Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heavens Door ( * * * )
This is the only anime series that matters.
The Acting: Can't speak for the voice talent across the ocean, but the English cast does its usual excellent job. The animation in the show was feature-quality to begin with, so there's no drastic improvement there.
The Story: A running theme in the series is the main characters' chronic malnutrition. In one episode, all the food they had to eat were psychedelic mushrooms. So when a 300,000,000 woolong reward goes out for a bounty head, they go after it with their usual zest. Things get complicated when their target, a terrorist with access to nanotech, is revealed to have government ties. Spike almost dies at the hands of "Vincent" and he takes it personally. Spike, Ed, Jet, Faye and Ein all return in what amounts to a fair episode of a great series.
The Direction: Shinichirô Watanabe returns to the series that made him great, or that he made great, or both. As I said, this is the only anime out there worth a damn. Personally I rate hard-core anime fans up there with hard-core Dr. Who fans in the greater realm of loserdom, and having worked retail I can't tell you how many of them like to slob the knob of Evangelion. Well, I've seen all of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which started off interesting for about six episodes, and then became a nonstop German schizen video of half-baked philosophy, idiotic plots and fourth-rate characterization. And the animation wasn't so hot, either, so fuck all of you anime nerds. As a great philosopher once said, "Anime is teh suck." Except for Bebop. Due to the excellent Cowboy Bebop series finale, this movie takes place mid-series...or...is it just a dream?
Overall: Faye gets as naked as she'll ever get in this movie, and it's a cocktease in other ways as well. Equivalent to about four episodes in length, you only get enough grist for one really entertaining episode. As a movie it's good--as the capper to the Bebop legacy, not so much. "Real Folk Blues 1 & 2" said all that needed to be said.
Tredekka Rules:
The Acting: Can't speak for the voice talent across the ocean, but the English cast does its usual excellent job. The animation in the show was feature-quality to begin with, so there's no drastic improvement there.
The Story: A running theme in the series is the main characters' chronic malnutrition. In one episode, all the food they had to eat were psychedelic mushrooms. So when a 300,000,000 woolong reward goes out for a bounty head, they go after it with their usual zest. Things get complicated when their target, a terrorist with access to nanotech, is revealed to have government ties. Spike almost dies at the hands of "Vincent" and he takes it personally. Spike, Ed, Jet, Faye and Ein all return in what amounts to a fair episode of a great series.
The Direction: Shinichirô Watanabe returns to the series that made him great, or that he made great, or both. As I said, this is the only anime out there worth a damn. Personally I rate hard-core anime fans up there with hard-core Dr. Who fans in the greater realm of loserdom, and having worked retail I can't tell you how many of them like to slob the knob of Evangelion. Well, I've seen all of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which started off interesting for about six episodes, and then became a nonstop German schizen video of half-baked philosophy, idiotic plots and fourth-rate characterization. And the animation wasn't so hot, either, so fuck all of you anime nerds. As a great philosopher once said, "Anime is teh suck." Except for Bebop. Due to the excellent Cowboy Bebop series finale, this movie takes place mid-series...or...is it just a dream?
Overall: Faye gets as naked as she'll ever get in this movie, and it's a cocktease in other ways as well. Equivalent to about four episodes in length, you only get enough grist for one really entertaining episode. As a movie it's good--as the capper to the Bebop legacy, not so much. "Real Folk Blues 1 & 2" said all that needed to be said.
Tredekka Rules:
- Rule 22: The Great Entrance Award--when Spike shows up at the end to administer some ass-kicking, it's a pretty sweet moment. +1 star.
- Rule 24: Exploding Buildings Are Good--to be honest, I don't recall a building exploding, but a tanker truck does and a monorail does, and a bunch of sparks and shit come out of a building as it falls apart at the end, so close enough. +1 star.
- Rule 30: Any Animated Film Gets A Pity Star For The Effort, +1 star.
Tredekka Score: ( * * * )
posted by Tredekka at 9:02 AM
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