Cowboy Bebop
"Cowboy Bebop - The Movie" marks the welcome return of hip adventures of the title-giving
spaceship with the groovy headhunting crew: Spike, the mysterious
martial arts expert, Jet, a cyborg ex-cop, Faye Valentine,
the sexy pilot with the gambling problem, Ein the brainy dog,
and hacker wonder kid Edward.
The TV series, available on DVD and showing
on Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim," was delirious
fun with whacky story lines, winning characters, and relentless
space action set to an eclectic soundtrack. The show was fun
because of its sense of limitless possibilities. Hey, it's
drawn: anything goes.
The movie, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe,
does its best to adapt the formula for the big screen. The
show's brand of hip sitcom humor still works well as the crew
lounges around the spaceship in dire need of "woolongs." Dialog and dubbing are both handled very well, and so is the
animation. The rich designs and colors are a pleasure to watch.
- advertisement -
The problem is the story, which is not
nearly as compelling as the better TV episodes. After Faye
witnesses a tanker explosion, a bounty is taken out on a mysterious
bio-terrorist, and the Bebop's crew sets out to save the world
(in this case, Mars.)
The trademark lyricism and jarring juxtapositions
of wild action to funky music are few and far between as Spike
gets bogged down with tedious detective work and the rest
of the crew languishes without much to do at all. At almost
two hours, the strangely planet-bound James Bond plot unfolds
just like you'd suspect, only slower.
Fans might dismiss this criticism as minor
quibble and will probably enjoy the arrival of their heroes
on the big screen anyway. Newcomers, however, would do better
getting warmed up with the TV episodes. "Cowboy Bebop
- The Movie" isn't bad, but it could have been great.
Movies
