This is one of those movies that anyone who likes movies owes it to themself to watch (even if they hate cartoons). It's been awhile since I've had near this much fun watching a movie, it has a real James Bond/Diabolik/Indiana Jones/Jackie Chan kind of thing going on. Of course, this is a film by Hayao Miyazaki, who couldn't make a bad film if he tried. The animation may seem a little "old" to those spoiled by slick 90's animation, but I think this is a really well-animated film, it has a sense of realism and live-action while at the same time doing some things that would be impossible (or unbelievably dangerous) to do in a live-action film. The music is good too, despite not being done by Joe Hisashi.
The film does expect you to be somewhat familiar with the characters going into it, which some might complain about, but you have to remember that this is part of a fairly long-running series. I did see another, more recently made, film in the Lupin III series before seeing Castle of Cagliostro, so I did have some idea of the characters. I think a good sequal shouldn't waste time re-introducing characters we already know.
This is a terrific film, one I would love to see a good DVD of. I really hope the attention given to Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke causes people to check out some of his earlier work, like this film.
The film does expect you to be somewhat familiar with the characters going into it, which some might complain about, but you have to remember that this is part of a fairly long-running series. I did see another, more recently made, film in the Lupin III series before seeing Castle of Cagliostro, so I did have some idea of the characters. I think a good sequal shouldn't waste time re-introducing characters we already know.
This is a terrific film, one I would love to see a good DVD of. I really hope the attention given to Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke causes people to check out some of his earlier work, like this film.