Anime Review: Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Stumble It!
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Publisher: Columbia Tri-Star
Type of Anime: Movie
Genre: Action, Adventure, SciFi
Watched Subbed/Dubbed: Subbed
Overall Rating: 
Story:
My Rating:
For fans of the Bebop series, the movie is a must see. Unlike a lot of anime movies that have little to do with the series, try to recreate an alternative universe, or try to summarize the entire 26 episodes up in 2 hours or less, the Bebop movie is more like a longer tv episode with amazing animation, good plot, and top notch, fluid fighting. The movie itself falls somewhere between episodes 22 and 23 (I think) of the series, so there's no reintroduction to the characters and the whole team (Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed, and Ein) are doing their bounty hunting thing on the Bebop. You don't need to see the series to enjoy the movie, as the movie basically stands on its own.
The movie begins with Spike and Jet taking on a couple of wanted criminals who are holding up a convenience store. Right from the get go, we get a sense of Spike's ennui with this world, and how he's only doing this for the money, when he's ready to put an old woman's life in danger to catch his boys. Soon, that mission is over, and they're on to the next.
The Heaven's Door plot begins with Faye attempting to catch a petty hacker named Lee. While on his trail, a chemical tanker explodes, causing anyone in a 3 km radius to become ill. The government suspects bioterrorism and puts a massive bounty of 300 million woolongs on the culprit. They also begin the search for the virus they suspect is causing the mass illness.
Having witnessed the explosion, Faye seems to be the only one that caught a glimpse of the culprit and survived. With Ed and Ein's help, they narrow down his identity to a former member of a special military operation group that disbanded three years ago. Through a bit of luck, Spike is also able to track down a sample of the 'virus' to learn that it is nanotechnology based and disguised as a normal human lymphocyte. Thus begins their elaborate quest to capture the baddy and claim their extremely large bounty before something big happens on Halloween 2071.
While I do believe the movie is quite good, I do think it was a bit too long. There were just some parts I felt dragged on and probably should have just been cut out altogether.
Animation:
My Rating: 
The animation is quite good, from the fluid hand to hand fighting sequences to the characters' facial expressions.
Music:
My Rating: 
The music is a nice mix of jazzy blues and more pop tunes throughout the film that goes very well with the drama/action of the movie.
Character Design:
My Rating:
This really isn't a reintroduction to the characters, so picture your favorite characters in the tv series. Unfortunately, Ed and Ein get little screen time as the plot focuses on Spike with Faye adding her own personal charm and Jet worrying about whether his two crewmates will even return to the ship. Character development of the main characters is shadowed by the (sometimes overly long) focus on their target and his past.
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