Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin
| 13 October 2004 (USA)
Arsène Lupin Trailers

As the daring thief Arsène Lupin ransacks the homes of wealthy Parisians, the police, with a secret weapon in their arsenal, attempt to ferret him out.

Reviews
Morad Elshehabi

First of all, the 2 hours movie is enjoyable,, at least until the last hour.. Things start good ,, the build up,, the story line,, the characters.. all good. Then they stat the main adventure of the "treasure" thing! . Anyhow it keeps getting better.. then... then... all of the sudden, things change... and that's the second half. In the second half you don't know what the hell is happening! he loves this, then sleeps with that and loves her, she betray him, then not, then yes, then back to the first, then his father, then the treasure, then the woman, then the father, the witch, the crosses.. OMG .. it just kept going on and on!!! Every time you think this is the final scene they start a new thing, so there is a moment where you just don't give a damn about the story you just watch a twist after twist. No honestly, you will think the movie ended several time then!! Voilaaa.. it's on again!! That was crazy, enjoyable, fun yea.. but too much that I feel I got old now!!

... View More
rjeujune

This is the worst treatment of the books I've ever seen ! It's tripe from start to finish, except for Kristin Scott Thomas' interpretation of the Cagliostro.As someone who read all the books as a youngster, I can tell you they are much, much better than this. So was the French serial with Georges Descarrères (not sure of the last name).Frankly, the only thing that disappointed me more was the French rendition of the Fantômas movies with Louis de Funès and Jean Marais, of all people! Don't bother watching this. Get the serial. You won't be sorry.

... View More
Silvana-Leiss

I really had to laugh out loud at some of the complaints about this movie. It is really a mystery to me how someone paying attention to the movie could be confused by it? And while I admit indeed that there was more story and story twists in this movie, then in maybe 5 "great Hollywood productions" such as Spiderman put together...well, that's a part of the books, too! When reading a Lupin book it is never advisable to get used to things staying as they are! Arsene Lupin himself is one of the most dynamic characters that ever existed! I watched this movie at the Fantasy Film festival, and I enjoyed it immensely. So they took some story bits from different books, who cares? The story is nevertheless continuous and quite understandable, if one is ready to apply a bit more brainmatter to it than to ..say.."The Hulk"! The costuming and setting was splendid, and the whole tone was very fitting for the time in which it is supposed to play. Of cause no movie will ever truly incorporate all that is Arsene Lupin, it is simply impossible. Not just because of the different medium, but also because of the growing difference in thinking that characterizes the current time and the time in which it was written. The idea of a brilliant and gallant master thief itself will stay the same, but the habits, interaction with society's members and all that are so definite and important for Arsene Lupin, that leaving them in might confuse the mass audience, and leaving them out would destroy the Character. If anyone wants a Lupin for current times they may look for Lupin Sansei (supposed to be his grandson^^), and Simon Templar might be a sort of poor substitute, too. However, the original Arsene Lupin is a legend of his own time, and that description should make matters clear for anyone. oh, and the 9/10 is because indeed some of the effects were executed a bit poorly, especially the odd "zoom" at the aiguille creuse.

... View More
vollenhoven

Might contain some spoilers.In this vehicle from 2004, we get after the movie Vidocq, we get the next hero from the old days. Arsene Lupin the French counterpart of the English gentleman thief Raffles, while Raffles adventures are limited Arsene had a long list of books they could film.This movie however took the road of an epic movie, it cuts through the life of Arsene to highlight one of his great adventures and thereby leaving out the portion what made the man so charming namely his gentleman thiefery adventures. Yes we get a little peak of a few episodes but mostly AL is busy not stealing in the most genial ways but having a grand adventure. Is the movie therefor less entertaining, no it is not as epic adventure stories go it is a nice and fun movie that uses this classic hero in a positive way. It fails to deliver the gentleman thief however, which is one of the reasons why I like the character.However the main character monsieur Lupin does strike me as a Vincent Cassel light, he does his job well enough but he's for me not powerful enough. Kristin Scott Thomas is besides a gorgeous woman also a devil in this movie, she gives the movie it's strength (bond villains have a look here how it's done). her part also gives the movie that fantasy aspect that does sit rather well in this story. Eva Green is a vision of loveliness so when the inevitable moment comes you really care.The movie moves in a decent enough pace, gives us a great and luscious view of old France with some great set pieces like Paris. Greatly filmed and delivers a nice enough epic movie that could have used a little less epic.I hope that the next movie is a we bit scaled down in size and centers more upon the character Lupin as a master Thief.And I am now actually looking forward to that moment that is bound to come when the French cinema has a new shot at Fantomas (French greatest villain ever). I feel that the popularity movies as Vidocq & Arsene Lupin will undoubtedly make way for this title.Perhaps it is time for the UK to dust of their epic hero's like Allan Quartermain (with a preferable SC) or Raffles.If you like any of the last suggestions make your nose tingle it is a sure sign you most probable going to enjoy Arsene Lupin. Enjoy, I did.

... View More