Some rhymes are just irresistable but in this case, critical response to Netflix's live-action adaptation of classic animated title, Cowboy Bebop, is far from favourable.

There are outliers. A few who love it like CNET's Allesandro Fillari. But the show's current Rotten Tomatoes rating is sitting on 51% for both critics and audiences and most reviews describe it as flawed and not living up to the original.

Is it that bad?

Only having had time to watch two episodes so far, we'd probably score it about 70%.

The pilot is a bit flat. Only a few characters really land their lines, eg. purple-haired Faye Valentine played by Daniella Pineda.

Fight scenes feel slightly stilted and the writing is recycled. Though the latter is frighteningly common and doesn't always spell doom.

Uneven acting could indicate poor directing.

Episode two is immediately noticeably better. It has both a different writer and director.

Sometimes pilots are produced, analysed and constructive criticism results in improvements.

There are also several more episodes with the same director and / or writer. We will have to see how those compare.

It will also be interesting to see how audiences react to it through Netflix's new Top 10 website.

While it hasn't lived up to its full potential, it does have potential and maybe enough viewers enjoyed it enough to secure its future.

We will watch this space.

And also the rest of the series.

Cowboy Bebop's premiere full season is available to stream on Netflix now.

[ Main Image: Cowboy Bebop. Credit: Netflix via IMDb.com. ]

References

Rotten Tomatoes. Cowboy Bebop 2021. (viewed November 20, 2021)

Wikipedia. List of Cowboy Bebop episodes. (viewed November 20, 2021)