Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2002)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Cowboy Bebop is without a doubt one of the greatest television shows of its time. It was smart and thought provoking and was more than willing to dive headlong into some pretty heavy philosophic themes in its episodes (especially in the later episodes of the series). But despite its brilliance, or perhaps because of it, the show never lost focus on the importance of emotion to the characters of the show and through them it helped to shed a light on the motivation behind their actions and helped allow the audience to connect with these characters which has helped them to remain iconic and loved nearly 20 years later. The best thing that I can say about this movie is that it continues these feats from its run on television to the big screen. The characters are the main focus of this film which ends up being both the movie's greatest strength and its ultimate failure. The people that watch this movie are more than likely to be fans of the original series and have thus have already become very attached to each of the four main crew members of the bebop and their own mentality over the course of the show's 26 episode run. The point to that is that the focus on the characters of this movie is simply the cherry on top of the already great franchise. We didn't really need it unless it helped further flesh out these 4 and provide new context to their decisions in the final episodes of the series. These complaints obviously don't apply to any of the new characters who I found very enjoyable except for the fact that I knew none of them would have any impact on the rest of the series. I wish that they had as it would have added to the importance of this movie on the franchise as a whole instead of the one-off adventure that this turns out being. Overall I don't think that this is a bad film at all. In fact I really enjoy this movie and think it would be great as a stand alone film, however as part of a series I just do not feel it to be a necessary addition to Bebop's legacy. That's not a knock on the movie really at all though because the music, animation, shot composition, and story are all really rather amazing. I just think that the movie would have benefited from being either more important to the main series or completely separated from it instead of being a tacked on extra long bonus filler episode that it ends up being.

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.

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.