Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to "Lupin the Marathon" here on Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, we continue this marathon by taking a look at another entry that came out in 1997. That movie is "Lupin the 3rd: Island of Assassins".
And unfortunately, there's not really a whole lot of information that I can give you guys about this one, because I know literally nothing about it. The only thing that I can tell you is that it's another Lupin movie. And...that's about it. Now, similar to a couple of other movies in this marathon, in which I knew nothing about them, it gives me the advantage, in which I can go into this movie as blind as possible and I can give you my full thoughts as I watch it, and then review it afterwards.
So, while I may not know anything about this one in particular, I'm gonna find out if this one is any good. I'm pretty sure it will be, considering that just about every other movie I've covered in this marathon has been rather good so far. I'm curious, though, where this one is going to rank amongst them. And the only way I'm gonna that find out is if I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Lupin the 3rd: Island of Assassins".
5 minutes later
OK...so, we're starting off pretty dark here. Though the one thing that leaves me puzzled is that Lupin, apparently, might've had a flashback, I guess, to someone pushing him out of the helicopter. And I'm guessing, maybe, this is the same person that also shot Zenigata a moment ago. I'm curious to see where this is all going, because right now, all I'm getting is more questions rather than answers.
6 minutes later
Well, guys, I just learned something new today. Even when Zenigata's at death's door, apparently, if you mention Lupin's name around his presence, he will come back to life instantly. Honestly, I don't find that to be really shocking. But still, you do learn something about the man everyday, don't ya?
8 minutes later
OK, I have a really dumb question here, and I know it has nothing to do with the movie itself, but I have to ask this. Why is Fujiko's hair blond here? I'm not judging or anything, it's just so odd to see her with this sort of hair color. The only other time that I saw her hair color like that was when I was watching "The Castle of Cagliostro". And even then, I had no idea why she was a blond there. Again, I totally understand that it's all trivial and stupid, but it's just something that I kinda wanted to point out, you know what I mean?
18 minutes later
So, from what I'm getting here, the leader of these Tarantula's, Gordo, is receiving orders on who to target and assassinate, which is how I'm guessing Lupin is going to carry out these orders, seeing as how he's marked with the spider tattoo and all. And essentially, this group that's giving out these orders to Gordo is basically something resembling the New World Order. At least, that's what I'm getting at here from that scene, anyways. And I gotta say...this is definitely not what I was expecting from a movie like this. Mind you, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just...different, really.
13 minutes later
OK, hold up, I just thought of something here. So earlier, the Doc was able to cure his poison with the antidote, which essentially removed the spider tattoo from his hand. Isn't he just basically risking his own self out here by being exposed to the other members who aren't a part of the resistance group like he is? Because, if one of the Tarantula's notices that his spider tattoo is gone from his hand that he's basically fucked here? I'm just saying that, perhaps, maybe the Doc shouldn't expose himself so easily and *not* risk getting caught by the Tarantula's that work for Gordo. But perhaps that's just me.
19 minutes later
Well, this has certainly gotten...darker than I imagined it to be. Granted, "Lupin the 3rd" has always had some dark moments here and there, but this one's definitely ramped it up to a tee. Holy shit...
The Review
OK, well, that ending was rather bittersweet. Not totally sure how to feel about that, honestly. Well, anyway, guys, that was "Lupin the 3rd: Island of Assassins". I'm gonna shut the movie off here...OK. So, where to begin here...? Well, you know what, even though that ending was a little bittersweet for my tastes, I'm not gonna let that ruin the film for me. Because honestly, the movie is still rather enjoyable. It's certainly nowhere near as good as the other films I've seen for this marathon so far, but it's certainly not the weakest either. It's just...different is all.
And on that note, I want to start things off by talking about the writing here. Now, since I just mentioned that this film feels different here, I need to start off by talking about how the film is set up here. You see, for a good portion of this movie, it's mostly set around this island, where a group of assassins known as the Tarantulas reside over. And it's not exactly by choice either, because, you see, the spider tattoos that they have on their bodies mostly act as a controlled poison. And the reason why I say it's controlled is because the island itself is filled with a type of gas that acts as a safe zone from the poison. And as long as you're on this island, the poison won't up and kill you. I'll get more into this in a second, but I should let you guys know, again, that a good portion of this movie is set around this island. And because of that, the pacing of this movie sorta drags a bit because the story just grinds to a halt, and it just kinda stays that way until Lupin's mission has to start soon after he gets the spider tattoo on his arm. Which is definitely an issue, especially to those who just want the story to go somewhere.
While I'm still talking about the setting for this movie, I want to mention something that could be seen as a potential deal breaker to some people who are fans of the Lupin series. And as a fan myself, I feel the need to address that here. See, whenever I think of "Lupin the 3rd", aside from the characters, I would usually envision the different locations that Lupin and the gang would visit in order to find whatever treasure they are looking for. Which brings me back to the island setting for this movie because, since a good portion of the movie is set on the island itself, there's not much traveling going on in this movie until a little halfway into the film itself. Like I mentioned a little earlier, the film feels very different, but it's not entirely a bad difference. And they still have the usual tropes such as their being hidden treasure, which is just gold in this movie, but the layout is totally different when compared to previous Lupin movies that came before this one.
