Fans of Cowboy Bebop will find everything that the series does right on display here. The action sequences are excellent, particularly the martial arts scenes, which display more fluid and complex choreography than any animation in memory.
However, while the action standards of the series are met, there's little character. The new additions are more fully developed than the series regulars. And while the save-the-world plot machinations keep the story moving forward, it's nothing particularly special.
What really left me cold was the bad guy. As any James Bond fan can attest, a hero is only as good as his villain, and the film-makers try their best to give Spike a worthy adversary. While his martial arts prowess gives Spike a run for his money, his motivation makes little to no sense. They were apparently trying for an extreme nihilism angle, but he instead comes off as pointless. The man is clearly deranged, as he can't decide whether he's living real life or a dream, and wants to end it all. But how exactly does releasing a plague that will kill everyone but himself solve his problem? Wouldn't suicide be a more sensible option? Nevertheless, he holds forth on his dilemma at great length to anyone who will listen. The writer clearly believes that this is all quite fraught with portent, but it comes off as pretentious and dull.
When a series is expanded into a movie, fans expect to see something bigger and more important, and which hopefully fleshes out the characters and brings some growth to their stories. Instead, we get what would be a rather mediocre episode at thirty minutes expanded to nearly two hours.
However, while the action standards of the series are met, there's little character. The new additions are more fully developed than the series regulars. And while the save-the-world plot machinations keep the story moving forward, it's nothing particularly special.
What really left me cold was the bad guy. As any James Bond fan can attest, a hero is only as good as his villain, and the film-makers try their best to give Spike a worthy adversary. While his martial arts prowess gives Spike a run for his money, his motivation makes little to no sense. They were apparently trying for an extreme nihilism angle, but he instead comes off as pointless. The man is clearly deranged, as he can't decide whether he's living real life or a dream, and wants to end it all. But how exactly does releasing a plague that will kill everyone but himself solve his problem? Wouldn't suicide be a more sensible option? Nevertheless, he holds forth on his dilemma at great length to anyone who will listen. The writer clearly believes that this is all quite fraught with portent, but it comes off as pretentious and dull.
When a series is expanded into a movie, fans expect to see something bigger and more important, and which hopefully fleshes out the characters and brings some growth to their stories. Instead, we get what would be a rather mediocre episode at thirty minutes expanded to nearly two hours.