Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

With the success of the 1998 anime Cowboy Bebop, worldwide demand for a continuation led to the development of a film, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (aka Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door), which released on September 1, 2001. Series director Shinichiro Watanabe had the idea for the film in his head while working on the original series, which he had already treated as a series of miniature films, so the transition to a feature felt natural. With an increased budget and runtime, the production team incorporated elements originally considered impossible in the anime. Though we wouldn’t watch it until more recently through a recording of a Starz broadcast, we firmly believe that this film holds up to this day as both a part of Cowboy Bebop and as a standalone cinematic experience.

Faye Valentine (Wendee Lee), a member of a bounty hunter group that travels on the spaceship Bebop, pursues hacker Lee Sampson (Dave Wittenberg). When she locates him, however, she instead witnesses a terrorist attack that explodes a truck and spreads an unknown pathogen that kills or sickens over 300 people. Spike Spiegel (Steve Blum), who has been taking low-paying jobs for easy pay, and Jet Black (Beau Billingslea), who owns the Bebop, aren’t interested in the attack until the Mars government puts a 300 million wulong bounty on the terrorist’s head. Ed (Melissa Fahn), the crew’s resident computer expert, with their intelligent dog Ein (Koichi Yamadera), looks into the man Faye saw at the scene and identifies him as Vincent Volaju (Daran Norris), a man who had supposedly died years ago in a war.

The Bebop crew hear of the 300 million wulong bounty;
L-R: Spike Spiegel (Steve Blum), Faye Valentine (Wendee Lee);
Ed (Melissa Fahn); Jet Black (Beau Billingslea)

Cowboy Bebop makes the transition to the big screen very smoothly, with a more complex storyline that suits the medium. There’s more of an opportunity to explore Spike’s character compared with the anime, as we get to experience some of his inner thoughts and see other aspects of his character other than the somewhat lazy bounty hunter fans would know him best as. Vincent is also a somewhat sympathetic antagonist once we learn more of his backstory, mainly that he’s not even sure whether he’s really alive or in some kind of dream.

Vincent (Daran Norris) is a complex villain.

While fans do have a lot to like about the film, it’s fortunately written well enough that even newcomers can enjoy it. It helps that the individual personalities and group dynamic of the Bebop crew are reintroduced very naturally. Fitting in with the show’s film noir vibe, there are a lot of great serious character moments, though the film isn’t afraid to be a little light-hearted once in a while.

I feel the need to bring up a specific observation I made involving the villain spreading something through parade balloons. Due to the timing in which I viewed this film, I noticed that similar plans pop up in both Batman (1989) and Pokémon Detective Pikachu. This isn’t a knock against the film in any way, as the context is still thrilling, but I just couldn’t help making the connection. Considering the lengthy release date between films, however, I wouldn’t be surprised either way if this was a coincidence or some sort of reference/homage to Batman.

Additionally, the film has managed to maintain relevance between its original release window and today. It originally came out in Japan on September 1, 2001, less than two weeks before the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, so by the time it had a limited run in the US on August 11, 2002, the depiction of terrorism hit a bit too close to home. Although we’ve first viewed it outside of that original context, we did view it in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. As such, Vincent’s plan to spread a deadly virus still carried weight.

The main highlight of the film is the animation. While the film feels very much like Cowboy Bebop, there’s a noticeable live-action touch that really adds to the world of the series. There’s an attention to detail that makes the world feel lived-in, adding to the realistic quality. Smaller details, like the light off a drive-in theater screen, the shadows from slats of wood and the flickering of a section of a neon sign all help breath life into the city the majority of the film takes place in. Although the movie injects Arabic themes into the story and world, the Martian city itself feels like a Japanese take on New York; realistic enough to feel like the city had come to life, but with enough anime flair to remain believable in an animated context.

The world feels very lived-in.

A majority of the live-action influence is in the camerawork. Many shots are very cinematic, which helps in creating some complex action scenes and heightening some of the more symbolic moments. There are notably a couple POV shots that use CG, but the CG is implemented so seamlessly that until the credits rolled, I was curious how they pulled it off. The film’s unique blend of live-action and animated styles helps the film stand up today, even more impressive considering it mostly uses traditional cel animation.

The film makes great use of cinematic camera angles.

Much like the main series, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie has impeccable voice acting. Every single returning voice actor puts in an incredible performance that fits perfectly with the main cast. Of the new characters, Daran Norris is the most impressive, as he portrays Vincent with a voice atypical of a lot of his other roles, including Cowboy Andy from Cowboy Bebop itself. Equally great is the soundtrack by Seatbelts, with a rock style that highlights the action while still knowing when to be quiet or somber.

If you’re looking for a great sci-fi/film noir, or even a great animated film in general, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is an easy recommendation. Even outside of the well-written and compelling story, the animation is impressive enough that if you really wanted to, you could turn off the sound and still enjoy it on another level.