Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko’s Lie Review
LUPIN THE ⅢRD 峰不二子の嘘
Lupin the IIIrd: Mine Fujiko no Uso

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SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

MINE Fujiko works for a man named Randy, who lives in a badlands area along with his son, Gene. Randy embezzled $500 million from the Godfrey Mining company. As such, the “cursed” assassin Bincam, who has some supernatural powers, and his two handlers Carla and Lark are dispatched to kill Randy. Fujiko escapes with Gene, but is found by Bincam.

Meanwhile, Lupin has targeted the head of Godfrey Mining and learns of Fujiko’s involvement in things. As such, he and Jigen save Fujiko and Gene. At a hotel, Lupin learns that while Fujiko is acting as Gene’s nurse, she’s really in it for the money. Gene wants revenge and hires Lupin and Jigen, over Fujiko’s protest. They set up Gene as bait, but Bincam and handlers get the upper hand. Fujiko is stunned when bullets and physical attacks have no effect on Bincam. She manages to escape with Gene, but Lupin discovers Bincam’s powers first hand.

Fujiko uses her sexuality to get a room at a cheap hotel. Gene is angry and raises a scene, causing the police to get involved. However, the police take Gene to Godfrey Mining. Fujiko tails them and gets captured. Bincam is summoned to get the info from Gene and kill Fujiko. However, Fujiko uses her seductive powers to confuse Bincam. Lupin and Jigen bust her out, but she ditches them at a fancy hotel.

Fujiko seduces the account information out of Gene while Lupin and Jigen follow a lead. They are stunned to find a former opponent named Hawk. Fujiko leaves Gene, where Lupin meets her in the bar. He gives her some info on what they are up against. Fujiko moves the money to a new location and notifies Godfrey. He dispatches Bincam to deal with Fujiko. Bincam kills Carla, then sets out.

Fujiko waits for him near Randy’s former home. When Bincam arrives, Fujiko promises he can have her, IF he defeats her. Bincam easily tanks everything Fujiko throws at him. He uses his powers on her, but she uses her ace and blows up an underground water thing, suppressing his dust power. She again uses her seductive powers on him, calling him a human instead of a killing machine. Bincam has a male moment, giving Fujiko an opening to stab him with a sword.

After he dies, the exhausted Fujiko sits at her car. She’s joined by Lupin, who has figured out her entire game. He gives her permission to sleep, which she does. Back at the hotel, Randy shows up to claim his son, but now without his $500 for Gene’s surgery.

Thoughts/Review

Wow. After the disappointment of Lupin the Third Part 6, Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko’s Lie had me gripped from start to finish. And now I know this is part of a serialized trilogy, it made things even better.

A Good Fujiko Story

In my many years of Lupin III fandom, Fujiko’s character can run the gambit from bimbo sexpot to clever person using all her assets. Thankfully, Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko’s Lie falls firmly into the latter category. As is usual for Fujiko, she starts working for her mark in order to rob them blind. In this case, Fujiko is the nurse to Randy’s son, Gene, but officially, Randy’s live-in maid. As such, she’s willing to be Gene’s “Mama” for a time, providing she gets the $500 million.

One of the things I appreciated was this film showing Fujiko’s inability to fight with a man. I don’t doubt that if Fujiko got the surprise on a guy, she might be able to take him down, if quick enough and if she is armed. But here, we see that Fujiko is no match for Bincam physically. Knives and guns didn’t affect Bincam much. I only wish Fujiko had taken more of a physical beating, as Lupin and Jigen had done in previous films.

That aside, when it became clear that Fujiko couldn’t beat Bincam, she used her feminine whiles on him. That’s a smart move on her part. While we saw her do this with normal guys, doing it to Bincam was different. He’s a genetic experiment and used to being treated as a weapon. Fujiko was the first to treat him as a human male. Suddenly, Bincam went from “scary” assassin to a sympathetic creature, more so ’cause Fujiko was never going to actually have sex with him.

Nevertheless, I felt Fujiko was handled perfectly here, even in how she interacted with Lupin and Jigen. It was nice seeing Fujiko in familiar settings, yet feeling the most real she’s ever felt as a character.

Fujiko x Gene

My only problem was Fujiko’s mild seduction of Gene. He’s not old enough to understand sex. Nevertheless, Fujiko bathing with Gene was a mildly sexual act in my mind. I honestly felt that had Gene been a bit more sexually aware, Fujiko may have done something actually sexual with him. That whole aspect creeped me out a bit.

Nevertheless, I understand that Fujiko’s primary reason for seducing Gene wasn’t sexual. She’s using Gene’s grief over the loss of his father, and his not having a mother to seduce him into accepting her as “Mama”. And of course, it was all done to weasel out of him the account information and password for the $500 million.

I have to say, I really felt bad for Gene when Fujiko stopped pretending to care and showed her true self. Granted, Fujiko knew that Gene’s dad was still alive. Still, she’s just an ugly, selfish person for doing what she did. That said, it is who she is. Ugly or not, it was interesting.

Trillogy

The only thing that I can remember from my July 2015 watching of Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen’s Gravestone was that Mamo from Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo got a cameo at the end of the movie. I had thought that he might be the villain in the then upcoming Fujiko TV series Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. At the time, I had no idea that Telecom Animation Film, part of TMS, would be doing three Lupin the IIIrd movies.

That aside, recently, I watched the second movie, Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon’s Blood Spray. I noted, “What I don’t know is if this is supposed to be part of a serialized trilogy, or if the three movies are unrelated, save for characters. But some mysterious so-and-so wants Lupin and Jigen dead.” It wasn’t until I watched Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko’s Lie that I realized that Mamo is probably the one after them.

Alas, other than the prior assassins of Hawk and Yael getting cameos in this film, the bigger mystery of who’s after Lupin and company is officially unresolved. Suddenly, I wanted Telecom to do a fourth film that ties everything together. I would LOVE to see Lupin confront Mamo a second time, where he and his gang have to pull out all the stops to survive. Alas, I’ve seen nothing to indicate there will be another Lupin the IIIrd title (as opposed to Lupin the 3rd/Lupin III).

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

I’m behind again, so let me wrap up my review with some final thoughts.

• The cheap hotel Fujiko first got themselves into reminded me of the Bakersfield, CA hotel used in Clint Eastwood’s Any Which Way You Can film.
• Goemon and Zenigata are MIA in this film.
• Lupin and Jigen have minor but important roles in the film. Shame that the whole, “lets find out who’s sending these assassins after us” plot thread will likely never be resolved.
• There is some nudity in this film, so be warned about that.

In the end, Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko’s Lie is a good Lupin III title and a better Fujiko story. I was uncomfortable with Fujiko’s mild seduction of the young Gene though. Nevertheless, I really do wish Telecom would do one more movie and complete things.