"Well, that's a real shame. But, we're not cops and we're not from some charity organization. Sorry lady, we don't protect or serve. This is strictly business."One word came to my mind after watching this. Unnecessary.I have been putting off watching the Cowboy Bebop movie for several years now. I'm a huge fan of the
show, but I had heard and read so many mixed or negative reviews of the movie online and from friends, that I was hesitant to see it. In the end, though, I figured that any Cowboy Bebop had to be somewhat worthwhile. That turned out to be partially true, but I still find myself disappointed.To be blunt, the story was completely uninteresting. Each episode of the series was like a (good) mini-movie on its own, so I don't get why giving the creators more time to develop and tell this story, ended up producing something that wasn't nearly as engaging as any given one of the original episodes. It felt like the decision to make the movie came first, and very little effort was put into making a worthy plot to go along with it.The new characters are uniformly dull, much of the soundtrack was poor (How did THAT happen? Where's the jazz?), and the film as a whole felt disjointed, at best. I tried as hard as o could to like it all, but the most positive description I can give for my experience is "meh".I'll admit that it warmed my fanboy heart to see Spike, Faye, and the gang in action again. The animation was very good, and some of the action scenes were top notch. But without the great storytelling that we've all come to expect, I'd recommend this to only the most fervent Cowboy Bebop fan. You'd have much more fun in the same amount of time by just watching four of your favorite episodes from the original show.
July 7, 2010
Top Critic
