TV Show - Cowboy Bebop (2021) [+]
May 18 2022
Cowboy Bebop (2021) is a Netflix live action reboot of the classic anime series. Spike Spiegel (John Cho) and Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir) are a pair of interplanetary bounty hunters (or Cowboys). On Jet's ship, the Bebop, they go from one seedy city to another collecting bounties and barely keeping food in the cupboard. Later on they meet and eventually add Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda) to the team and in the last couple of episodes fo the 10 episode drama Spiegel's secret comes out and he has to face his Syndicate past in former partner and now Syndicate head Vicious (Alex Hassell) and his wife, and Spike's former love, Julia (Elena Satine).
The episodes redo several of the better anime episodes but now as double-length 45 to 50 minute stories. This allows for a slower pace when needed and a bit more character moments. I recently watched the anime and those episodes are fast yet tell complete stories. Some reviewers thought the live action episodes were too slow but they seemed just fine to me and I was never bored.
The color palette and atmosphere is a bit darker with more night scenes, it seems. Combine with the dirty rundown places they visit and accompanying jazz music and you get this noir feel with electronics and space ships. The tech looks great and it helps that everything is supposed to be kind of run down.
Acting is quite good. Cho and Shakir embody their characters and have good chemistry. Pineda is an amazing Faye. You can't get Faye's look because that's an impossibly tall, thin, busty beauty with a skimpy costume. But Pineda has got the attitude down cold. Ein the dog is also there for much of the season with one episode showing off a bit of its back story. Radical Ed (Eden Perkins) makes a brief appearance just before the final episode end credits and would have been cool in a second season.
I like Spike's subplot. They kind of focused on that throughout the season with Jet and Faye getting less focus (though I loved the episode with Faye and her "mother"). Unlike the anime the live action also has one or two scenes per episode following Vicious and Julia as they get in trouble with the Syndicate heads and decide the way out is to take over the Syndicate. It makes for a better confrontation between Spike and Vicious and I like the noir backstabby ending. Also everybody survives for the next season.
Unfortunately Netflix cancelled the series. I guess season two would have been similar, with a season-long subplot while recycling other anime stories.
Overall I did love this series. It's definitely Cowboy Bebop and although borrows stories from the anime it changes them enough that they're still quite interesting. I don't think you need to watch the anime first and the live action stands on its own quite well.
The episodes redo several of the better anime episodes but now as double-length 45 to 50 minute stories. This allows for a slower pace when needed and a bit more character moments. I recently watched the anime and those episodes are fast yet tell complete stories. Some reviewers thought the live action episodes were too slow but they seemed just fine to me and I was never bored.
The color palette and atmosphere is a bit darker with more night scenes, it seems. Combine with the dirty rundown places they visit and accompanying jazz music and you get this noir feel with electronics and space ships. The tech looks great and it helps that everything is supposed to be kind of run down.
Acting is quite good. Cho and Shakir embody their characters and have good chemistry. Pineda is an amazing Faye. You can't get Faye's look because that's an impossibly tall, thin, busty beauty with a skimpy costume. But Pineda has got the attitude down cold. Ein the dog is also there for much of the season with one episode showing off a bit of its back story. Radical Ed (Eden Perkins) makes a brief appearance just before the final episode end credits and would have been cool in a second season.
I like Spike's subplot. They kind of focused on that throughout the season with Jet and Faye getting less focus (though I loved the episode with Faye and her "mother"). Unlike the anime the live action also has one or two scenes per episode following Vicious and Julia as they get in trouble with the Syndicate heads and decide the way out is to take over the Syndicate. It makes for a better confrontation between Spike and Vicious and I like the noir backstabby ending. Also everybody survives for the next season.
Unfortunately Netflix cancelled the series. I guess season two would have been similar, with a season-long subplot while recycling other anime stories.
Overall I did love this series. It's definitely Cowboy Bebop and although borrows stories from the anime it changes them enough that they're still quite interesting. I don't think you need to watch the anime first and the live action stands on its own quite well.