LUPIN: PART THREE
Starring: Omar Sy, Ludivine Sagnier, Soufiane Guerrab, Shirine Boutella, and Etan Simon
Creators: George Kay and François Uzan
AMARÚ
When Omar Sy’s Assane Diop drips cool from his every pore, a show like Lupin is hard not to enjoy. Part Three feels somewhat like a soft reboot, but by being a longer “season,” the extra episodes create the time needed to connect to the new storylines. Delving deeper in Assane’s life allows Sy to drive the show’s kinetic energy past any trope-filled flaws it contains. He is such a charming action star that you care about every relationship, root for every con, and follow every twist (even the predictable ones) through this consistently entertaining show.
QUENTIN
After two years, Netflix’s Lupin is back with the same breezy caper energy and gentlemanly James Bond-esque vibe as before. However, while the series is still enjoyable, one can feel the bloat as the episode count increases from five episodes to seven. Plus, it relies a little too much on the standard heist movie trope of doubling back on itself to show how things came to be, which can halt the narrative momentum. These are minor complaints, though, and the cliffhanger twist ending leaves me looking forward to Part Four (even if I needed to refresh my memory of Part Two to fully understand it).