Here's the movie version of a well-established cult series. "Cowboy Bebop" began life as an anime (Japanese animation) television series in 1998. Fans will be glad to see the usual cast of animated characters figuring in the story: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, Edward Wong and the Data Dog, Ein. These are the Bebop bounty hunters, and this time they are chasing down a mysterious adversary who has blown up a tanker in the middle of a major Martian city, causing bio-hazardous fumes to kill people by the hundreds. After a while, as in all too many Japanese animation films, the plot becomes convoluted and mentally wearying. But the atmospherics are wonderfully dark and film-noirish, if overly violent. Great fighting sequences, too. The movie also features the TV show's original director (Shinichiro Watanabe) and writer (Keiko Nobumoto).
COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE (R, 115 minutes) -- Contains cartoon violence. Cineplex Odeon Dupont Circle.
Spike's on the big screen in "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie."
(Destination Films)
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