Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2002)

I created this account to write this review.I have been a big fan of Cowboy Bebop since I first watched it back in 2006. I am not a fan of anime, but Cowboy Bebop is the only anime that breaks that boundary for me with it's fantastic retro-futurism, dark undertones and deep character development. My first attempt at watching the Cowboy Bebop Movie came about 4 years ago. I got roughly 30 minutes into it and turned it off because of how unnatural it all felt. The music felt wrong, characters felt wooden...It reminded me of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 movie...they did it because they had to/knew they would make a lot of money off it. It left a very sour taste in my mouth, although it did not affect my pure love and passion for the TV Series. The TV Series is a SOLID 9/10, and could only be improved upon if they had extended the series a few more episodes. The TV Series is as close to perfect as you can get.Flash forward to this morning. I decided to continue my ritual of watching Cowboy Bebop once a month and decided, "Lets give the movie another shot." So as a fan who is still loves the TV series, my opinions will be based upon the movie's comparison to the TV Series rather than how a casual fan or how the average movie go-er might review the film. PROS: 1. The scenery and cinematography is amazing, as it is with the TV series. Backdrops are breathtaking, animation is top notch, action scenes are fluid and phenomenally choreographed. 2. More Cowboy Bebop.CONS: 1. Copy & Pasted Plot: The movie's story line and plot devices are basically cut and pasted from different episodes of the TV series. More specifically: Session 4 (plot to save a planet from biological terrorism), Session 6 (unkillable villain finally dies and has revelations about his assumed immortality), Session 19 (use of old air/spacecraft to save the day), Session 20 (fight scenes on a train), and Session 23 (the real villain uses a decoy to mask his identity...actually there are a handful of sessions that do this). There are a lot more examples but these are just a few off the top of my head. Vicious is basically Vincent, and Electra is basically Julia. Spike & Friends go from low life bounty hunters to unsung heroes of the solar system with the flip of a switch because "its the right thing to do." a major theme of the TV series is hopelessness. there is no hopelessness in the movie.2. Spike's love interest in Electra: No. Just...No. Spike Loves Julia. Spike has always loved Julia. I love Julia. Spike only lets Julia go after Session 26, because she dead. The movie takes place between session 22 & 23. Julia is not dead yet. Spike is still searching for Julia. WHAT THE ****?3. Poorly Executed Ending: I said to myself "this is a 7/10" all the way up to the last 20 minutes. Pisswater Ex-Machina. Faye magically breaks into a massive weather control station with an Uzi and just demands they make it rain. Jet magically summons a fleet of biplanes in like an hour, even though the crew of the bebop is constantly poor and would have no way to pay for the rental costs since they can barely pay for fuel and food. Vincent dies, reveals he and Electra used to bang, butterflies circle in (Butterflies are this movies John Woo white doves), Jet and Faye have an awkward conversation...and roll credits. It was like a train-wreck, except the train kinda just went off the tracks a little and slid into an open field, rather than slamming into an oncoming train.5. Unnatural Personalities: Edward and Ein were the only two main characters that felt authentic. Faye acted like a high school girl with a gun, not a strong woman who trusts no one and has had to look over her shoulder her entire life. Jet acts like a dad, instead of a hardened ex-cop who doesn't want to admit his feelings for his crew members, but passive aggressively does through his actions. Spike lacks the apathetic wit and clever edginess that makes him so lovable in the TV Series. In the movie, he kind of just comes off as a d-bag.6. Singular Setting: The entire movie takes place on Mars. There is no space. There are no other planets or space stations. The TV Series built an entire solar system of locations filled with lore and mystery that could surely have been expanded upon in the movie. Why the does the entire cowboy bebop movie take place on 1 planet? not just 1 planet, but 1 city on 1 planet. there are multiple cities on Mars, yet no mention of them in the movie. They act like Alba City is the only settlement on Mars. WHAT THE ****?I can keep going and going and going but....1000 word maximum.Am I saying the cowboy bebop movie is bad? no. Am I saying you shouldn't watch it? No. Maybe my disappointment comes from the movie's clear disconnection from the TV series, but as a long time fan of the TV Series, I simply had to vent my utter disappointment with the movie....somewhere.

I thought this film was alright, the English voice actors were really good like they showed how much they had put into their roles and not muck up. Although I have to say, the action is this should've been more active like it seems to be the characters don't know very much on how to kick real bad guy ass. Now when they were on the space crafts, it felt so real that I was either in Thunderbirds, Star Trek or Star Wars. One or the other, they were some good scene's. I didn't think the ending was the best because I would've thought Spike would kill Vincent and of course, win over Electras heart but unfortunately it was not the case!

My mistake with COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE was that I'd watched this (back in '03) before watching the series. But having just blown through all 26 episodes, the movie feels like you're falling back in with the old crew on a new adventure. As such, the movie nails what it sets out to do: COWBOY BEBOP on the big screen. Familiar characters, great soundtrack, and boosted production values; really well done animation (this is really nice to look at), grandiose shootouts, firefights and a very nice aerial dogfight. It ratchets the violence to surprising heights and just feels larger in scope. The science bogs down the story, but it doesn't take long to get back in the groove.It's a nice capper to the series. And after what Spike goes through in this movie, adds to the final moments in the series' finale (he doesn't make out, at least to me).Good stuff.7/10

As a new Anime enthusiast and watching it for the 1st time in 2013, Cowboy Bebop has surpassed its era by simply detailing it more maturely with less kiddish characters. Even though the story line is pretty predictable, you'll be wondering that an Anime made some 12 years ago isn't out of shape or features. It will not disappoint you. To add some information about it, I have not watched any episodes of the series itself, I'm merely commending on the movie itself. If you're a new Anime fan like me, it would definitely help you achieve familiarity and conclusion of you're own grasp of genre. With that Cowboy Bebop have to be on your watch list. Its a lot better Anime than some of the current Anime movies.