“Global Streaming Media Boss” Netflix once again hit the world with a “Squid Game” this year. This raises the audience’s expectations for Netflix’s original ability.
Recently, Netflix has focused on launching two series “Cowboy Bebop” and “Hellbound”.
However, the success of “Squid Game” has not been reproduced again, and the reputation of these two series is a little hard to say.
“Cowboy Bebop” is adapted from Japanese animation, and “Hellbound” is adapted from Korean manga. Both of their original works have a huge fan base.
What’s wrong with Netflix this time, it messed up two IPs in one go?
The audience’s evaluation of film and television works is always “differs have different opinions.” Have you already watched these two new Netflix dramas, do they meet your expectations?
“Cowboy Bebop” Review: It was really ruined
The live-action TV series adapted from the comics have long since fallen into a situation where they are prone to failure.
Japan’s own manga adaptations of film and television works, many of them are the existence of destroying the original works and having hot eyes. Hollywood has frequently fumbled here over the years.
In 2017, “Ghost in the Shell” starring Scarlett Johansson vividly explained to the audience that no matter how good the special effects technology, Hollywood cannot grasp the sad and desperate core of the original.
However, the wealthy Netflix just doesn’t believe in this evil. Recently, it has begun to extend its tentacles to the live-action comics, and picked a big one-“Cowboy Bebop” live-action version.
The animated version of “Cowboy Bebop” is undoubtedly a masterpiece.
For the greatest Japanese animation of the 20th century, it must be on the list.
Related Post: “Cowboy Bebop” Review: It does not imitate the soul of the original.
The story tells that in the near future, human technology has developed to be able to come and go freely in the solar system.
But this technology triggered an explosion on the moon, and the surviving humans had to flee the earth and establish homes in various parts of the solar system.
The turbulent environment spawned countless crimes, so “bounty hunters” came into being.
The protagonists Spike and Jet are two bounty hunters. They drive the spaceship BEBOP to catch criminals in the universe in exchange for rewards.
This 1998 animation work is still quite fashionable now.
The romanticism of Watanabe Shin`ichirou, the jazz soundtrack of Yoko Kanno, the unique aesthetics of mixed Hong Kong films and American Western films all make this work almost perfect.
After “Cowboy Bebop” released the news that it was going to be humanized by Hollywood, the fans’ quarrels never stopped.
First of all, fans are dissatisfied with the casting of “Cowboy Bebop”.
Obviously, the original role was “politically correct.”
The protagonist group does not have an ethnic label. What Watanabe Shin`ichirou creates is a borderless future world. Human beings can use any planet as their home, which is in line with the fantasy of the vast universe.
In the live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop”, they have become a clear “Asian + Black + White” lineup.
The characters don’t match their appearance, and the clothes are restored, so they look more like a group of middle-aged people playing cosplay.
This is only second. After actually watching the drama, you will find that its plot is more “corrected” and clichéd is the setting and connotation of the characters.
Every character in the original work is full of helplessness. They seem to be chic, but they are constrained by fate and memories.
Related Post: Netflix officially recommends “Cowboy Bebop” live-action drama, and the media give it average reviews.
Back to the live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop”, the background and emotions of the characters have become simple and rude.
Americans don’t appreciate the implicit oriental culture and the romance of blank space.
The protagonist, Spike, was originally a prodigal son with a dashing, unruly and mysterious past, bound by his past identity and emotions.
The live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” seems to want to add a little humor to this adventure story.
As a result, Spike opened his mouth, and all kinds of American jokes appeared endlessly. As everyone knows, this makes the character’s mystery and charm value decrease, and the oiliness increases.
Captain Jet, a lonely and delicate, tough guy with betrayal and mystery, is turned into a frustrated middle-aged man often seen in American stories.
He embarked on a bounty hunter journey for his daughter and to save his family, calling out a wave of secular love very deliberately.
The heroine Faye, a glamorous girl who lives by fraud and stealing. She lost her memory because of an accident, and constantly wanted to find her past, but she was afraid of knowing the truth.
The live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” removes the background of Faye’s fraud and adds a les plot to her, and the passage of searching for the past has become very simple.
Faye’s plot has no emotional advancement, it seems to be just to complete a task.
Aside from the character core and charm in the animation, the live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” becomes a giant fan show.
As a stand-alone series, it is not very good either. It can only be said that “Cowboy Bebop” is Netflix’s pipeline product-science fiction special effects, bloody killings, plus some jokes and sex scenes.
The only thing that can be said is that it is estimated that only the special effects team of the whole show is the real fan of the original works. It is done very carefully and seems to be very expensive.
However, the other parts are somewhat more manageable.
Especially the action scenes have been criticized. The Bruce Lee-style Jeet Kune Do in the cartoon has become muddy in the live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop”, and the editing even appears to be fragmented.
Let’s talk about the structure of the story. The original work is in the form of a unit drama, which looks sloppy, but in fact there is a theme that runs through it all the time.
