As someone born in the late 80s, the figure of Hayao Miyazaki entered my life unknowingly through a couple of reruns that would end up becoming two of my favorite series from my early years as a compulsive movie and television viewer: the charming animalized version of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and, above all, a ‘Lupine III’ that kept me glued to the screen, almost without blinking, for hours.
Despite not being, far from it, an expert in the universe created by the sadly disappeared Monkey Punch, I remember with special fondness ‘The castle of Cagliostro’; the brilliant 1979 animated feature film in which the co-founder of Studio Ghibli softened the original tone bringing it closer to the familiar audience with a classic-style adventure that, in addition, redirected the protagonist in a certain way towards the archetype of a criminal with a noble heart with whom to empathize without any problem.
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It is, precisely, this Miyazaki title the greatest influence of ‘Lupine III: The First’; the amazing leap of the infinite sideburns thief to 3D animation in a a film in which the echoes of James Bond and, above all, Indiana Jones go hand in hand with Nazis, ancient artifacts, archeology and tons of top quality fun.
Adding dimensions without losing a hint of essence
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Make jumps from 2D to 3D —Let’s not say to real action— is usually a too risky maneuver in which a good part of the essence and charisma of two-dimensional animation and its peculiar kinetics tends to disappear, and recent examples such as ‘Stand by Me Doraemon’ like this demonstrated; but in the case of ‘Lupine III: The First’, the appearance of volume has been great for characters who keep their charisma intact.
It is tremendously gratifying to sit and enjoy the 93 minutes of unpretentious entertainment that filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki has shaped through a pristine CGI with regard to technique, and that exploits the peculiarities of the large leading group; raising the levels of comedy – the gestural expressiveness is fabulous – and enriching some frenetic action sequences, spectacular and worthy of being enjoyed on the largest possible screen.
Of course, formal exhibitions would be useless without a compelling narrative that, in this case, once again alludes to viewers of all ages in that spirit. family friendly of ‘Cagliostro’ but which, at the same time, is not afraid to unleash that almost sordid slyness typical of Japanese productions, winking more than once —and two— at the older ones. In this way, an ideal tone for a small feat that, despite possessing an excellent sense of rhythm, cannot escape the clutches of déjà vu in plot terms.
Maybe the predictability, inherited from the repetition of patterns typical of the adventures of the archaeologist George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that cement the story, is the most reprehensible defect for a ‘Lupine III: The First’ that circulate on the screen like lightning without giving an iota of respite. I may not invent the wheel and I may not want to revolutionize the source material, but as far as I am concerned, it has been such an extremely pleasant surprise that I can’t wait to see ‘The Second’.
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