Robotic_Castro

First off, let me say that my opinion of this movie is highly biased. Tenkuu no Escaflowne is far and away my favorite anime series. This movie, correctly titled Escaflowne: A Girl in Gaea, has been called a retelling of the story. More accurately it should be called a butchery of the story. While containing vaguely similarly named characters, everything else about the movie is completely different. While the tv series conveys themes of hope, determination, and the power of love and friendship, A Girl in Gaea is tainted with depression, angst, hate, and needless violence. Unbelievably, it is an even worse bastardization of the Escaflowne story than the reprehensible dub release that aired on the Fox Kids' programming block. In effect, the film makers took a wonderful series and turned it into Ninja Scroll. Even a score by my favorite composer, Yoko Kanno, wasn't enough to save this movie.

There may be some redeeming qualities to this movie if you enjoy dark, violent fare. It's not as stupid or low calibre as Ninja Scroll, but the depressive, hate-filled undertones make up for it. If you're a pure fan of the series, avoid it at all costs.

1/10 (probably biased)

I was very intrigued going into this movie. I'm a lover of director Hayao Miyazaki's work for Studio Ghibli and a fan of the Lupin III series as well, but I was very skeptical on how well they could combine. Miyazaki's work is about beautiful animation, endearing characters, and patient study of behavior and nature(though not so much in Mononoke Hime). Lupin is fast paced, mindlessly fun, full of slapstick humour and crazy gadgets. Obviously both styles can't coexist fully, but can they share the stage successfully? The answer is: not quite. For the most part, this movie is standard Lupin fare. Miyazaki's influence can be seen in some of the early panoramic shots, in the slightly higher quality of animation, and in the development of the film's love story. Unfortunately, all of these elements detract from the things that make Lupin so great. The pacing is just a little too slow and the movie is at least 20-30 minutes too long. While Lupin is the star, it would be nice to see a little more of Jigen, Fujiko, and my favorite, Goemon, and a little less of the uncharismatic daughter of the Count. Zenigata is the only supporting character to get any significant screen time, but is not at his best since he spends the majority of the movie cooperating with Lupin rather than chasing him. Despite this criticism, this Cagliostro has the standard feel of any Lupin III movie. If you like Cagliostro, you'll like the other Lupin movies. If you're a fan of the series but haven't seen Cagliostro yet, you will probably enjoy it, though it may not be your favorite.

In short, Castle of Cagliostro is a little too ambitious, and loses some of the fast-paced, fun feel that is so integral to the Lupin series(remember that Lupin III was a tv series before it became a popular movie franchise). In the end, Cagliostro, like most Lupin movies, is good, but not great.

For greatest enjoyment, I highly recommend viewing any Lupin III movie in a theater/large group setting if possible. The zany nature of the humour does not lend itself well to private viewings.

6.5/10