs excluding Zenigata and Fujiko is somewhere in between. There are tons of connections to miyazaki's later works scattered in this film as well as his overall effective style. So yeah, I would reccomend getting the jump on watching this if you have not already.
Story: Lupin the third is a master theif who just got done stealing a tons of moeny from the national cansino only to realize early on that it is counterfeit. So Lupin and his right hand man and straightshouter Jigen go off to the country of Cagliostoru to uncover the black hole of counterfeiting operations and save themselves a young girl somehow connected to Lupin's past. The movie has tons of little mystery details here and there and is just a blast to watch. It is fast paced but knows when to stop and let the atmosphere sink in (again another well loved characteristic of miyazaki films). Its not simply banking off he original series, it is clear that a lot of thoguht and heart was put into this film.
Characters: One major complaint for the movie is that Lupin (our main chracter) is too heroic. Miyzaki clearly did some changes in order to make Lupin more of a hero for the audience to root for rather than the cruder original. I personally did not find a problem with this version of Lupin and enjoyed his charming interactions with Clarisse. Clarisse and out main bad guy are fit well into both their roles as the damsel and villan. Not much else to say other than they are all good and fun to watch.
Art: Classic late 70s style with again tons of little details here and there. The design of the setting (particulary the castle) is full with secret passageways and rooms. In many ways the details and layout of everthing in it makes sense and helps pull the movie along as an essential aspect for its charm and epicness.
Sound: Its classic Lupin the third stuff the soundtrack that plays during the car chase sequence helps as well. The little sound effects also add to much of the comedy in to movie. The song Fire Treasure is played as the end and sounds very nice too. There are two dubs for the series the only one I have seen is the manga entertainment dub and I thought it worked well even though they pged a little too much.
Final Score: 5 stars
Reccomendations:
Castle in the Sky/Urusei Yatsura Movie 2 Beautiful Dreamer/Lupin the Third Movie the Mermaid Scale
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