Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Awesome Movie

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Of all the Lupin animated features that the saga has had in its long history, this one is my top favourite. It embodies all the elements that make up a great Lupin tale, but also stands out as being different from a normal expected Lupin tale. And it's just so much fun to see, too! Not since the Miyazaki era has there been a Lupin story that has been as entertaining as this one.The story is the standard for a "soft-boiled" Lupin tale: Lupin and his mates carry out a caper with Zenigata in pursuit, Fujiko has her own plans in effect, and then everyone gets sidetracked by an innocent's plight who they help out against the bad guy troubling them. While it's the basic status quo, it's told competently and well and provides a great blend of action, comedy, danger and fun that engages and entertains. What makes this a refreshingly different story for Lupin fans, is that the focus is on the tenacious Inspector Zenigata, an underrated character in the Lupin saga. Zenigata is famously portrayed as a comical figure that Lupin loves to make a fool of, but what most fans overlook is that it takes a master cop to catch or even catch up with a master thief. This feature gives Zenigata an excellent display of serious intelligence and bravery and prove himself a real hero to Maria, this story's supporting female. Consequently this sidelines Lupin and his gang, a little uncomfortably but not unreasonably. The master gunman Jigen is hampered by a toothache, the master swordsman Goemon loses his sword and gets utterly emasculated, and Lupin and Fujiko are seriously outmatched by the villain, businessman Michael Suzuki. It serves in making Suzuki more dangerous and unstoppable, and his campaign is made more sinister by Maria experiencing visions of a terrible future... Of course the heroes manage to save the day and pull off their caper, but it's not really a victory unless their enemy was a serious threat. The artwork is wonderful for a 1990s anime, the voice cast is reliable (in both the original Japanese and English dub), and the music is jazzy in both an exciting and mellow manner. It's a great ride to go through, and anyone who wishes to learn of Lupin III would be well advised to start off with this story.

The funniest of all the Lupin III movies I have seen. Endless visual and spoken jokes. And also one of the cheeriest of the movies. Zenigata finally gets to have some sort of warm human relationship outside of his pursuit of Lupin. Plus, Toyko Crisis is well-scored. Thanks to Yuji Ohno again. (I believe that is a cameo of Yuji Ohno playing the piano in the G.H. Nine Jazz Pub) The variety of relationship changes is refreshing and adds to the story. Goeman and Fujiko are teamed up, Zenigata has an attachment, and Fujiko is the apparent leader instead of Lupin. Also, Jigen and Goeman are at their weakest. Jigen has to face his biggest fear, the dentist, and Goeman has been separated from the love of his life, Zantetsuken. The whole franchise benefits and grows from these further explorations of pre-established facets of their personalities, and it's great for laughs in this movie.I think that in some way, a lot of this movie is about the similarities between Zenigata and Lupin. Like Lupin, there is more to Zenigata than the front most people see. He is not incompetent, he is very astute, as Maria finds out while she tries to keep Zenigata from getting sick on sake. He may be drunk and despondent, but his mind is working and he has noticed the connection between Michael Suzuki and the drivers who caused so much trouble on the highway—a connection a lesser cop might have missed.I like Maria quite a bit because she's not a worthless dip like some one-movie characters. She's a developed character with motivations or her own, and she stands up for herself and what she wants.Lupin Tradition: Lupin's underwear during the opening escape sequence, striped boxers.

I recently watched this on DVD.And it was flipping awesome! Every minute of this Lupin movie was action packed! The animation is great, the story is great, and even the additional characters are great too.This is also the first time they have Inspector Zenigata playing a bigger role.It's all taken place in Tokyo and has a lot to do with this new Aquapolis resort and a young woman named Maria who has a connection with the owner of Aquapolis, Micheal Susuki.Has all the good stuff you'd expect from a good Lupin TV movie.i highly recommend this to all the Die-Hard Lupin Fans.I give this a 8/10.

I had watch the movie in japanese I say it great and I like about it is we get to see more of Inspector Zenigata and other are great too I'am a lupin fan also many other who are will love this movie. Also I hope Funmation will make a english version of it very soon and it will come out on vhs and dvd. 9 of 10