The roguish gentleman thief Lupin III (Kan’ichi Kurita/Tony Oliver) is hot on the tail of his next acquisition: an archeologist’s diary encased in an intricate clockwork case, lost during the Second World War. Its contents are fabled to hold the location of thousands of precious artifacts. Laetitia (Suzu Hirose/Laurie Hymes) beats the famed thief to the punch, hoping to use Bresson’s diary to somehow ensure her acceptance into an American university. As if she had planned it, Lupin’s long-time competitor Fujiko (Miyuki Sawashiro/Michelle Ruff) escapes with the diary leaving Lupin to be captured by Interpol.
It seems like it’s all over until a little yellow car charges through the police convoy. Inside are sharpshooter Jigen (Kyoshi Kobayashi/Richard Epcar) and the samurai Goemon (Disuke Namikawa/Lex Lang) who ply their skills to rescue Lupin from police custody quickly and expertly. Now free, Lupin tracks down Laetitia and the young woman convinces the thief to let her join the team in exchange for her knowledge. Soon thereafter, we see Fujiko turning over the diary to her employers who discover her scheme to take the money and the diary as well. They imprison her and reveal themselves to be the remnant of a corps of occult Nazi archeologists who believe the diary holds the key to finding and using an ancient weapon of great power. The plot unfolds from there as the diary and the conspiracy surrounding it reveal their secrets.
This is the first installment of the long-running Lupin III series rendered in 3D. The animation team had a daunting task creating a realistic world while keeping the iconic character designs and cartoonish nature of the series intact. They succeeded almost completely. They created such detailed, realistic environments from the 1960s Paris backdrop of the first scenes to every vehicle and device shown on screen. Each of the recurring characters is instantly recognizable and retains quirks from the original comics and series. Lupin III: The First is visually stimulating from start to finish, aiming for realism while bowing to cartoonish smears and antics when especially humorous or expected.
The reveal of a Nazi plot takes Lupin from a comedic cat-burglar to a neo-noir detective and the addition of sci-fi elements is a new turn for the series as well. The things which didn’t transfer, as well from the previous 2D iterations of Lupin III, were the adult themes and violence. Gunfire and mild sexual situations are easily read as comic in the cartoon but it seems far too real in 3D with Dolby Surround Sound, especially the on-screen shooting death of a character towards the end of the film. For that reason, it would be advisable to keep this movie with the adult crime thrillers rather than in the children’s section. Despite these small issues, Lupin III: The First is Highly Recommended. Aud: J, H, P.