Watch Lupin the Third: The Mystery of Mamo For Free

Truly Dreadful Film

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

I'll tell you this, Lupin definately was far different from "castle of cagliostro" because Lupin in this one was acting a lot more hornier and probably a lot more of being a enormous jerk then you ever imagine. Despite him being the usual clever goofball we know, he seriously wanted to get jiggy with Fujiko really badly and I'm being really serious here! They both would be cute together but both really have different personalities, so that it does show that theres a slim chance that they "might" end up together. Anyways lets put the lovey dovey stuff aside and i have to say the action was not bad. I wouldn't consider this movie or the other Lupin movies I've seen to be part of the #1 as The Castle of Cagliostro. It had a lot more taste in car chases and a lot of serious action towards it then this one. Mamo was pretty much a rip off of yoda with a white wig and only a brain, nothing really exciting about the villains part lol.This anime did however ketp me entertained like Lupin acting like an idiot was kinda funny to be honest. Definately wouldn't recommend children watching this at the same time! I give this 8/10!

Like most people, my first introduction to the character of Lupin was the most famous of his feature films, 1979's 'The Castle of Cagliostro'. That may not be the most faithful to the manga of Lupin's feature films but on its own it was nonetheless a great film on first viewing and still is a personal favourite animated film of mine on top of being my personal favourite Lupin film.The first Lupin film, this film 'The Secret of Mamo' (its UK title), is a very good feature film debut for the character. It may not be the best overall of the films, but it is the very definition of first class escapism and staying true to its roots. Meaning that it is in some way the most faithful to the manga, being surprisingly risqué, with the sexual elements actually being present and not toned down, and actually having the characters quarrelling. 'The Secret of Mamo' is the boldest, the most ambitious and quite possibly the darkest Lupin film, and on the most part is successful in execution.It is not faultless. 'The Secret of Mamo' is let down by the third act, which does feel muddled and convoluted, not everything feels resolved and tonally it did feel at odds with the rest of the film, close to feeling like a complete different film. Unlike the rest of the film it did descend into strangeness and the science fiction elements were nowhere near as well executed as the action and characterisation elements, they were on point, the sci-fi elements came over as clunky and confused.Occasionally, the animation is a little rough. The character designs, like the somewhat odd one for Lupin, lack finesse and it doesn't always flow as well as it could have done.However, most of the animation in 'The Secret of Mamo' is fine. It is quite creative in the action, the attention to detail is impressive and the colours are both atmospheric and ethereal. The music score is dynamic and groovy, fitting beautifully with the action and story atmosphere.When it comes to the writing, 'The Secret of Mamo' is largely successful. It provokes a lot of thought and the wry humour and slapstick are genuinely hilarious. Apart from misgivings with the final third, the story is bold but also doesn't forget to be fun and exciting, particularly in the action-oriented parts (the helicopter, police and lorry chase sequence is terrific and classic Lupin). It is Lupin at his most ambitious, though you are also mostly admiring the execution rather than finding it overly-ambitious. Admired 'The Secret of Mamo' too for its tackling of interesting, mature and difficult subjects with cloning, honour, love and personal identity and doing it in a way that's thought-provoking and entertaining, with only the cloning aspect failing somewhat.Characterisation is on point as is the character interaction, Lupin is not at his most likable, no, but he nonetheless a fun and commanding lead character that carries the film well. Mamo is a suitably intimidating villain and poses as a real danger. Particularly shining are the supporting characters, particularly sexy Fujiko and hilarious Zenigata, though Jigen and Goemen are very cool as well. The voice acting is very good, notably for Mamo.In summary, not perfect but worth the discovery. Lupin's feature film debut is a very good one. 8/10 Bethany Cox

It starts out with Lupin dieing… I kid you not; this is really how it starts. The guy had the same fingerprints, DNA, and even looked the same as him. And yet, after a while, you see him rather fine and alive moments later. It's rather creepy in a way. Then when we get to the story with Mamo, it gets even creepier and action packed with one chase scene after another.Lupin is none to bright, though he is a rather lucky guy. His addiction to women even breaks the trio up for a time when he picks Fujiko over his partners. He's irrational at times when not seeing the full picture and so it tends to get him into a lot of trouble that the others have to bail him out of. Fujiko is actually a rather good counterpart, using her sex appeal to make him do as she wants, and yet in this movie, it appears she actually does care for him a lot. It's rather interesting and changes a couple things, giving insight into why she pulls him around. In the end though, it seems that she is just a little to greedy.One thing that is actually rather interesting is that they did a rather good job at mimicking the idea of a Samurai in Goemon. I know people are going to go 'well hey! It's Japan and they know about samurai' but really, all the other times I see samurai in anime, they are actually not as well done. If you look at the long line of anime samurai, name one person that is the very idea of a true samurai from history. Can't get many, right? With one strike, he tries to take down an enemy, which is much closer to the original idea.I cannot believe that Zenigata is still alive after all he's gone threw. That guy gets into more problems then ever including surviving bombs being dropped on him.The opening starts with something rather odd, a women's egg being used for what I would think of as a cloning experiment. A good way to start if I must say for something that seems to be a cloning experiment story line. The artwork is rather lacking in detail and the characters become rather exaggerated with arms stretching out or legs turning into something close to stick figures threw parts of the shot. Still, it's not actually a bad thing. It gives the show character and comedy which works well with how the script is created. This is one of those shows that I'm actually saying the script is better with the somewhat cheap animation they have. It fits! Now another part of the show was a bit interesting as Lupin has a chase scene threw famous pieces of artwork and then runs into clones of both Hitler and Napoleon.The English voices are rather interesting, and I can't believe they really used Lupin's voice the way they did. I don't know exactly which version I watched on Hulu but I believe it's the Geneon version which has him played by Tony Oliver with a rather weasel like voice. He's cocky and annoying in most cases, not sounding like he was the majestic thief although, as you keep watching it, it does tend to grow on you. Inspector Zenigata has a rather good voice for a bumbling detective though he has a bit of a Texan accent. The script is pretty cheesy, though I heard it's like this for the Japanese dub too. I had to rather laugh when one of the American characters actually calls Jigen a democrat when he stands up to them about their politics.

Lupin III is Japan's longest running anime series, spawning five movies, three television series, annual Television specials which continue to this day and even a live-action movie. One of the films, "Castle Of Cagliostro", in fact, is considered an animation classic by most critics on both sides of the Pacific. However, before "Cagliostro" there was "Mamo". Mamo is based more on the traditional Lupin as created by manga artist Monkey Punch-so those who are used to the kind anti-hero in COC might be in for a slight shock. This Lupin is more of a womanizer and a trickster than Miyazaki's version. The plot doesn't flow as well as COC's, and is kind of drawn out with a couple false endings. The visuals aren't as good as COC either, with some rough-looking animation in spots and action scenes that don't flow as well. Anyway, it's still a good movie, especially for fans of Monkey Punch's take on the character(as opposed to Miyazaki) just overlong. A word to the wise though-the DVD doesn't have the Japanese track, something which some anime fans might not like. The dub is OK voice wise, but the script has obviously been rewritten slightly-something which becomes blatantly obvious when you hear, over a radio, George Bush and Boris Yeltsin chatting, something really out of place in a 1978 film....