Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

One of my all time favorite anime series got the royal big screen treatment a few years back. No angst-ridden teenagers, no whiny schoolgirls, just four space cowboys and a data dog looking for their next bounty to the tune of jazz music. Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven’s Door is set in the future, where the planet Mars has a government, and Spike is about to become wrapped in a terrorist plot to infect the planet with a deadly new virus. So, along with Jet, Faye and company, Spike sets about trying to save the world – for a price, of course.

They start to investigate a bioterrorist attack, which leads the Bebop crew to tail a thrill-seeking hacker and delves into a classified experiment and a corrupt biomedical corporation. Spike meets Electra Ovilo, a security officer who can match him move for move. The lovely Electra has a past with the military and with Vincent Volaju, a soldier and experimental subject believed dead — or believed dead by everyone but former paramour Electra, and Faye, who saw him by the tanker. Thus, the chase begins. Vincent plans to infect all of Mars with the virulent disease.

The animation in Cowboy Bebop, the series, raised the bar for animation on TV. It’s no surprise that the creators gleefully jump at the higher cels-per-minute rate of theatrical animation. The Cowboy Bebop movie doesn’t attempt to recreate the universe. Instead it tells a previously untold adventure that takes place between episodes 22 and 23 of the TV series, using the characters we’re already familiar with. The animation and sound of the movie is excellent, pushing the already high production values of the TV show even further. Those often put off watching anime like Cowboy Bebop by the shoddy standard of the dubbing should note that in this case the voice-over work is excellent, and the conversion from Japanese to English is an outright success. This sounds like a 5 star glowing review but basically I am writing this review while being under the weather (with the flu) and I don’t want to nitpick too much.  I give credit for following the formula based on the TV series and if you are a fan of the series you should enjoy this movie. A stylishly created piece of anime – the storyline’s a little cluttered, but it’s still great entertainment.

Final Grade: B

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Honestly, I'm a big fan of anime. Some people might call it childish or immature, but it's series like Cowboy Bebop that really cement the fact that anime has a lot of great features to it. For one thing, this movie is totally packed with action sequences. Another thing is that there are so many themes in the series that it's better than a lot of movies.

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (originally released as Knockin' On Heaven's Door in Japan) takes the characters from the series - Jet, Faye, Ed, Ein, and of course Spike - and pits them up against a formidable madman named Vincent, who plans to release a very deadly poison full of nano-machines, that the eye can't see, to the world on Halloween night.

The movie so mimics the series that you'll think you're watching four continuous episodes, which is definitely a good thing. The animation looks even clearer than in the series, the characters have the same dubs (which are perfect for each character), the scriptwriting is supreme, just like in the series, and the music suits each mood of a scene.

What I want to focus on is the outstanding script, story, and animation. The movie is everything that you would want from an action movie. Not only is there tons of action-packed sequences, there's also an amazing story to boot. How often do you get that in an action movie? Not much, I'll tell you that.



One of the sequences that sticks out the most to me is a scene where Spike is pursuing Vincent on a monorail, with a woman named Electra also on his tale. Vincent has no qualms about taking out anyone in his way, and he does so accordingly. Spike shoots two bullets into the monorail window, and jumps in from outside the train while it's moving. He continues to take cover behind seats until he get to hand-to-hand combat with Vincent, who, after some beating, thoroughly puts his fingers into Spike, to his ribcage. He then throws Spike from the train. One of the best action sequences I have ever seen, and it really pumps you up.

Last updated: 2009-08-23 22:55:44 by Ryneb