Shelf Life

Lupin III: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon

From what I've read, this is the one Lupin project that nobody wanted to finish. Hayao Miyazaki reportedly turned down an early offer to helm the project, and instead recommended that the producers hire Mamoru Oshii. Oshii initially took the job, only to walk away after his ideas for the story were rejected. Yoshio Urasawa then took over writing the script, but he was unable to complete it and Atsushi Yamatoya was brought in to finish the job. The movie also ended up with two co-directors, just for good measure. With all these folks coming and going in key creative roles, it's no surprise that the plot doesn't always hold together. It is, however, delightfully over-the-top, even for a Lupin film.

This time around, Lupin and company are searching for a huge stockpile of gold left behind by an ancient civilization. In order to find the treasure, Lupin has to take on the New York gangsters who hold the tablets that reveal its location, and he also must figure out how an elderly woman named Rosetta fits into the equation. Along the way, he has to dodge a seemingly endless number of mafia hitmen, not to mention the always-persistent Zenigata, who has somehow ended up in charge of a team of “Miss ICPO” beauty queens. Just in case all that isn't enough, it turns out that aliens are also looking for the treasure. Yes, Lupin steals gold from aliens in this movie. Try not to think about it too hard.

The film's turbulent production process is reflected in its story, which, as you may have guessed from the synopsis, is a bit of a mess. While it's not unheard of for this franchise to throw a bit of drama in with all the comedy and heist action, those different elements are at their best when they complement one another. In this case, the various parts of the story don't so much complement one another as compete with one another for the audience's attention. The modern New York stuff is too disconnected from the ancient ruins in the Middle East, and Rosetta's story is too different in tone from all the zany chase scenes. The end result is more like a few unrelated stories edited together than a single, unified film. On top of that, the ending jumps the shark in spectacular fashion, to the point where I jumped up and shouted, “Wait, what?” while watching it.

On the upside, most of the heist and chase scenes work pretty well when taken on their own merits.The action sticks pretty closely to the fun, lighthearted tone associated with the franchise, which makes it a little easier to ignore the convoluted plot as long as things are driving fast and/or exploding. There are motorcycle chases, train chases, tank chases, and plenty of death-defying heist stunts sprinkled throughout the movie. Once you get past their admittedly awkward introductions, Zenigata's crew of ICPO cops-turned-beauty-queens add an interesting twist to some of the big action scenes. Since they're more competent than Zenigata typically is on his own, they turn the ICPO into a more legitimate threat and add some unpredictability to the basic cat-and-mouse stuff between Lupin and the mafia.

As far as the characters go, the usual suspects all play their designated roles fairly well. The dynamic within the core cast is a big part of why this franchise has stuck around for so many years; even when the writing isn't stellar, it still just works. Lupin will always keep the story rolling with his over-the-top schemes, Jigen and Goemon will always be tough enough to get him out of trouble, and Fujiko will always play the wild card and keep things interesting. The characters specific to this movie are somewhat less impressive. Rosetta starts off as an underwhelming source of comic relief and her role gets stranger from there, and neither of the mafia leaders are particularly compelling villains. It therefore falls on the main cast to carry the story, which means that there's not much in the way of fresh character development or emotional impact.

The animation quality here is decent but unspectacular, especially by movie standards. On the other hand, the visual direction is reasonably strong, with a few particularly inspired moments during the action scenes. If nothing else, this movie is worth watching just for the opening sequence, in which Lupin and Zenigata ride motorcycles on a giant three-dimensional billboard of a moving robot face. It's completely and totally bonkers, but in a good way. This Blu-Ray release features a new English dub with the cast from part four of the TV series, all of whom sound comfortable in their roles. There are also some interesting liner notes, which offer plenty of background information on the movie along with some insight into the translation process.

While I'm far from an expert on the franchise, I can still say with confidence that this one of the stranger Lupin adventures I've seen, in terms of both its origins and its actual plot. The average viewer may get a kick out of it as a slightly ridiculous piece of entertainment, though its real appeal for me comes from watching it in the context of its real-life history. It's unusual to see a title's production process reflected on-screen outside of inconsistent animation quality, so seeing multiple creative influences pull this story in different directions is fascinating in its own way. If you like taking deep dives into works of fiction or are just really into the history of this franchise, this film is worth checking out.
-Paul[TOP]