Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on heaven’s door – or “The Movie” outside of Japan – is an underrated work of art marred only by a few flaws in its storytelling. The fact that it doesn’t come up in conversations about the series shouldn’t be taken as a sign that the show is a disaster. While it doesn’t reach the emotional highs of the TV show’s best episodes, the show still delivers some of the best action scenes in animation history.
While it’s easy to write off the film as a quick tie-in to make a few extra bucks from the Cowboy Bebop anime, thinking of it as sloppy or boring does a disservice to both. The film, made by the staff of Sunrise, Bones and Bandai Visual, is bursting with quality visuals. Its only weakness is that the plot lacks the same charm and imagination as the original TV series.
Cowboy Bebop The movie is a visual treat
From start to finish, the film focuses on capturing Bebop’s Mars colony at its most lavish, starting with a photorealistic opening sequence that captures daily life. The creators knew that viewers couldn’t get enough of anime fight scenes and crammed in even more elaborately choreographed sequences. The hand-to-hand scenes are easily some of the best ever put to film, and the aerial chase sequence in the final third of the film, entirely hand-drawn, remains unique in the industry anime. Even popular shows focusing on airplanes like The Sky Crawler or Yukikaze soon relied on CGI vehicles to perform aerial stunts.
Sadly, although the film’s plot is useful, it doesn’t leave much of an impression. The original anime episodes possess some truly outrageous sci-fi ideas; from a monkey-creating virus, an assassin dressed in a clown costume, and a fierce battle for a super-intelligent corgi. By comparison, the film’s terrorist plot lacks any kind of eccentricity, and even feels out of place in how rote its killers are, simply dropping bodies without any any of the usual Bebop fanfare. Meanwhile, Vincent Volaju is a lackluster villain: a moody, rambling maniac who mostly causes conflict for conflict’s sake. Although Vicious’s character in the anime is similar, his seething hatred for Spike is still clear enough to be memorable.
As a result, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is a show that’s more refined in style than substance, with hundreds of frames of fluid animation dedicated to a few minutes of incredible fighting and travel. long days to Mars without being able to really sell high. -stakes the plot as something specific to its world or as something worth remembering. While the TV series may sell light crime adventures, the film’s thrilling plot feels generic. However, as the last trip for Cowboy bebop, its drama is worth experiencing; Better yet, the Halloween franchise makes moviegoing this October especially timely.