You won't be disappointed!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Sort of a biopic-mystery based on France's most iconic literary criminal, the 2004 'Lupin' charts the gentleman thief's life from childhood to a youth of crime, where he (Romain Durais) becomes entangled in the machinations of a mysterious Countess (Kristin Scott Thomas), and a hunt for a rare treasure that spans years, in which time, he becomes romantically involved with an old childhood flame (Eva Green).Jean Paul Salome's adaptation can certainly be admired for its ambition, being an amply budgeted French action-adventure film, but ultimately suffers from an indecisive script that wants to be the Jack-Of-All-Trades/definitive Lupin film. It goes from simple popcorn treasure hunt fun, to a family drama to a romance to some kind of alternate history biopic, with the last 20 minutes feeling especially really rushed, and showing a lack of faith for the possibility of a sequel and future tales in the titular thief's life. It's as if they spent all this money and were so afraid the film would fail that they just squeezed everything that they could in from the various novels by Maurice LeBlanc to cover every facet of Lupin's adventures.Despite this though, and barring the final 20 minutes, the film still manages to be an enjoyable romp that is technical proficient. We even have some well shot action and good effects, such as a rather impressive bombing in a Parisian restaurant. On the acting front, Durais makes for a capable and energetic Lupin, and distinguished English actress Scott Thomas has a ball as the scene stealing villain/lover of Lupin. And hey, we even have a younger Eva Green here, so that's a nice bonus. And the icing on the cake is the majestic score by Debbie Wiseman. Dear Lord, this may be one of my favourite scores from 2004: it's stylish, sexy, mysterious and often very exciting, very befitting a film about a master criminal.In the end, this 'Lupin' may not quite get away with it, but enough strong elements overcome a cumbersome screenplay to make this a heist worth at least one try for those who want to see a more fun side of European cinema.

An average rating of 5 out of 10 for this movie is patently absurd. It may be too smart and elaborate for a mass audience, but based on the few votes (less than 900 at the time of this writing) it cannot have received very wide distribution. I believe posterity will be far kinder to this movie than the IMDb users have been thus far.I rented Arsène Lupin on DVD from Blockbuster, and I was engaged and engrossed from beginning to end. Actually, what made me want to see it was the IMDb genre description - a mix of Action, Adventure, Crime, Romance, Mystery and Comedy?! I loved mixed genres, so I thought this should be good! And I loved it. An interesting premise, cool martial arts action, unexpected developments, an immortal countess (!!) and lots of intrigues, set at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Very classy, and very well produced in every way. I was thoroughly entertained. I have not read the books, but this movie makes me want to.My only complaints are that there was no explanation for Arsène's father being a bad guy. He had started out as Arsène's hero, on whose life Arsène modeled his own, and then his father turns out to be a traitor, with no explanation? Harumph! Also, I thought the countess was a mite too evil at the end. I mean, deliberately trying to set off World War I?! Why?! No explanation.However, the reason I rate this movie a 9 rather than just an 8, is that it finally - finally! - gives us a great role for Kristin Scott Thomas. She is a delight to behold in a role that is worthy of her. This is perhaps the only movie since The Tenth Man where she's had a prolonged, really great role. For that I thank whoever got her involved in this project.9 out of 10.

Maurice Leblanc means a lotof things to me: I've read all his novels .Strange how little by little,they became very mysterious with an extraordinary sense of wonder whereas the first books were simple detective stories.That Jean-Paul Salome who butchered Belphégor just a couple of years before can tackle one of the most original series of books of the genre can strike horror into your heart.And however,in spite of a very poor rating at my time of writing,I will say that it's not that much bad after all.The actors are generally well chosen ,particularly Scott-Thomas ,the ideal countess.And the cast includes such luminaries as Matthieu Carrière and Robin Renucci .And the budget-which does not guarantee quality anyway-is not exactly what you call low-.Showing Lupin's childhood is not very new:see The Saint and Indiana Jones for that matter,not to mention good old Sherlock Holmes.And what 's amazing,for a character and adventures that are French French French (not to say Norman )to the core ,we have often the strange feeling of watching a made-in -Hollywood movie.Anyone who knows Leblanc's books will notice that ,although Salome and his script writers adapted "La Comtesse de Cagliostro" ,they also borrowed from other books: "l'Aiguille Creuse" ,"Le Bouchon de Cristal" (Renucci's eye) ,"813" (the banker's name is none other than Kesselbach and the safe combination is of course 813!"and even "la Cagliostro Se Venge" which showed the son (Clarisse's and Arsene's) fighting against the father (Arsène).And other users will probably find other snatches taken from other Leblanc 's books.The screenplay becomes some kind of jumble in spite of Salome's good intentions and what was finally a good idea to use elements from other stories became a terrible mess. :for example,I cannot forgive Salome for botching the scene when Lupin visits the famous Etretat Aiguille Creuse(there's a Lupin museum there in that Etretat town).In the movie Beaumagnan is Lupin's father -which is very difficult to accept - whereas in the novel he was simply his rival.It seems that the writers found their inspiration in "Star Wars" ,and their fights on the lighthouse or on the Aiguille Creuse make me think of Luke and Darth .Too many things happen,and it's sometimes hard to catch up with the plot,which is most of the time complicated instead of complex .Leblanc's books are deceptive:it is hard to transfer them to the screen badly (and Salome's movie,I say it again,has qualities:splendid settings ,nods to the readers, a good tempo)while being harder still to transfer them well.Even such a veteran as Jacques Becker failed ;the TV series 1971-1974 were an absolute nadir.The best came in the late seventies/early eighties with the made-for -TV 'L'Ile aux Trente Cercueils" and "Arsène Lupin Joue et Perd (813)"with an infinitely lower budget than Salome's extravaganza.Entertaining movie,but we are still waiting for the MOvie which will do Leblanc justice.

This movie is an embarrassment to French cinema. It seems to have stolen the worst ideas of Hollywood movies in trying to make a French blockbuster. Gratuitous special effects and bombastic music fail to distract the viewer from the flashy, shallow, and convoluted storyline. The movie starts slow, almost too slow, and then by the end whips into a frenzy where the filmmakers have tried to stuff everything and the kitchen sink both to forestall any misgivings by the viewer and to allow for the possibilities of endless sequels.The role of Arsène was very poorly cast. The only saving graces to this movie are Kristen Scott Thomas and the beautiful landscapes of Normandy. Yet somehow this movie managed to make even Étretat, the focus of Monet's famous paintings, look fake.