Lupin III: Island of Assassins

"Island of Assassins" is another adventure from famed master thief Lupin III. In this one, Lupin and the gang face off against a notorious group of mercenaries all marked with a distinctive spider tattoo on their hand. Together, Lupin, Jigan, Goeman and Fujiko will race against the clock to clear Lupin's name, get the gold, free hostages and unravel a mystery about Lupin's past. Doing all this, while trying to escape with their lives.

I have now seen about 8 of these Lupin III movies, and they can vary wildly in quality. I am a fan of this series, these are fun characters, they work well off of each other and set up fun and unique adventures. And fear not, this is one of the good ones. There are just a few things that keeps it away from being a great one.

First, addressing the tone. This movie is decidedly darker in tone compared to the majority of Lupin adventures. If you come into Lupin for its humor, most of that is being held up by a side story only tangentially related to the main events. This is a more Lupin focused story, with as much for Jigan, Goeman, Zenigate and Fujiko. The new character for this movie, Ellen, is more interesting and plot relevant than most of the female add-ons from these movies.

The setting of the island is an entertaining one. There is an almost constant sense of peril, like our heroes are one wrong look away from being killed. This movie has an intimidating villain and a compelling overarching mystery. The animation style helps compliment the darker more serious tone. It isn't necessarily my favorite animation for Lupin, but it is undeniably a step up from their episodic animation. I also like the English dub of Sonny Strait and Christopher Sabat (Krillin and Piccolo) for Lupin and Jigan.

The movie builds up to an exciting third act, but this is when the main problems begin to arise. Without giving anything away, there is a major plot point that is just ignored. The movie sets up these rules, and apply actions to consequences, but then at the end just say: "nah, don't worry about it." For a movie that is so serious, that plot hole may be the funniest joke of the film.

Overall, it is a good adventure, intimidating villains, compelling mysteries, exciting action and constant suspense. Then the ending has such a large plot point that is just ignored, it is impossible to ignore. But it is not enough to ruin the movie. It still gets a recommendation from me. Give it a watch if you are looking for a darker animated adventure.