I made it pretty obvious in my review of the Cowboy Bebop series that I am not a big fan of it, it's not a bad show but it felt way too jumbled and disjointed to be consistently enjoyable for me. This is going to be a much shorter review but to put it simpily, I really enjoyed this movie.
It's the only anime movie based on a series that I consider to be better than the source material.
Knockin on Heaven's Door basically took everything good about the series like the amazing animation, well produced action, good music, and incredible art and cranks it up to 11.
This time however, the plot is actually much more consistent due it being a movie and not an episodic anime that sort of has a serial narrative. The movie's commitement to the whole urban city asthestic I do think is rather commendable considering it adds to the whole grounded action thriller story that the movie goes for.
It does make me question if Bebop was even better off for being a sci fi series but that is an issue that can apply to the series and I went to at length in my review.
The villain here is much better. Where Vicious hardly had any of his motives explained and isn't very proactive in the story at all. Vincent's motivations are explained to varying degrees and there even is a scene that explains what makes him tick which Vicious never really had. The guy is basically an "Evil Spike" but I find that more compelling than what Vicious was. I did find his whole delimma of what is a dream and what is real to be compelling enough. He's what if he was Spike but completely unhinged which is what the antagonists of the series needed. And it made me wish I knew more about the war on Titan but that is an issue that can apply to the series too.
I also liked how there was even a scene where Jet and Spike had ideological differences in how they handle situations due to the former being a former cop and the other being a former gangster, which the show didn't have much of.
Alright, might as well describe my issues, first the character of Electra, she's decent but she feels too much like one of those female characters in the Lupin the 3rd movies where while decent do tend to make you wonder why on earth does Spike and Lupin not hang out with them and continue to go after women who don't really provide much of anything for them Julia and Fujiko respectively. That and I do wonder why the series never acknowledges her again nor Spike never tries to get together with her after showing so much attachment, I am not saying this as a "shipping" guy, I am saying, what was the point showing Spike cared if the ending wasn't going to address that whole sub plot? It felt weird to me, the ending kind of felt rushed in general. The Bebop crew saved Mars from a bio outbreak and then it just...ends.
That and the ending also makes the series' ending look stranger in retrospect, I mean the Bebop crew went through absolute hell and back in this movie yet I am really supposed to believe that Jet and Faye would let Spike go on his own in the the final battle against Vicious or how Ed would just ditch Spike and Jet after everything but that is just prequels being prequels.
Also, with Vincent and Vicious both being on the war on Titan really did make me wish that the Bebop series actually gave more details on it. The whole thing feels like a huge event that I barely know anything about but that is another issue that can be found with the series.
Overall, if you were one of the few people that were lukewarm on the Cowboy Bebop series and are hesistant of giving the movie a shot, I say watch it, the movie isn't that long and if you liked the art, music, animation, and action of the series, Knockin on Heaven's Door is basically more of that but with a bigger budget.
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