Americanized through western showdowns, shadowy film noir, gangster shootings, sci-fi, Bruckheimer explosions, slapstick, and soaps, Bebop aims to transcend its own genre by emulating all genres, and it falls short only in the melodrama.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie(カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan, United States · 2001
Rated R · 1h 55m
Director Shinichiro Watanabe
Starring Kouichi Yamadera, Unsho Ishizuka, Aoi Tada, Ai Kobayashi
Genre Action, Animation, Science Fiction
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An extension of the original 1998 "Cowboy Bebop" anime, this film is set between episodes 22 and 23 and follows the Bebop crew as they attempt to stop a mysterious terrorist from destroying the human population of Mars with an unknown pathogen. An exciting extension of Watanabe's classic anime that will please newcomers and longtime fans alike.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
There are so many good ideas at the visual level that you can't help wishing the narrative elements had been more cleverly worked out.
Good news is that most of the marvelous English dialogue cast from the Cowboy Bebop series has returned for the film. The bad news is that the heart and soul of the series hasn’t.
Portland Oregonian by Kim Morgan
It's a stylish work, seeping with brilliant animation and potentially interesting characters that didn't need so much time to establish themselves. It's worthwhile, but it's a good thing there's a television show to refer to.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey
With all due respect to Japanese animation fans and pop-culture enthusiasts, life may be just too short to plunge into the busy world of Cowboy Bebop.
Dallas Observer by Luke Y. Thompson
When the action sequences work, they work well; the climax cribs heavily from 1989's "Batman," but improves on Tim Burton's finale.
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
Brisk, engaging story.
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
Overlong, overplotted and underdrawn.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker
Isn't exactly adult animation but it's more complex and ambiguous than the usual Hollywood live-action blockbuster, and just as splashy.
If you want state of the art anime that comes within spitting distance of escaping the limits of its genre, this might be your cup of bootleg sake.
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