Sleek animation silent-type hitman for hire with an Italian neo noir 60s flair. Way more boobs than expected. About the only thing bad about this movie are the opening credits and the semi-lackluster script

At several high-profile destinations around the world, a mysterious hired assassin evades detection and serenely checks names from his list. Some may recognize his moniker, a few might remember his face, but none truly know Duke Togo, the mysterious man codenamed Golgo 13. Many hope to learn, though, be they the ravishing women who eagerly share his bed or the irate collateral affected by his hits. This time, one such casualty has the power to make a difference - the wealthy father of his latest contract - and directs a tsunami of retaliatory firepower in his direction. Now, with everyone from secret military operatives to genetically enhanced monsters on his tail, Togo might just be concerned enough to remove his sunglasses. If only for a moment. There’s no reason to dance around the facts here: Golgo 13 is quite obviously influenced by James Bond. And, like Bond, he pursues a very clear mission: masculine wish fulfillment, particularly for the teenage audience. Though he’s more mature than Bond (not much of a stretch), a man better suited for the dirty ‘70s and early ‘80s, the vast majority of Togo’s adventures focus on girls, guns and grim expressions. Oh, and sports cars. Only the quickest and snazziest. Where 007 works with the British government to apprehend international criminals, 13 has no qualms about spreading the crosshairs around. Meet his asking price and he’ll find a way to complete the job, be the target an angel or a devil. That ruthless M.O. gives him an edge on Bond, makes him more cold-blooded and dangerous, and firmly sets him in a dark moral gray zone. He’s cool - intrinsically, effortlessly cool - and that makes the series cool, too. But there’s a difference between cool and fulfilling. At some point, we crave more than just neon glare and muzzle flashes, and I don’t mean another hilariously OTT love montage (we get four of those in _The Professional_). If there’s nothing behind all the fiery action, softcore T&A and stylish framing experiments, no thought beyond the most basic of carnal desires, then everything begins to feel hollow and redundant. Even at a scant ninety-three minutes, _Golgo 13_ repeats itself time and time again. It’s a turbo six-speed that’s missing all the middle gears: we're either going two miles an hour or two hundred. The animation is bold and powerful, impressive for its age despite the laughably primitive implementation of computer graphics in two scenes, and the lead character is brazen and ballsy. Maybe his plot armor is a hair thick (okay, he’s downright impervious), but he makes for an exciting focal point and that’s what the series wants. At the end of the job, though, he icily walks away to snipe and sex in another metropolis and we’re left, titillated but empty, right where we started. Even the worst Bond movies have given me more than that.