A Few Lupins Too Many

Fans of Lupin III need to be prepared for a lot of crap. Any franchise that's been going on for so damn long will have its share of garbage entries due to the ever-increasing number of creative minds involved, as well as changing attitudes towards the franchise's core concepts. I'm speaking of garbage, of course, because I recently watched Lupin III: Green vs Red, and it was bad. But bad in ways interesting enough that I'd like to try and dissect it a little.

The plot isn't that of a Lupin story, not in the sense we're all used to. The main character is not Lupin III, but some random, down-and-out loser called Yasuo who takes more or less stumbles into Lupin's trademark green jacket and thieving ways. He is one among literally hundreds of Lupin look-alikes, all sharing the criminal's appearance but displaying different personalities. Eventually he decides to steal the mysterious treasure “Ice Cube” (not the rapper, sadly) to prove he's better than a certain red-jacket Lupin, who acts like an asshole but is by far the most competent. Ice Cube is later revealed to be a fake, and the two main Lupins eventually have a showdown.

So, to begin with, we have no reason to care for Yasuo. He's not funny, or endearing, or interesting except in the most basic of ways, that maybe-I-can-find-the-strength-within-myself-to-become-something-greater way. His “evolution” is further hampered by the fact that it's shown out of order. We keep cutting to scenes seemingly at random of Yasuo first donning the green jacket, of Yasuo dicking around as an unmotivated loser, of Yasuo learning to pick pockets, of Yasuo fantasizing out of the blue about Fujiko Mine. Maybe it was just me, but I had a difficult time piecing together what happened when outside of the overarching conflict between Yasuo and Red Lupin, which critically hampered my ability to emphasize with Yasuo. Oh, look, he's depressed here! Is this a flashback to his old, aimless life, or is he out of the Lupin gear and discouraged by his recent loss to Red Lupin? Spoiler alert, none of the other Lupins are any more engaging than this.

Also, the supporting cast didn't do a very good job providing support. We all know what's going to happen: Jigen makes tricky shots after waxing poetic about his Magnum, Goemon cuts stuff, and Fujiko acts sexy and mysterious. All the required scenes are included, and they aren't half bad. But when Jigen and Goemon team up with Red Lupin just because “he's the most fun to work with” and Fujiko aids Yasuo so he can help with a heist, it's clearly out of narrative obligation more than anything. The only one with an actual role to play in this piece is, surprisingly, Zenigata.

Our job an audience, apparently, is to be mystified as to “who is the real Lupin?”, as Zenigata constantly reminds us. But the message the film beats us over the head over is that Lupin is an idea, a state of mind, a spirit of rebelliousness or determination to carve out one's own destiny. The discovery of Ice Cube's false nature reveals that which Lupin is real doesn't matter so long as others see any Lupin as real.

This message is bullshit as presented in the film for two reasons. First, I-know-Lupin-better-than-anyone Zenigata declares all Lupins other than Yasuo and Red Asshole Lupin to be fake, without giving any reason. Of these two remaining, wildly different Lupins, Zenigata cannot tell which one may be real (Really, writers? Really?). Why is that? What exactly makes those other hundreds of Lupins not Lupin? If nothing else, they're every bit as rebellious as the “idea of Lupin” would imply. Second, if the message is all about rebelliousness and making your own destiny, why do all the Lupins choose to dress and, to an extent, act the same? Hell, they even drive the same cars! And the masses are clearly not just latching onto a well-known symbol like he's the goddamn Batman; most members of the Lupin horde appear to genuinely believe they alone are the real one. Why the unexplained lack of originality?

It's really too bad, because this film certainly had potential. They say that Mamoru Oshii was going to make a Lupin film where Lupin never appears, where he has stolen the movie itself. It feels like Green vs. Red wanted to make that challenging kind of movie, to explore that core concept of what Lupin is, but was unsure of how. I'm certainly a fan of the animation, which changes styles several times but remains dynamic throughout. Sure, it does make the controversial choice of animating the non-Lupin characters in a much more drab, realistic style that drags the movie down in places. However, the designs are still quite detailed, and they interact with the more cartoony icons more fluidly than I expected. Also, they would have lent weight to the film's navel-gazing aspect if that aspect hadn't been so clumsy. In the end, I think this is that special kind of bad movie that does deserve at least one viewing, especially to fans of the franchise who complain how formulaic Lupin can be.

Anything you agree or disagree with? I'm no expert on this stuff, so feel free to poke holes in my analysis. Any Lupin movies or specials you feel are overlooked? Let us all know about them in the comments!