Lupin the 3rd: Farewell to Nostradamus
Vandemar
A prophecy, a stolen diamond, a bratty kid, and in the middle of it all, Lupin the Third, the world’s greatest thief. His cunning escape takes a turn for the worse when his diamond gets stolen, and then someone jams a gun in his back. A twisting plot soon careens almost out of control, as Lupin tries to get his diamond back and winds up in a multi-sided plot with criminals, a powerful religious sect, and the prospect of millions of dollars if he pulls off a daring robbery.
You couldn’t ask for a more entertaining movie, if you’re looking for something to just sit down and watch. Farewell to Nostradamus has the stylish plot and characters of the best Bond movies, with much more humor, and a swinging jazz soundtrack that gives it a very fun feel. Sure, people die, but most of them are just movie extras, the ones you don’t worry too much about while the cool gunfight is going on. The story itself is extremely well-written, with crisp and witty banter, plenty of likable characters, and plenty of plot. It might be complicated, but it never stops moving and never gets hung up or impressed with its own twists and turn, gliding along from point to point and tossing out jokes left and right.
That’s not to say everything is light and fluffy. Nostradamus has its fun, but not all is jokes and cool gadgets. There’s plenty of shooting and a few deaths, and not everyone will be comfortable with kidnapping, but it’s handled cinematically and the deaths don’t stir a lot of emotion or attention. They may as well be extras, the cannon fodder of the silver screen, and that’s fine for the genre.
The art style is fantastic. Farewell to Nostradamus has an old school look to it, the animation and character designs call to mind classic anime, however, the DVD presentation is sharp and crisp, with none of the graininess, washed out color, or that “dirty” look that plagues older anime. It’s got the classic aesthetic, in other words, but none of the bad parts or shortcuts. Characters move fluidly, though they occasionally fall back on the old “just showing a swipe” instead of drawing out the action scenes.
There’s a few minor flaws like the lack of a Japanese stereo track, but otherwise, Lupin the 3rd: Farewell to Nostradamus is a perfect flick to toss in the DVD player when you don’t want to watch anything too heavy, but still want an entertaining story.
Technical/Extras: 8.0
The animation looks very nice and everyone moves very smoothly, however, the Japanese language track is in mono and not stereo.
Entertainment: 9.0
You won’t want to look away from it, lest you miss a joke, a gadget, or something of vital importance to the plot.
Overall: 8.5
Extras: 5.1 Surround Sound, Character Profiles, Q&A: Who Was Nostradamus, Trailers, Japanese/English Language and Subtitles
