Rupan Sansei: Moeyo Zantetsuken
1994 / 90m - Japan
Adventure, Comedy, Crime - Animation
3.0*/5.0*
Lupin III: Dragon of Doom poster

Watches

August 25, 2020

3.0*/5.0*

A pretty traditional Lupin adventure. A notorious villain is chasing a rare and powerful artifact, asks Lupin's help and the rest is history. While there's some variation in execution and genre balance, the crux of the Lupin films doesn't seem to change all that much. Lupin is a master thief and no matter how cunning his adversaries are, he's always better than them.

The first half of the film is spent on retrieving the artifact (which is stored in the shipwreck of the Titanic), the second half is basically one big carousel of deceit, with Goemon playing a central part in the story. The plot itself isn't all that interesting really, the ending is also incredibly predictable, but as a hook it offers plenty of opportunities.

The animation quality is rather mediocre, though it gets better whenever the action ramps up. The characters are a fun bunch, the sense of adventure is on point and the action scenes are pretty hilarious. These Lupin films aren't real stand-outs, but they sure are a lot of fun and because they're quite short, they're also easily digestible. I guess I'm a fan.