Name(s): Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door / Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira / カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉 / Cowboy Bebop: Der Film / Cowboy Bebop: La Película / Cowboy Bebop: Le Film
Format(s): Movie (115 minutes)
Genre(s): Action
Studio(s): Bones
Release Date(s): September 1, 2001

SPOILERS FOR ALL OF COWBOY BEBOP (TV) FOLLOW

I put off watching this one because I had a good feeling it was going to be exactly what I expected. Plus even among fans it seems to have the reputation of being “an extended standard Cowboy Bebop episode.” That’s pretty much true, but what no one mentions is that it being a standard, single episode is kind of why it’s not as good as the series. Cowboy Bebop isn’t just bounty hunters aimlessly hopping around space having episodic adventures.

As a whole it’s a post-modern work that constantly stretches its own boundaries as it jumps genres per episode, going from sci-fi to horror to comedy, and shifts tone constantly in search of the sense of artistic freedom the staff wanted out of it. That is the real concept of Cowboy Bebop, not the space bounty hunting. Not that the premise isn’t cool and entertaining on its own. I like the Cowboy Bebop gang quite a bit. I love the setting design, music, gorgeous backgrounds, and fluid animation and choreography. But I always liked the series the most when it was doing things I didn’t predict. I thought Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door would be everything I predicted it is, and it was.

I think the most frustrating thing about this movie is that it doesn’t really have a reason to exist other than to give us more of the same characters. It feels just as redundant as literally every other non-canonical anime series movie I’ve seen. It even has the plot element of an original female character trying to prevent an original male character she loves from making a huge mistake (this is literally in every one of them).

Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door could have very easily added more to the world of Cowboy Bebop or its characters without conflicting established lore, but instead its decision to not interfere ensures that nothing in it matters. So is it really more Cowboy Bebop? Is Cowboy Bebop about not challenging conventions or not developing its world or characters? I don’t think it is, so this movie feels like an average adventure plot wearing the skin of Cowboy Bebop, even though its one of the most stylish skins out there.

The animation and backgrounds are still remarkable though not hugely above the series’ quality, and I especially love the large city setting where the scale is truly felt through dozens of high altitude set pieces that overlook all the skyscrapers. Vincent is a cool enough villain, but a far cry from Vicious even though they seem to go for the same psycho badass appeal.

The difference is that Vicious never loses his cool factor because his mystique never dissipates – you never learn exactly what his deal is, ever. Vincent is actually given an explanation, or they attempt to give him one, but it’s just some amateur too-common Japanese philosophizing about “being in a dream” or “nothing being real” or whatever the fuck. It’s pointlessly vague nonsense, so Vincent comes out of nowhere but ends up being a nobody.

It’s disappointing that my favorite character, Jet, does almost nothing in the movie. I also don’t really like the idea of making any extended Bebop material to begin with, because ignoring the flickering burn out of Spike’s death to return to this idea that the crew can always be resurrected for fun adventures eternal is too easy given the series’ heavy atmosphere of ennui and nihilism. It’s cheap escapism, and if Cowboy Bebop has a theme isn’t it that no one can find escapism even in the vastness of space?

Man, I think I’m running out of things to say already. Music was pretty on-point, I actually thought the scenes and audio mostly synced up better than the series. I didn’t like the use of alternative rock, almost always with post-grunge lyrics coolly trying to talk about sex. I guess that’s it. I’ve said this feels like it was cut from the same cloth as other anime series movies I’ve seen, but it’s certainly nowhere near the level of mediocrity as The Sacred Star of Milos or something due to the sheer superior talent on board.

The story may not be much, and it doesn’t have a meta-narrative to subvert itself with like the series did over its entire length, but the aesthetic design is excellent and there’s some beautiful images, particularly in the finale on the tower. It’s a good movie with a lot of effort behind it, but I thought it’d have the brains to want to be more ambitious as well. The plot didn’t entertain me a whole lot and the spectacle, its saving grace, wasn’t much above the series. So again, I don’t think this movie really adds much to anime by existing, unlike the series itself.