Whether it is the protagonist or the supporting role, the bounty hunter or the criminal, they seem to be free and happy, but they always want to have some connection with the world.
In the end, they were defeated by reality, so they seemed very lonely.
For example, there is an episode about a couple who sells drugs, Katarina and Asimov.
Katarina imagined that they could live a new and happy life on Mars with the money they earned from selling drugs.
Asimov was driven by profit because of drug use.
In the process of escaping, Asimov gradually made Katarina feel strange and terrified, but she still had luck and hope in her heart and chose to follow him.
In the end, Katarina finally understood that they had no retreat and no happy future. The former lover had been swallowed by drugs and sin.
Katarina decides to kill the crazy Asimov with his own hands, and then die with him, hugging each other to death.
We can feel Katarina’s loneliness and hopelessness. Therefore, her final decision seemed extremely moving and sad.
The animation uses more than 20 minutes of content to tell the story very complete and meaningful. Katarina’s last sentence “Adios” is also full of romance.
The live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” changed the “unable to go back to the past” man and woman into a pair of bitter and desperate mandarin ducks.
The two died under the bullet rain of the solar system criminal police, lacking a portrayal of the characters’ hearts, and completely turned into a vulgar love story.
The live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” obviously does not get the essence of the original, so it just uses a main line that can stimulate the development of the plot to connect the story.
It magnifies the “Red Dragon Crime Syndicate” scene in the original work, and highlights the image of the “villain” Bishas, forming a simple opposition between good and evil.
Spike used to be a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate, a gangster organization. He and Bishas were former comrades-in-arms and close friends, but the two became enemies because of their different ideas.
But the live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” compares Vicious’s shaping, but it can be called the most magical change in the whole show.
In the original work, Vicious is a gloomy and cold “crazy critic beauty”. In the live-action version, he is neither beautiful nor crazy, and has become a big fool who can only growl.
Yes, it is the most common kind of Hollywood movies.
It is unavoidable that it is doubtful that this IQ can also be a comrade-in-arms with Spike, and still jump so many episodes?
It’s also a pity that Julia, Spike’s old lover who never forgets.
A beautiful woman who caught a glimpse of her life once helped Spike escape from the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate, and lived an escape life alone.
Even though she appeared in Spike’s memories, she always brought her own hazy filter, and Julia finally appeared on the stage to go through fire and water for her lover.
The live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” instead made her fall into the pull of two men, and Julia was reduced to a vase, losing her charm.
Those who are familiar with the original work know that there is a classic stem in “Cowboy Bebop”-shredded pork with green peppers.
The live-action version restored and paved the way for the cooking process, but in the end it was not reflected in the play.
This is also the overall feeling of “Cowboy Bebop”, it tried very hard to follow the original style, and even the opening song was completely reproduced.
After tossing for a long time, “Cowboy Bebop” barely came up with a similar shape, but it still lost the most important spiritual core.
Fortunately, Netflix may be a little self-aware. When the live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” was released, the original animation was also launched.
Netflix seems to remind viewers that if the live-action version of “Cowboy Bebop” is not satisfactory, maybe we can watch the animated version and wash our eyes.
“Hellbound” Review: Sang-ho Yeon messed up another IP after “Train to Busan 2”?
“Squid Game”, “Sweet Home”, “Kingdom”… After entering South Korea, Netflix will invest in producing one or two high-quality hit shows every year.
Through them, we can also sum up the “traffic password”: thriller, curiosity, heavy mouth, torture and so on.
“Hellbound” is another high-energy new drama based on this.
During the initial publicity, the show was full of gimmicks.
The director of “Train to Busan” Sang-ho Yeon + “Fourth Award Winner” Yoo Ah‑in, the series is adapted from a Korean webcomic of the same name. It is hailed as “the most impactful work in history.”
This is not the first time Sang-ho Yeon has become involved with the manga “Hellbound”.
He used this as a source of inspiration to create an animated short film “지옥: 두개의 삶”.
“지옥: 두개의 삶” tells the story of one day when an angel suddenly appeared in front of the male protagonist and predicted his imminent death.
This can be regarded as the prequel story of “Hellbound”.
The drama version “Hellbound” continues the high concept setting of predicting death. The messenger of hell comes to the world to punish those who are declared dead by the “god”.
This phenomenon caused panic in the whole society, and at the same time a cult group took advantage of the rise.
But after watching this show, you will find that supernatural phenomena are just its introduction.
What “Hellbound” really wants to discuss is the blind obedience and brutality of the people under the circumstances of anarchism and lack of social credibility.
The cult issues in the play also fit in with the anxious reality of Korean society.
As soon as the episode opens, it uses an exciting escape scene to introduce two key elements in the play: the declarant and the New Truth religious.
In the cafe, a group of young people are gathering to discuss the recently popular New Truth religious and its leader Jeong Jin‑soo (played by Yoo Ah‑in).
