Full disclosure: I did not manage to watch more than an hour and eight minutes of the 2014 live-action Lupin the Third movie. By not watching the full thing you may think that I'm either a lazy hack reviewer, or that the film was just too bad for a person to sit all the way through. On this occasion, I assure you it is the latter.
To start with the positives, at least the film got the look of the characters right. All of Lupin's gang match their cartoon counterparts with an uncanny degree of finesse. Even Fujiko's actress, whilst somewhat lacking her name-sake rack, does a great job of capturing the hyper-competent, sexually aggressive yet ultimately sympathetic femme-fatale. Hell, the show even has the same Fiat 500 that features in The Castle of Cagliostro, which is a nice touch.
Unfortunately, the whole thing is let down by terrible direction and writing. Almost the entire film seems to be made up of blandly photographed expository scenes in which characters talk for way too long. We are presented with a needlessly convoluted revenge plot full of redundant characters and details. The actual action scenes are few and far between, and shot in a confusing, disjointed manner. Even the music is bungled, with elevator jazz playing constantly throughout, often with no emotional or dramatic connection to what is happening in the scene.
Worst of all though is the lack of good character interaction. With so many superfluous people added to the story, Lupin's quartet of criminals barely have any opportunity to bounce off one another. The introduction of Goemon temporarily livens things up, but he and Jigen have too little time to work off one another. Similarly, Fujiko and Lupin have next to none of the chemistry or tension established over the four decade manga run.
As a fan of the Lupin franchise, I was suckered in by an exciting trailer that seemed to hit all the notes of a faithful, fun adaptation. It is anything but. I watched just over an hour, but it honestly felt like two. I feel bad for walking out on this one, and I have been criticized before for not seeing these things through, but I just couldn't see how the show could pick up after the slog it had put me through. Avoid!
Film The 2014 live action film.
Full disclosure: I did not manage to watch more than an hour and eight minutes of the 2014 live-action Lupin the Third movie. By not watching the full thing you may think that I'm either a lazy hack reviewer, or that the film was just too bad for a person to sit all the way through. On this occasion, I assure you it is the latter.
To start with the positives, at least the film got the look of the characters right. All of Lupin's gang match their cartoon counterparts with an uncanny degree of finesse. Even Fujiko's actress, whilst somewhat lacking her name-sake rack, does a great job of capturing the hyper-competent, sexually aggressive yet ultimately sympathetic femme-fatale. Hell, the show even has the same Fiat 500 that features in The Castle of Cagliostro, which is a nice touch.
Unfortunately, the whole thing is let down by terrible direction and writing. Almost the entire film seems to be made up of blandly photographed expository scenes in which characters talk for way too long. We are presented with a needlessly convoluted revenge plot full of redundant characters and details. The actual action scenes are few and far between, and shot in a confusing, disjointed manner. Even the music is bungled, with elevator jazz playing constantly throughout, often with no emotional or dramatic connection to what is happening in the scene.
Worst of all though is the lack of good character interaction. With so many superfluous people added to the story, Lupin's quartet of criminals barely have any opportunity to bounce off one another. The introduction of Goemon temporarily livens things up, but he and Jigen have too little time to work off one another. Similarly, Fujiko and Lupin have next to none of the chemistry or tension established over the four decade manga run.
As a fan of the Lupin franchise, I was suckered in by an exciting trailer that seemed to hit all the notes of a faithful, fun adaptation. It is anything but. I watched just over an hour, but it honestly felt like two. I feel bad for walking out on this one, and I have been criticized before for not seeing these things through, but I just couldn't see how the show could pick up after the slog it had put me through. Avoid!