Early Lupin films seem to constantly come off as surprisingly decent, and more entertaining than the later films. "The Fuma Conspiracy" falls under this, although even it comes close to feeling like simply another Lupin adventure. Even so, it is worthy alongside even the Indiana Jones movies in action, adventure, and entertainment.Set at what we assume is near the end of the Lupin legacy, Goemon is getting married! Lupin and the gang politely watch in disguise with no bad intentions, and Inspector Zenigata has retired after having seen Lupin "die" in some other adventure. But when a gang of ninjas attempt to steal Goemon's new family's artifact, and old vase, and steal his wife instead, the gang works together to retrieve her. The importance of the vase is that it holds a key to the family's secret treasure, which even Lupin can't resist! It's all a setup for a great treasure-hunting adventure, and plays as such throughout. Most of it isn't especially amazing, with the exception of a couple action scenes, and some of the best car chase scenes you'll ever watch. Goemon is the only character that gets any new development here compared to everyone else: forever noble and serious, he at least blushes when his wife talks about their love. It's a shame Goemon's young wife barely has any reason to be in the film, other than as the love interest and damsel in distress, and feels one-dimensional, a huge wasted opportunity. The rest of the cast is standard, and the film is generally more family friendly than other Lupin movies. The film ends as you'd expect a Lupin film to, with little fanfare and forever continuing in many more adventures, when it could have easily acted as the final adventure for the gang.Animation is surprisingly smooth for its time, especially during action scenes, and character designs well-rounded. While I like the style of modern anime, you could argue there are more frames in this movie than even recent television shows, at least in certain scenes. The English dub is passable, but a handful of characters sound terrible. It doesn't help that everyone says "Rupin" instead of "Lupin," which was apparently purposely done to avoid copyright issues at the time of its release. Among the music is a catchy jazzy upbeat tune that serves as the opening.
I can't fault "The Fuma Conspiracy," but it doesn't stand out in any major way either. It's just very entertaining, and worth it if you are starting to build a Lupin collection in your home.