"To games well played."
"We're thieves. We steal back what Michael stole from us. With interest."
— Arsène Lupin III
Lupin The 3rd is a film adaptation based on the manga of the same name, which was written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It was released on the 30th of August, 2014, where the year represented the 40th anniversary of a previous adaptation: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy.
Arsène Lupin III is a master thief who resides with an international thieves' guild called "The Works". Having been taught by his mentor, Thomas Dawson, he relishes in stealing from the rich. But his escapades change when rival Michael steals the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra, causing the death of Thomas and sending "The Works" into ruin. With Michael intending on completing the necklace by retrieving a special ruby through an illusory crime lord, Lupin and his team attempts to seek vengeance, as long as a determined investigator doesn't lead the police straight to all of them.
A spin-off based on Jigen, Jigen Daisuke (2023), was released in 2023.
Lupin The 3rd contains examples of:
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Michael almost says this word-for-word when telling Fumiko about his plan to complete the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra. This is through an explosive-laced cheque handed to Pramuk, which can be activated by Michael. Unfortunately, he didn't count on his goons secretly sabotaging his plan and working for Pramuk instead.
- Bond Gunbarrel: This serves as the first shot of the end credits, with Lupin as the shooter.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: When Lupin uses explosives to blows up the ground under the Singapore Museum pillar containing the Medal of Zeus, it's meant to establish him as someone who forgoes stealth and opts for flashy solutions. The audience would forget about this until the third act, where Lupin uses the rest of his explosives to blow open the door in Pramuk's oxygen deprivation room.
- Combat Pragmatist: During the final battle between Fujiko and Maria, the latter is in a combat stance. Cue Fujiko simply taking out a pistol and shooting her.
- Doomed by Canon: Since Michael Lee does not appear in the source material, you would probably think that something bad will happen to him by the end. This movie would prove you correct, since he dies at the end to save Lupin's life.
- Face–Heel Turn:
- The beginning of the movie has Michael Lee turning on "The Works", believing that their leader killed his father for the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra necklace.
- But this trope comes back to bite Michael: Royal, Saber and Maria, who were his cronies, defect to Pramuk's side.
- Foreshadowing:
- When Jiro and Pierre question Lupin about his explosive tactic to steal the Medal of Zeus, the latter jokes that it would take something greater than a bomb to kill the two. Minutes later, Jiro dies from Saber stabbing him with a katana. This is subverted with Pierre, who survives.
- There are times where Michael is clearly a Death Seeker. His plan to get the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra's ruby from Pramuk involves triggering an explosive cheque if the latter does not give it to him. After that plan fails, he goes to Lupin's team and tries to have Jigen shoot him in the head. All this leads up to his final fate, where he pulls a heroic sacrifice to save Lupin from running out of oxygen in Pramuk's sealed room.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: This is how Saber goes down, courtesy of Goemon vertically slicing his head in half.
- Heroic Sacrifice: To escape Pramuk's oxygen deprivation room, Lupin puts some explosives at the door, to be activated by a trigger. If he tries to press it, the shockwave would kill him and Michael. Michael then knocks Lupin out and puts him in a safe that contained the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra, pressing the trigger himself.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: With only two bullets, Jigen ends up cornered by Royal. Seeing a fallen rifle aiming at Royal, Jigen's solution is to shoot the trigger, causing the rifle to fire a bullet at Royal's chest.
- Latex Perfection: This is how Lupin and Michael infiltrate The Ark, by wearing masks of Koichi and Narong.
- Mythology Gag: Pramuk's guards shoots who they believe are Lupin and Michael. However, it turns out to be inflatable people, with the faces being inspired by the Part I anime. And speaking about that anime, the ending has Lupin wear the same green jacket.
- Parrying Bullets: Goemon takes on armed guards by swinging his sword repeatedly to block each bullet.
- Retirony: Thomas was planning to step down as chairperson of "The Works". Unfortunately, he dies on the same night he announces this.
- Shout-Out: A gunbarrel appears in the first shots of the end credits, with Lupin walking across and shooting the screen. This undoubtedly references an old James Bond tradition.
- Split Screen: This technique is used to show the separate fights of Lupin and Michael against Pramuk's henchmen.
- Training Montage: After Michael rejoins Lupin's team, each member decides to prepare for the Crimson Heart of Cleopatra robbery in The Ark. It consists of:
- Goemon cutting bamboo trees with his sword.
- Jigen cleaning his gun and quick-drawing it.
- Lupin and Michael wrestling and boxing.
- Fujiko performing yoga.
- Wham Line: We were led to believe that Thomas killed Michael's father for the first half of the movie. But during the Buy/Sell auction between Michael and Pramuk, this line is dropped:Pramuk: I was there in Egypt. The night I shot your father.
- Xanatos Gambit: Lupin threatens Michael with this before the latter's deal with Pramuk, since he's a thief and all."You win, I steal from you. He wins, I steal it from him. Good... luck."
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: This is Maria's reaction when Fujiko non-fatally shoots her, just after the two were ready to settle things with their fists.
- You Killed My Father: Michael wanted revenge on Thomas because the latter killed his dad, Edward Lam. However, it turns out that Pramuk actually did the deed and framed Thomas for this.
"In the end, it's all about luck."
