Let's start with the most obvious stuff. The CGI is HORRIBLE. It is painful to watch the whole movie at normal speed. For an anime that relies on a whole lot of fast action and motion, the CGI should be handled with utmost care, if CGI was even appropriate at all in the first place. That has not occurred. It is as if you're watching a typical stop claymotion at twice the speed. The only way I personally could enjoy this CGI product is if the movie was sped up at twice (2.0x) the original speed.
Then, the character design of the Cat's Eye trio is so foreign that I could barely recognize them if there was no "Cat's Eye" in the movie title. The CGI only made it worse. They look like barbie dolls swinging around Beverly Hills in a typical Totally Spies episode, and even one of those episodes has better animation than the Cat's Eye trio does in this movie. In addition, the 2019 City Hunter movie had short but brief cameo featuring the titular trio in an almost identical fashion but with modern animation. There, they looked better in all possible ways one could imagine a Cat's Eye anime in our present day.
The story itself is not exceptional. It is a typical heist action movie with a small grain of mystical element of treasure hunting sprinkled in. It's not terrible in any way, but it's nothing to write home about either. The only concern I have is that the overall (and I emphasize "overall") role of Cat's Eye in this movie has been reduced to nothing but mere stepping stones for Lupin III and gang to shine. Until the very end of the movie, Cat's Eye had everything handed down to them on a silver platter. If you're a Lupin III fan, you may rejoice at Lupin's and his gang's overwhelming appearance, but for one who thinks fondly of Cat's Eye after having finished the whole anime just a few weeks ago, it is rather disappointing to see Cat's Eye constantly overshadowed everywhere they got into action.
I would say that I still enjoyed the movie the first time I watched it, but as the movie concluded, the bitter epiphany began to sink in, especially with regards to Cat's Eye and the trio's involvement in this movie.
If you're looking forward to watching this movie, then try to banish all negative thoughts of CGI anime that might be swirling in your head right now. Oh, and don't expect too much of Cat's Eye in this movie. Do that, and you might just enjoy this movie like any other.
