Cowboy Bebop
Here Is What You Need To Know:
If you have not seen the Cowboy Bebop television series, do so immediately. This fantastic Japanese import is one of the best series put on television in the last few years but unfortunately there is but one season. Cowboy Bebop the movie is fun, but it doesn't exactly live up to the series. The Cowboy Bebop movie follows the exploits of a group of bounty hunters, space fairing bounty hunters mind you.
In the film the crew is looking for a terrorist who has a nasty, nasty virus. What makes Cowboy Bebop stand out are the fully developed characters who are each mysterious and intriguing in their own way. It is probably best to watch the television series before the movie, but, I this is debatable.
What Was Cool:
-Many of the stories from the television show have a larger richer feel than the movie, but the plot of the Cowboy Bebop movie is still good stuff, with a lot of nice ideas, such as the ultimate nature of the virus.
-The animation is quite stunning and will look great on next-generation DVD, whenever those things ever come out!
-Just as in the television show, the movie has great characters and great voice work.
-How can you not like a young girl hacker named Ed? Yes, Ed. That is the kind of world that the characters of Cowboy Bebop inhabit.
-The inventive minds behind Cowboy Bebop, including Shinichiro Wantanabe, the director, do a great job in creating very slick and stylish spacecraft designs as well as city landscapes, all of which help the Cowboy Bebop would stand out.
-You have to love the strong female characters of Faye Valentine, who plays a more low-key role in the movie than on the series, and the brilliant Ed.
What Was Stupid:
-Cowboy Bebop the Movie is definitely a good film, but suffers from not being quite as good as many of the television episodes. The fact that the movie takes place before the last episode of the series is just a bit strange and makes the entire experience feel odd for fans of the show. The movie should really have been the last few episodes of the television series, which were extremely powerful and hard to forget.
The Film's Real Genius or Geniuses:
-The animators
Overlooked Performance/Accomplishment:
-The voice acting of Wendee Lee and Megumi Hayashibara who handle the voice of Faye Valentine in the English and Japanese versions of the film. If only Faye was real.
Story
Use of Science A (The Cowboy Bebop writers incorporated some real cutting edge science.)
Acting A
Portrayal of Women A-
Quality of animation B+
Enjoyability Grade B+
Home Theater/HD Factor A
Gut Check (Level of Studio Executive Guts) C- (Releasing the movie in Japan took no bravery at all but releasing it elsewhere, even in a limited run took a little bit of guts, I guess.)
Overall Innovation B-
Overall Grade B+
A Little Fact About Cherie:
Cherie has considered getting a Faye Valentine tattoo.
|
