released 08 feb 04 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* I haven't seen all the COWBOY BEBOP anime series, having only been through the six-episode COWBOY BEBOP BEST SESSIONS DVD, but that item was interesting enough to make the COWBOY BEBOP THE MOVIE (CBTM) DVD worth a look. I was also a little apprehensive, though, since typically "SOME ANIME SERIES" THE MOVIE usually translates as A SLIPSHOD KNOCKOFF INTENDED TO MILK THE FAN BASE.
As it turned out, that wasn't the case here. CBTM features the familiar bounty-hunter crew of the spaceship BEBOP, including boyish martial arts master Spike; older scarred ex-cop Jet; sexy and wild Faye Valentine; loopy adolescent hacker femme Ed; and Welsh Corgi dog Ein. They become involved in a manhunt on Mars for a psychotic terrorist named Vincent, who has got his hands on a terrifying weapon, and encounter both as an enemy and an ally a tough security officer named Electra.
There's not too much to say about the plot of CBTM because it's a very typical "Urban Action Movie" story, with bits of violence and sleaze, and nothing much is done in the movie to advance the stories of the main characters. I didn't have any problem with the script, though, since it was perfectly entertaining and snapped along very well, with no more logical holes than typical of an action flic. It just wasn't particularly memorable.
However, I was very impressed with the production values of CBTM. While it misses being absolutely brilliant and has its failings here and there, overall the art and design work is very good and highly professional, and the soundtrack work is creditable too, mixing a wide range of musical styles (first time I'd heard country-western music in an anime movie) to help give the mood of the multiethnic Martian city. In fact, the city is the most striking character in the movie, sort of a cross between Tokyo and Seattle and Paris and New York City and Marrakesh and ... well, you get the idea.
So COWBOY BEBOP THE MOVIE is actually very much worth the time and effort if you have the right expectations. In fact, I think CBTM can pass the real test for an anime production: you could give it to people who weren't anime fans, as long as they liked B-fiction action-adventure flics, and they might well buy off on it. Incidentally, CBTM gives you your money's worth in terms of time -- I thought the "Running Time 114 Minutes" on the DVD disk might be folding in extras, but it turns out it was that long, and it never dragged either.