And speaking of which, let's get into the next thing that feels different about this movie, which is it's tone. Tonally speaking, the film is much darker than it's previous outings. In fact, it's quite possibly the darkest film in the entire series, both tonally and art direction. However, I'll get to the latter later when I talk about the animation. But anyway, yeah, the tone for this movie is definitely much darker than it has been beforehand. Now, to be fair, it still does have the usual Lupin tropes, and it does enough to where it's not completely pitch black. However, it is still very different, at least in terms of it's tone. But it's not entirely a bad thing either. I'm perfectly OK with a Lupin movie having a darker tone with itself as long as it's handled properly. And it's certainly handled a lot better here unlike the last arcs of Part's IV and V, where they tried too hard to be as dark as possible. Because at least with this movie, it knew what kind of story it wanted to tell and how they wanted to convey it in it's own way. And I appreciate that kind of effort tremendously.
Now, setting aside the tone of this movie, let's get into the characters. When it comes to our recurring cast, a lot of them, unfortunately, feel like they're just playing second fiddle here. None of them have any real standout moments in this film. Even with someone like Fujiko, who also ended up getting the spider tattoo, is kinda played as straightforward. Though in fairness, since she is on the island, she's not in any danger of the poison affecting her. The only closest bit is with Detective Zenigata, who ends up getting shot at near the beginning of the movie. Though it's not really saying much, since most of his screen time is just him bickering with his new partner Detective Flanagan. And as you might've guessed, it's mainly just comic relief. And in most cases, I would say it's fucking pointless. However, seeing as how this movie is working with a darker tone in this movie, it's not as bad as it could be. So, I'm willing to give it a slight pass here. The only other character who's even worth mentioning is Ellen. Ellen, in this movie, has the most character development of the bunch, seeing as how she's a member of the Tarantulas, and you do end up caring about her enduring struggles in the group while trying to find her own freedom away from them. It's the only bit of character depth you get out of this movie and it's really good stuff, too.
Now, beyond all that, the writing in this movie is mostly pretty good. Now, when I say it's pretty good, I'm in no way saying that the movie is great or anything. Like I mentioned earlier, it's definitely not as strongly written as, say, "Dead or Alive" or "Farewell to Nostradamus", but it's certainly better than something like "The Fuma Conspiracy". Which, to me, is still the weakest film in the entirety of "Lupin the 3rd". So yeah, this movie is a little bit above average at best. That being said, I will say that the acting here is still really good. Once more, the movie was dubbed by Funimation. And naturally, you have the same talent of voice actors providing the roles for these characters. And without sounding like a broken record, they naturally do a really good job with their respective roles. So yeah, I can't really say anything more than what I've already said about the Funimation dub cast for these movies.
Before I talk about talk the animation, I actually want to start with something I don't normally ever comment on very much, which would the film's color palette. Now earlier, I mentioned that this movie was going in a darker direction in both tone and art direction. And in the case of the latter, this is something that I need to mention here. Now, like I've mentioned beforehand, most of this movie is taking place on the island. And the island itself is mostly filled with dark, murky colors. Which makes sense, given that this movie is taking place on a mysterious abandoned island of sorts that is filled with a special type of gas. However, I should let you guys know now that if you ever get a chance to watch this movie, get use to seeing a lot of these murky colors, because that's what you're gonna be seeing throughout a majority of this movie. It's not gonna be as colorful as other Lupin films have been beforehand and probably afterwards, too. I wouldn't know about that yet, seeing as how I haven't seen any of the films that came out after the 90's. But with that said, the animation here is still really good, as is the art-style, which is very similar to "Dead or Alive", which is another plus in my book.
Sound-mix here is mixed fine. The music here is also pretty good, too, as is the case with Yuji Ohno. And the ending song that plays during the ending credits sounds beautiful. Mind you, I only listened to a bit of it before shutting the movie off, seeing as how the rules of Reaction & Review are once I see credits, I shut off the movie. But still, it sounded really good. So yeah, music here is great.
Ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Lupin the 3rd: Island of Assassins"? For the most part, yes. As long as you know what you're getting yourself into here. If you're not really a fan of the darker based stories centering around "Lupin the 3rd", then it's possible that you may not like this one as much as others. However, seeing as how I've seen a good handful of these movies, and knowing what darker elements are added into those films, it doesn't really bother me as much. Now again, I don't think it's as good as other some of the other movies I've seen in this marathon, but it's also not the weakest either. It's just a little bit in the middle for me. But still, I'll definitely be rewatching it again at some point, and I'll also be adding it to my ever growing collection of "Lupin the 3rd" movies I already own on DVD already. Now...with that said, I'm gonna go and watch something else. I think, maybe, I'll go and rewatch something a little bit more light-hearted. I think I'm gonna go watch my copy of "Mirai". I haven't watched that one in quite a while, so I'm gonna go and do that next after I get done with this review.
And with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.
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