Cowboy Bebop (2021)
It feels like the 2021 live action adaptation of "Cowboy Bebop" was doomed to fail from the start. First off, adaptations like this are not well-received by the fandom. These anime are beloved and most fans don't think that any live-action adaptation can live up to the original. This is a fair opinion since so many of them are garbage. The production of this series also had its share of issues. Series lead, John Cho, sustained a knee injury that pushed production back 8 months. Then, there was a pandemic. Honestly, they probably should have just scrapped it. But they didn't and because they didn't we are going to talk about the ten episodes that make up the first and only season of the live-action "Cowboy Bebop."
"Session 1: Cowboy Gospel"
Frank: "I ain't screwing around, cop."
Spike Spiegel: [smirks] "See, that's your mistake. I'm not a cop. And you're not worth that much."
Frank: "Piece of shit, cowboy."
Spike Spiegel and Jet Black are intergalactic bounty hunters that are also known as cowboys. They seem to be always just scraping by. Their newest bounty is a man named Asimov Solensan. A Syndicate grunt who stole a bunch of the drug Red Eye from them. He and his girlfriend, Katarina, want to see the drug and make a clean break. Things take a turn when the Syndicate gets involved and they recognize Spike. And another cowboy, Faye Valentine, interferes because she's trying to bring in Katarina, who is the daughter of a wealthy man.
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| Spike, you car's on fire. |
I'm going to try not to be overly harsh on this series. Honestly, it's not the worst live-action remake of an animated series I've seen and it's not the best. If there is one issue with "Cowboy Bebop" its that it is spectacularly mediocre. Not good enough to be worth watching because it's actually good, but also not bad enough to watch because its that mindblowingly awful. It's the television equivalent of a sigh and a shrug. That being said, there are some decent things about this first episode, so let's start there.
First off, the casting for the series is pretty on point. John Cho is really great as Spike Spiegel. He embodies Spike's effortless cool. He nails the cadence of Spike's voice. He captures the physicality of Spike. The haunting eyes even when he's joking. Mustafa Shakir is just as great as Jet Black. He nails the voice. The mannerisms. This is Jet Black. Cho and Shakir have great chemistry. One way that the live-action version of "Cowboy Bebop" differs from the anime is that they introduce Faye Valentine in the premiere, which makes sense. She's a main character and they only have ten episodes. They can't really waste time introducing characters. Danielle Pineda is fine here, but she doesn't make too much of an impression. So, I'm excited for her next appearance.
The action scenes in this first episode are solid. The opening one in the casino is a lot of fun. It's clearly an homage to the convenience store heist that opens the "Cowboy Bebop" movie. There's even a thug in the bathroom when this is all happening who takes an elderly hostage. It's a great introduction to these characters and the show and it gives viewers a great idea of what they have to look forward to. And if you haven't seen the anime, the reveal that the casino is floating in space and shaped like a giant roulette wheel is a great reveal. I mean, I knew and I still got a little giddy seeing it in live-action.
The plot of this first episode follows the plot of the first anime episode pretty closely. The crew is going after Asimov Solensan and his faux pregnant girlfriend, Katarina. They are trying to move stolen Red Eye. There are whole scenes pulled from the anime and turned in to live-action like the Red Eye fight in the bar. The major changes are Faye showing up to bring in Katarina at the behest of her rich daddy and that the there isn't an extended chase scene featuring the Swordfish. The penultimate action scene takes place in a space port with Syndicate members crashing the scene.
I think the main issue is that it mirrors the first episode of the anime too much. If you're going to do a live action adaptation of something and pull directly from the source then you have to change things up. Give characters more depth in this hour long format than they got in the shorter one and this episode doesn't do that. We don't learn anymore about Solensan or Katarina than we did in the anime. And changing the battle from space battle to on the ground shoot out robs the episode of some really cool visuals that I think it could have benefitted from.
