Lupin III: the First

Lupin III: The First signals a fresh direction for the series - a computer-generated, back-to-basics, feature designed to appeal to as large a global audience as possible. Possessed of a consistent beauty, The First takes tonal cues from Hayao Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro, presenting Lupin as a fair-minded gentleman thief rather than the elasticated cad seen in Monkey Punch's early Weekly Manga Action strips. Director Takashi Yamazaki's two-dimensional approach to dramatic staging is atypical (especially in the context of free-wheeling animation), largely focused on how each of the finely rigged CG characters inhabits the film's delightfully lit environments. Scenes are blocked to demonstrate the minutiae of the performance being extracted from these expertly sculpted recreations; Lupin and co used as if they are marionettes, playing to flat, scratch built, sets.

It's an unusual approach, one that stands largely unopposed outside of The First's many exhilarating, motorised, action sequences. The one dramatic exception comes late in the film, describing the betrayal of a Neo-Nazi sect by a mad scientist named Lambert. Finally in possession of the an ancient super-weapon, the self-impressed backstabber rants and raves, destroying the film's leather-bound McGuffin. In these moments Lambert's face fills the screen, his mouth motoring at an obscene, spit-flecked pace. Conversely, subordinate characters are positioned at the edge of their frames, as if attempting to creep away from this outrage. This momentary dynamism starkly different from the icy distance Yamazaki otherwise insists be between the viewer and his idealisation of Monkey Punch's cast. Never less than handsome, The First also finds time to evoke the silent call-and-response relationship the big screen series has enjoyed with avowed (and appreciative) fan Steven Spielberg, recycling a moment or two from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If only The First had exterminated adherents of The Third Reich with the same unbridled glee.