Lupin Teams Up with Maurice to Become New Gods! - Renegade Animation #92
This week, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru review a triple threat of films, including Lupin the Third vs. Cat's Eye, The Amazing Maurice, and New Gods: Yang Jian!
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, and I’m quite excited to share this week’s episode of Renegade Animation! Cameron and I review three international films that we both strongly recommend. From Japan’s TMS Entertainment, we have the highly anticipated crossover ONA Lupin the Third vs. Cat’s Eye, The Amazing Maurice from the UK’s Sky Cinema (distributed in the United States by Viva Pictures), and New Gods: Yang Jian, the latest entry in China’s New Gods franchise from Light Chaser Animation Studios. Tune in to hear the full discussion!
Lupin the Third vs. Cat’s Eye
Even though Cameron and I both generally enjoyed this movie, it’s the only one of the three in which I was more positive than my esteemed co-host. Granted, we approached this from different vantage points; Cameron is a bigger fan of Lupin III, while I’m admittedly green to both franchises. We both concede that the CGI animation provided by Polygon Picture left much to be desired, yet I took more of a liking to the overall narrative, the seamless integration of each franchise’s core cast of characters, and the music. Hopefully the film is successful enough to warrant a brand new Cat’s Eye adaptation for a modern audience.
“Despite a wonky CGI presentation that dampens the action, Lupin III vs Cat's Eye is a solid venture for both franchises in a crossover that we absolutely needed to happen.“ -The Animation Guru
The Amazing Maurice
Adapting Terry Pratchett’s iconic Discworld book series is not an easy feat, but I commend any filmmaker brave enough to try. The best place to start, however, might be the first title aimed at a younger audience. The Amazing Maurice is overflowing with charm, whether that’s in the expressive animation, the witty dialogue, or the way it playfully tosses out the conventional storytelling rulebook. I was worried at first that the meta commentary in the first act was laid on too thick, but that could merely be the result of the “John Carter Effect” in adapting this source material. However, once I got to know the characters better, I was fully able to get on the film’s wavelength, and ended up loving the experience. The Amazing Maurice is now playing in select theaters nationwide, and it’s one I highly recommend checking out!
“In general, while it probably won’t be winning any major awards, The Amazing Maurice is a delightful surprise during a part of the year that was originally a time to dump smaller films to write off as failures or for people to catch up on the award season fodder. If you can see it in theaters, then give it a watch! Seeing a mostly positive reception to the film definitely makes this the most accessible and watchable film brought over by Viva Kids, and the fact they are confident enough to give it a theatrical release is admirable. If you can find time to watch this film, then do it!“ -The Animation Guru
New Gods: Yang Jian
I have become a huge fan of Light Chaser Animation Studios’ recent output, as they’ve accomplished some incredible feats that could easily rival their Western contemporaries. Personally, the jury is out whether I prefer the urban Cyberpunk aesthetic of 2021’s New Gods: Nezha Reborn to this film’s leaning into Steampunk, but in general I’m loving the world building of this shared universe. Yang Jian is at once a grand epic with far too many gorgeously animated action sequences to pick a true favorite, and an introspective coming of age narrative that tackles some pretty heavy themes of loss, regret, and questioning your perception of good vs. evil. If you have a chance to see this movie in theaters, you owe it to yourself to take advantage of that opportunity!
“While some may prefer the dieselpunk visual look of the first New Gods film, and while this film makes some small stumbles in the second half, New Gods: Yang Jian is exactly the change of pace everyone should want to go out and find if they are getting burned out by US animation. It has a lot of the best aspects from Light Chasers Animation, and with this obviously building up of an epic franchise, we will have to see where they go with this retelling of mythological epics and their continued evolution of incredible CGI animated fare.” -The Animation Guru
That concludes another great episode! Which one of these movies have you seen or are interesting in seeing? Comment your thoughts below, and thank you once again for joining us!
