We’re not talking about some of the more iconic entries in Hayao Miyazaki’s oeuvre here”but of course, a return to his roots on Lupin itself.
After wowing us with some fantastic trailers and a truly spectacular title sequence, Toho is back dazzling our eyeballs with the first clip from the very first CG-animated Lupin III movie, suitably titled Lupin III: The First. The clip sees the master thief under the arrest of his longtime rival (and occasional wary ally) Inspector Zenigata…well, for all of about a minute or so, until Lupin’s partners in crime, Jigen and Goemon, come riding along in Lupin’s for one hell of a car chase.
It’s all very gorgeous, and incredibly Lupin of course, but with Jigen’s revolver trick shots and fancy driving, that fantastically jazzy theme tune, and that dinky little Fiat, it’s hard not to feel like this is director Takashi Yamazaki’s riff on the car chase from The Castle of Cagliostro. Not only is the movie famously Miyazaki’s first directorial debut, having directed several episodes of the anime adaptation of Monkey Punch’s beloved manga, it is home to one of the most delightful, fantastical car chases in animated movie history, as Lupin and Jigen chase after a bride-to-be in distress.
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The new version is a bit flashier, but still, it’s a lovely tribute to a lovely sequence. Lupin III: The First hits Japanese theatres from December 6, while the rest of us are left to look on and sigh at how pretty it is.
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