REVIEW: SERENITY (by a HUGE fan of Firefly)

[The Master™]

WENT TO SEE IT TODAY - WAS VERY EXCITED!!!

**********************************************************

Firstly, VIOLENT!!! VERY VIOLENT!!! MAYBE A TAD TOO VIOLENT!!!
Secondly, IF YOU AIN'T SEEN THE SERIES (Firefly), YOU MAY NOT APPRECIATE THE FILM... There is some explanation, but not nearly enough - I don't think - for this to be a stand-alone piece of cinematography...

Thirdly, two of the regular series cast die - guess they won't be re-appearing if the series is re-started... Shame!!! Questions still unanswered...

*************SPOILERS*************

Here is the story...

6 months after the series ended, Inarra is back on one of the core planets re-training in the art of Companionship... Shepherd Book is living on a planet called Haven with a few settlers, but no explanation why... And the rest of the crew are still smuggling and stealing and doing the usual "stuff"...

Meanwhile, an individual (unnamed - because he has no name) is hunting down Simon and River Tam... She being a "special" girl with some odd goings on in her head - and the Alliance are unhappy at losing her!!!

Well, needless to say, things start to go a little bad for the crew of Serenity... They are attacked by Reavers (yes, we get to see them and learn a little about how they came into being) and violence and death and all manner of unpleasantness are visited upon our erstwhile heroes...

Seems that the Alliance have secrets they don't want spread about, unfortunately bad secrets have a way of finding their way out into the light of day, and nothing in the 'verse can stop them...

Okay, that is a part of the story...

Now, down to the review...

Now here is what I thought... As I said above, it is a very violent movie... But a lot of the violence happens so fast that you only get a quick glance before it is gone...

Some of the fight sequences are good, but the camera play and cutting are a little confused... Though I have to say that the choreography is very well done... Fast, and believable (except maybe in a scene where Jayne ends up bashing in someones head while holding them upsidedown)...

The story makes for some confusion as well, as the story kind of contradicts the some of the stuff in the series and seems to end up making you go: "HUH???"

The one-lines from the crew, are pretty much the same as in the series and the acting is about the same - though I felt that Ron Glass didn't seem to want to be there... Or maybe I just imagined it...

The space scenes were quite impressive, though I felt it lost the usual feel... The space scenes in Firefly were very well done (and in a similar vein to Battlestar Galactica - new series), where there was no noise, and the camera tends to go out of focus as it zooms in or zooms out or pans... I liked that... But those aspects seemed to be missing from the film... Which is a REAL SHAME!!!

Other than that, a fairly good movie... 7 out of 10...

 

[Alia]

I actually saw a piece about the making of this movie on the Scifi channel the other night. It looks really good. The only issue I have is I've only saw one show. I still think I'll go see the movie and then ask all those pesty questions about it.

 

[dreamwalker]

is what there saying about its cult status true?

 

[Rane Longfox]

I thought all the trailers looked pretty good. My kind of film, I hope. Gonna go see it sometime soon.

 

[The Master™]

is what there saying about its cult status true?

Cult status doesn't usually occur until many years down the line, after it gets a slating by the media and public, then it is re-discovered and everybody raves about it, then it is made cult - like Highlander... As soon as the second one was made, the first film (which had been right Royally ripped apart by all unsundry) became a cult classic...

I thought all the trailers looked pretty good. My kind of film, I hope. Gonna go see it sometime soon.

Dude, you are a little young and weak of constitution to be watching such a violent film... You stick to Mary Poppins...

 

[Azzriel]

It wasn't too bad as a stand-alone. I've never seen Firefly so had no pre-conceptions as to who/what or whatever. Was a bit surprised at the 15 classification, as I didn't find it particularly messy....or shocking or gory, but thats probably just me
but I enjoyed it, and would like to see more of the original series.

 

[Culhwch]

Nice review, TM. Two enthusiastic thumbs up...

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Well, I've seen this twice now!

I really enjoyed it and there was certainly enough action and things blowing up to please a new starter to the Firefly universe.

****SPOILERS****











One thing which really shocked was the treatment of some of the established characters. The death of Shepherd Book hit me hard (mainly because I wanted some exposition on his past, dammit! ) but I did see it coming as he was always the character with the least screentime and was never, really, at the central point of any episode, but the death of Wash?! Nooooooooo! What a swine Joss Whedon is! It's going to be very weird seeing another movie without him making his quips...

The Operative was very good and was played well by Chiwetel Ejiofor, but part of me would have loved to have seen the "Men of Blue, two by two"

The main story was good and captured the spirit of the series but oddly felt a little rushed in parts (I guess that's the negative of cramming an entire series worth of suspense into 1 film!)

What went well:
The Reavers were every bit as scary and psychotic as their reputation suggests and the moment The Operative saw them was pretty much the only time in the whole movie when he completely lost his cool demeanour and this helped sell the idea of just how dangerous and feared they were.
The dialogue. This was an incredibly dark movie in parts but there were still plenty of laugh out loud moments and quickfire repartee. The unusual mixmash of chinese slang and "old west" language really gives this movie a style unique to itself.
Mal. Nathan Fillion comes out of this movie with enormous credit and hopefully this will do for him what Han Solo did for Harrison Ford. He manages to give Malcolm Reynolds immense pathos and truly makes him an anti-hero in every sense of the word. Not only does he shoot first, he kills unarmed soldiers in cold blood!

