COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE – Midnights This Weekend at The Tivoli

“I love a woman who can kick my ass!”

COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE screens midnights this weekend (June 26th and 27th) at The Tivoli Theater as part of their ‘Reel Late at The Tivoli’ Midnight Series.

The popular animé series Cowboy Bebop got its own feature-length film in 2001 aptly named COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE. Set in the late 21st century, it jumps into the series’ story line just prior to its conclusion, with the bounty hunting crew of the interstellar craft Bebop chasing a hacker aboard a tanker into a major city on Mars. As crew member Faye Valentine closes in on the tanker, she witnesses its catastrophic explosion, which soon appears to be a viral terrorist attack as the death toll continues to mount in the days following. Furthermore, Faye caught a glimpse of the person responsible for the blast and is thus the only surviving witness of the crime. After the government puts out a large bounty for the perpetrator’s capture, the Bebop gang — slacker Spike Spiegel, former policeman Jet Black, and hacker girl genius Edward — begin their own hunt for the mass murderer, who is eventually revealed to be one Vincent Volaju. Vincent, it turns out, was the lone survivor of a governmental medical test and now seeks revenge by unleashing the same microscopic robotic virus used in the tanker explosion on the unsuspecting city. The Bebop crew must scramble to prevent Vincent from carrying out his plan, as well as try to locate an anti-virus to counterattack the effects of Vincent’s virus.

I’ve never seen COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE, but critics at the time loved it:

Jamie Russell at at BBC.com said it’s:

“….A brilliant feature-length anime that’s good enough to deserve mention in the same breath as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Spirited Away.”

John Beifuss at Commercial Appeal said:

“…..Cartoon or not, the world of ‘Cowboy Bebop: The Movie’ feels as convincingly ‘lived-in’ as any seen onscreen in ages…”

Kim Morgan at The Oregonian said COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE:

“…..is a stylish work, seeping with brilliant animation and potentially interesting characters that didn’t need so much time to establish themselves.”

COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE Screens midnights this weekend  (June 26^th and 27^th) at midnight

Admission is $8. Hope to see everyone this weekend at The Tivoli!