Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

Thanks to the Academy Award win by the animated fantasy "Spirited Away," there's at least an outside chance that Japanese anime might finally catch on with U.S. audiences. Let's just hope their next exposure to the art form isn't "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie."

Comparing this overlong animated sci-fi film to anything by "Spirited Away" filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki isn't fair to either of them. Both should be judged on their own merits, by the standards of like-minded films — or at least the standards of the anime television series that spawned the "Cowboy Bebop" feature (currently being shown on cable's Cartoon Network).

However, even fans of the series may be disappointed. This U.S. release of the Japanese-made feature employs some of the flattest, most unmemorable voice work in any animated film — from, surprisingly, the voice cast of the American version of the series. And the script translation is so cornball, so painfully clichd, that it's hard to take seriously.

Still, most of its problems could be fixed by a good editor —trimming out at least 20 minutes' worth of animated "fat" could only help.

The title of the futuristic film and series — which is set on Mars — refers to the crew of the Bebop, a ship full of "cowboys," or bounty hunters, searching for their next paycheck.

That's why their interest has been piqued by a reward offered by the Martian government for finding and apprehending the person responsible for a tanker explosion that killed more than 500 people, and which threatens to kill more because of the toxic substance it released.

Fortunately, one of the Bebop crew was nearby and snapped a picture of the suspect. However, the crew is shocked to find that he's a soldier who has supposedly been dead for a decade.

The plot is considerably more muddled than that sounds, and the translation (by Rika Takahashi) is no help. As for the animation, it's solid but unspectacular, as are the vocal performances — and Mellisa Fahn, as the voice of precocious Edward Wong, is a real irritant.

"Cowboy Bebop: The Movie" is rated R for scenes of animated violence (martial-arts combat, stabbings, gunplay, explosive mayhem and some violence against women), gore, occasional use of strong profanity and some crude slang terms, brief drug content (pharmaceutical use and discussion) and brief female nudity. Running time: 115 minutes.

---

E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com