On the other side, a panicked middle-aged man was staring at the time, as if waiting for something.
Before long, there was a huge abnormal noise in the cafe, and the three monsters pierced the glass in full view and rushed to the middle-aged man desperately.
The man fled to the street in a panic, then the monster caught him, beat him violently, and burned him into a pile of bones with a dazzling white light.
After the incident, criminal police Jin Kyeong-hoon (played by Yang Ik-Joon) defined it as a murder case and launched an investigation.
He found Jeong Jin‑soo who knew the inside story, and asked him questions, but was ridiculed by the other strangely: “I didn’t expect you to investigate God’s deeds.”
Then the plot began to revolve around the New Truth religious where Jeong Jin-soo is located, how it rises (the first three episodes) and how it declines (the latter three episodes).
Although “Hellbound” has only six short episodes, the director divides it into two chapters.
The first three episodes are like the relationship between “Train to Busan” and “Train to Busan 22”.
The protagonist has changed, the social background has changed, and the connotation expressed is also different, which is also the key to the controversy of the whole drama.
Nevertheless, Jeong Jin-soo, played by Yoo Ah‑in, still adds a lot to the drama.
This is a rather complicated and divided character.
On the one hand, he is the leader of a cult. He spreads fear in the name of “God’s Will”, declaring that those who are declared are guilty.
On the other hand, he tried to use fear to regulate people’s behavior, so that human beings can live more upright, thus welcoming a whole new world.
The director used a lot of details to hint at contradictions in him.
In the character poster of Jeong Jin‑soo, the upper part shows him surrounded by smiling children, like a holy father; the lower part shows him lying alone in a pool of blood.
When Jeong Jin-soo was preaching to the world in the play, the director deliberately divided his face on the live broadcast screen into four pieces, implying that the characters are just on the surface and evil behind the back.
“Hellbound” takes Jeong Jin‑soo as the core and connects the characters and stories of the first three episodes.
The so-called “God’s will” in his mouth is obviously just a fabricated lie.
The declaration of death by “God” itself is closer to a random disaster of supernatural phenomena.
Jeong Jin-soo, who was declared dead by the “god” twenty years ago, founded the New Truth religious more to vent his anger towards the world.
If the New Truth religious is the disguise of Jeong Jin-soo’s goodness, then Arrowhead is the manifestation of Jeong Jin-soo’s evil.
Arrowhead, a violent group consisting of blind followers, is not only an eagle dog of the New Truth religious, but also an accomplice in bringing the entire society into disorder.
In short, the existence of Arrowhead is equivalent to the “military force” of New Truth religious.
In the third episode, Jeong Jin-soo went offline directly after being “punished by God” and passed the position of Speaker of New Truth religious to a priest.
The pastor had an anger with Jeong Jin‑soo, and was more brutal than him.
Under the rule of the pastor, the New Truth religious began to penetrate into all aspects of society, to “standardize” people’s words and deeds, and “enlighten” people’s thinking.
From the fourth episode, “Hellbound” officially unveiled its dystopian background-a cult country ruled by New Truth religious and Arrowhead.
New Truth religious is all-pervasive, and their eyeliners are ambush everywhere.
People who disobey a little bit will lead to a violent beating from Arrowhead.
Moreover, the New Truth religious also encourages fights to report against each other, exposes the evils of all human nature to the sun, and broadcasts the brutal and inhumane hell torture process on television.
Under the brutality, everyone is in danger, and people’s beliefs and values are distorted by New Truth religious. They report to each other and tell each other, even the closest and closest people.
Many plot settings in the play have a sense of vision born out of reality.
After the declared person “dies,” his family will be labeled as “family of the sinner” and will be inferior to others and be scorned by others.
In life, many renovators and the families of prisoners also live in such dire straits.
At the same time, plots that endow disasters with moral connotations are not uncommon in reality.
After the 9/11 incident, a pastor publicly declared that abortionists must take part of the responsibility for the incident. When we killed 40 million innocent babies, we angered God.
In addition, heretics, aborters, feminists, homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union… all contributed to this disaster.
“Hellbound” is not so much a fantasy drama as it is a political thriller.
Many plots in the play have strong political allusions.
The “Hellbound” dystopian society creates an atmosphere of terror that is exactly the same as the centralized state in “1984” and “Brave New World”.
However, due to space limitations, the plot of “Hellbound” focuses on the ups and downs of the New Truth religious, and it is obvious that the digging of the theme cannot be deep.
Except for Jeong Jin-soo’s point of view, which has a certain speculative meaning, the other characters are many and complicated, and most of them are relatively thin.
It is worth mentioning that the original comic did not appear in the “resurrection” part added at the end of the series-a female character who died tragically by “Heaven’s Punishment” suddenly returned at the end.
This easter egg can be regarded as the director left a way for himself.
If the second season of “Hellbound” comes out next, maybe Yoo Ah-in can be brought back by this reason.