The original "Cowboy Bebop" was more episodic while this live-action looks to be more serialized. They are already diving pretty deep in to Spike's backstory with the Syndicate realizing he's alive in this first episode. It's clear they are trying to give these characters more depth and backstory but I don't know if it's working. Giving Jet a kid is great but if we are going to have to hear him whine for multiple episodes about how he can't get her a doll or getting into dick measuring contests with his ex-wife's new boyfriend I'm not sure if this is the way.
Grade: B
"Session 2: Venus Pop"
[Spike Spiegel & Jet Black are arguing in front of the foreman]
Foreman: [whistles to get their attention] "What the hell? I've seen the good-cop, bad-cop routine, but never the dick-cop, asshole-cop."
Spike Spiegel: "We're not cops."
Foreman: "Then what are you? Just assholes?"
Spike and Jet are trying to track down the "Teddy Bomber" when Spike is attacked by a Syndicate assassin. He doesn't tell Jet and takes off to visit Ana, the woman who raised him, to try to get more information. Jet continues to try to track the Bomber with little success. Meanwhile, the Elders of the Syndicate find out that Vicious is dealing Red Eye behind their back and decide they are going to teach him a lesson.
In this second episode, it becomes pretty clear that "Cowboy Bebop" has a problem. And his name is Vicious. He's the perfect anime villain. He's over-the-top. He's flamboyant. He's kind of one-dimensional. He has a giant buzzard as a pet. He works perfectly in anime because he doesn't need to be much. He's in two episodes. He's basically an over-the-top boogeyman that haunts Spike for the entirety of the series. He's a background character. He doesn't really need to be much more than what he is. Unfortunately, that doesn't really work in this live-action series.
They've made Vicious a much bigger character. Someone who we are going to be touching base with maybe every episode? I'm not sure what they are doing with Vicious. It seems like they have watered him down. He's married to Julia. He gets dressed down by the Elders of the Syndicate and they force him to kill Julia as punishment for dealing Red Eye behind their back, but the gun isn't loaded. Julia basically calls Vicious a pussy and he chokes her out. This whole thing feels extremely contrived and generic. It feels like I've seen this type of villain a million times and Vicious should be more than this. It feels like the writers don't really understand him as a character so they just decided to do *gestures vaguely* this. Hopefully he'll develop more in the coming episodes, but I'm not convinced.
One of the changes I do like that the show has made is in the character of Gren. You remember Gren? He was maybe a hermaphrodite that was played mostly for shock value. Well, in this live-action adaptation, Gren is fully non binary and played by the magnificent Mason Alexander Park. You may remember them from "The Sandman" where they played Desire. They bring that same devilish charm to Gren and I'm hopefully we see more of them throughout this ten episodes.
Anastasia goes from the owner of a convenience store to Ana the owner of a jazz club. I love Tamra Tunie. She was the medical examiner on "Law & Order: SVU" and its nice to see her spread her wings here. She has a great rapport with Spike. And while I don't love what they are doing with Vicious, I am a fan of how they are tweaking and enriching Spike's backstory, which is important because he is the main character.
The writers continue to show they do have a good grasp on Spike. Everything he does here feels like something he'd do in the anime. Going out for noodles and not tell Jet what he is actually doing. Leaving Jet to do the legwork on their bounty. All classic Spike. My favorite part of the episode is probably the end when Spike and Jet are at the construction office bickering. It feels like something right out of the anime and it made me smile.
I have a similar critique for this episode that I did for the premiere and it involves the Teddy Bomber. If the show is going to pull these classic villains from the anime and it fees like they are, then they need to do something with them. They need to further develop them. The Teddy Bomber is such an after thought here that I was surprised when he showed up at the end. I doubt that is what they were looking for.
I do have to give praise to the action sequence in the bathroom. It was great and by far my favorite part of the episode. Honestly, if we get at least one of these per episode, then I'll be willing to forgive a lot.
Grade: B-
Next up, Jet is still trying to get that birthday present and Faye returns to get help taking down some eco-terrorists.
What do you all think? I'd love to hear from some anime fans who have watched this? Did you like it? Hate it? Were you indifferent to it? Let me know in the comments.
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