THEY SAY
It's the year 2071. Meet Spike and Jet, a drifter
and a retired cyborg cop. They've formed a partnership in a bounty hunting
enterprise that specializes in adventure and cash. Using an old converted
fishing ship called the Bebop, with the help of the intelligent data dog,
Ein, the mysterious and vexing femme fatale, Faye Valentine, and Ed, the
genius hacker - Spike and Jet scour the galaxy to clean up space, one
bounty at a time.
Cowboy Bebop will be a live action movie
starring Keanu Reeves based on the anime TV show of the same name that was
originally broadcast in Japan in 1998 before it made its way to the States
via Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.
“It’s got a Western quality, a Western film noir
aspect to it,” said Reeves of the 26 episode TV series that also inspired
a full-length animated movie in 2003. “It’s got so much style to it, and
that’s part of its appeal. That kind of Old West, border town, low-tech
science fiction aspect.”
Reeves also had the following to say about the
planned movie:
“I think that would be a production designer’s dream.
I think you just need a good production designer.”
“We’re taking the Red Eye [story], the beginning part
of the series and then we’ll deal with the end of the series. We’re trying
to figure out [the time frame]. We’re looking at the story right now.”
[The plot of these episodes involves the origins on the fictional “Bebop”
drug developed by the military that gives its users with a brief surge of
superhuman reflexes and awareness.]
WE SAY
Cowboy Bebop is the sort of anime show that
appeals to people who don’t normally like anime. If you’re unfamiliar with
the show we’d suggest that you immediately plonk down some $120 or so for
the entire box set on DVD. Yeah, we know times are tough and you have to
pay your rent this month, but you’ll only thank us in the long run. It’s
really a cool, enjoyable show mixing jazz instrumentals with great
animated visuals. There are loads of action and a light tone (no
mean-spiritedness here). Besides, the landlord can wait . . .
We know it is fashionable to complain about Reeves’
wooden acting, but at least he looks (a bit) like the animated Spike. But
to be honest we’re not entirely convinced that this movie will ever
happen. There are already plans for live action remakes of
Akira and
Ghost in the Shell in the
pipeline and things may get a bit crowded. The last live action anime
movie was Speed Racer, which sank like
a stone at the box office.
Besides, sooner or later someone is going to mention
Serenity . . .
Cowboy
Bebop
(2011)