Netflix has revived the Cowboy Bebop IP for another rodeo and the end result is pretty mixed. First airing in 1998, Cowboy Bebop was an instant classic among anime viewers. Set in the year 2071 in a futuristic dystopian universe, we follow the adventures of the Bebop crew. The original anime series was episodic in nature, only ever referencing past events occasionally to let viewers know that time has passed. It wasn’t until the last few episodes of the 26 episode series that they would roll over into each other.

The series explored the theme of being unable to move on from the past, which led to never truly living in the present. We see this with the Bebop crew members Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, and Faye Valentine. They find themselves only living one day at a time as they chase after bounties across different planets. Over the course of the show, these characters start to see that the Bebop is the only place that they belong. Our main cast confronts the ghosts of their past, leading to bittersweet tragedy and viewers having to carry that weight.

The Netflix live-action adaptation brings back most of the beloved Bebop crew, with the glaring omission of Radical Ed.  Overall, I loved the casting choices for the live-action. John Cho, probably best known for his role in Cheech and Cho, stars as the cool, witty, and blissfully reserved Spike Spiegel. His performance as Spike captured the character as this emotionally damaged lost soul stuck in a dream. Unfortunately, while filming, Cho suffered a torn ACL that hindered his fight scenes. Spike’s comedic scenes were a high point of the series. It seemed as the series continued, Cho became more and more comfortable with the role.

There was a bit of controversy with Mustafa Shakir being cast as Jet Black. I didn’t agree with the minor outrage and I absolutely loved Shakir as Jet. It was as if the character was ripped directly from the anime. Shakir was able to flesh out the character a little bit more than in the anime, where he’s relegated to being a major side character. In the Netflix adaptation, Jet becomes involved in scenes where he was completely absent in the anime. From the first introduction to the final appearance, Shakir was a standout performance.

The weakest of the Bebop crew was very clearly Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine. Faye underperformed not because of Pineda, but because of the writing. The writers dove headfirst into bringing out Faye’s more annoying traits, like yelling all the time and being a general nuisance. The middle school humor really did not sit well with me and made her extremely unlikable. What I did like was that they kept her as the stereotypical femme fatale and explored her sexuality a bit more. They also toned down the attempts at poor comedy towards the middle of the series and made her a bit more serious. That subtle change was more up to par with the spirit of the original Faye Valentine.

On the Syndicate side, Alex Hassell as Vicious was probably as bad as Faye Valentine due to writers butchering his character. In the original, Vicious was exactly that – vicious. He was cold, calculated, intelligent, and gave no mercy. The Netflix adaptation brings Vicious into the spotlight and neuters the main antagonist at every turn. This made him seem unsure, unprepared, and like a spoiled brat. He had a few moments in the season that made him seem like a legitimate threat, but they were few and far between.

Aside from the casting choices, terrible writing for certain characters, and rearranging the timeline of events from the anime, let us get into the meat and potatoes of the series. The fight scene choreography was abysmal at times. Spike Spiegel was based on Bruce Lee when he was created for the anime. Although I can see some influence showing through, I had hoped it would’ve been more prevalent. Another factor may be the ACL tear John Cho suffered, limiting his movements. Outside of the Bruce Lee influence, the punches and strikes never conveyed that they generated any force. WWE wrestling has more believable striking, especially in the first episode inside the casino. It was a terrible first impression for a series based on a legendary anime.

The CGI is a high point for the series and was pretty good overall. The artists did a good job of making space feel inhabited and the chaos that followed the crew looked great. The ships the crew piloted never felt out of place and there weren’t any noticeably bad effects in my time watching. The costume designs for our cast were perfect, with Faye Valentine receiving an upgraded outfit more suitable for live-action. The environments were beautiful and brought the neo-noir space western aesthetic to life.

The Netflix adaptation of Cowboy Bebop is at its best when they indulge in the comedic exploits of the Bebop crew and show off the world they built. The show largely suffers from poor hand-to-hand action scenes and trying to create tension for the Bebop crew. The adaptation squeezes together multiple episodes from the anime and doesn’t allow character relationships to breathe.  Certain story choices were also made to prolong the series it seems, like Radical Ed being missing along with Julia’s story.

I do admire that they were not afraid to fully embrace the source material, whereas many other adaptations seem embarrassed. Jet Black was awesome and had a more pronounced role, giving us more of what worked. Faye Valentine and Vicious were hollow shells of their anime counterparts. Faye got increasingly better as a character the less she had to try and make unfunny jokes land.  Vicious, the main antagonist, was neutered at every turn until the very end. All of this chaos is underlined by the smooth jazzy licks straight from the anime series.

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Cowboy Bebop (2021)

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Not Embarrassed by Source Material
• Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black
• World Design
• Spirit of the Bebop Crew is Kept Alive
• Anime Soundtrack

Cons

• Neutered Main Antagonist
• Faye Valentine
• Most Fights Felt Slow and Not Impactful