What didn't go quite so well. These are quibbles only as I loved this movie so much, but:
Miranda. An entire planet dies (30 million people - far too much as well) and no-one remembers them? Please. If this had been 'the dim & distant past' possibly, but in less than 15 years, someone would have survived to tell the tale. A relative on another planet - a ship's captain who arrives back to find the devastation. Someone! I can only assume that Joss Whedon had to hurry this part or was told to make it more (in terms of numbers) by the network because this bit of the film truly does not make sense when examined.
Mr Universe. What Hitchcock would call a "mcguffin". This character exists only to further the plot and provide a 'last stand' finale. The idea of someone monitoring every transmission and not being troubled by the Alliance? This is the same paranoid Alliance whom we are told at the beginning of the movie meddles? He would not be allowed to operate his (extremely noticeable and high tech) facility without being found out & shut down.

Still, all things considered, I give this movie 7.5/10

 

[The Master™]

Gotta say that Kaylee and Simon, while they were on Mr Universes planet... HAHAHAH!!! Loved that bit... And Kaylee's confession about battery operated items was a bit of a shocker and had me with with Fanta coming down my nose from choking and laughing...

 

[dreamwalker]

Just saw it and I have to say it was one hell of a satisfying piece of film! Had everything I wanted, and most of all, Mal wasn't completely useless against that operative guy. And kaylee and Simon... well, i'll leave you to find out!
But definatly see this if you like a bit of good old fashioned space opera rompage

 

[steve12553]

I enjoyed the movie thoroughly then purchased the series on DVD and watched those over the course of 3 weeks. The thing that bothered me the most was on the DVD extras both Joss Whedon and in a separate clip a fan stated that this was the first series to ever to be brought back as a movie because of tremendous fan support. Seems to me someone ought to remember their roots. I seem to remember that happening to another little space series a few years ago and I think it went on to be a little successful. Enough complaints. I enjoyed it and it did have a rather unique charm to both the movie and the series.

 

[Foxbat]

Well, I've finally gotten around to watching this. I didn't find it particularly dark or violent but I did find it quite enjoyable. Although I've never seen Firefly, there was something about it that made it feel much like an extended TV episode (just like most of the Star Trek movies) and it did feel a tad cliched.
Still, that aside, I have to say, I've seen a lot worse and this is a good way to spend a couple of hours. Definitely thumbs up.

 

[Blue Mythril]

I actually had no idea about the Firefly series when I went and saw this at the movies. I actually felt it did very well as a feature, in fact I still do feel this even after viewing the 'series' several times now. There's a subtly different style between the film and the series which separates one from the other. Serenity has more of a contained plot, and particularly the sort of plot that people would be happy to go to the movies for. Obviously it does wrap a whole lot of things from the series up, and opens up new possibilities to be sure, but that's not it's definitive point: it can exist outside that. (On a side note, i really liked the light-work in the fiilm). Must admit, having gone from the movie to the series I'm more than a little curious about what the experience would have been like from the perspective of someone who first met River's character in the series... That was one of the things that the movie really did was zoom in on the story of the Tam's right from the beginning. In fact from the very first scene we're blatantly aware that everything done to river was done in order to produce a psychic and a weapon. In the series we're only just starting to get an inkling of Simon and River's story (which, I might say, I felt was being built on very skillfully throughout what little of the series Whedon managed to get out). All in all, I think that both the series and the feature display the skill's that Whedon has developed over the years... None of his other works are quite so cohesive or mature.

 

[Caretaker66]

Serenity is the best! So sad that Firefly was cancelled...I love the humor, the action, and the plots. Such a likeable bunch of characters, I hope they continue the series in one way or another....

 

[polymath]

I had not seen the original series...I watched this movie on DVD and the lack of background from Firefly was not particularly a drawback - I don't think it made too much of a difference.
I liked it, I would say it was OK, not amazing, but certainly one of the better sci-fi movies I've seen. There was one particular reason for this: the script. Wheedon dialogue crackles, there are great one-liners and the hyping up of the captain fellow as the 'new' Han Solo did not seem misplaced.

This isn't to say there weren't let-downs - the computer graphics weren't all they could have been, there was a slight feel of cheapness to it, but this is understandable in the circumstances.

I watched this with my brother and an old friend...when it was over, we all said 'That was pretty good'. Enjoyable, funny, good story-line, good fights, overall an engaging romp - should be fairly near the top of your rentals list.

 

[edott]

when i saw it saw it with people who were fans of the show and people whom had never seen the show and everybody loved it. no one was confused at all. personally think that it was the best picture of 2005.

 

[ScottSF]

I can't believe anybody liked this suggar coated piece of . . . I'M KIDDING! I can't even pretend to not like it. I like it like I like Fruity Otie bars that make a man out of a mouse and make women burst out of their blouse. There's an easter egg that shows the whole comercial that makes river flip out. I don't remember how to get there, someone on the speculative vision forum told me how. Anyway, the best characters, best plot, most heart breaking edge of my seat movie I've seen in a long long time. I've seen movies with lots more action, but really caring about the characters makes a world of difference.

my only real gripe is that it doesn't always make sense for them to be flying around a single solar system. Would a furthest planet out look as bright as palm springs on the surface? Also a term like "edge of space" doesn't make much sense. Edge of the Solar System? Edge of the Galaxy? Edge of the Universe?!" I just have to interpret it in my head in a way that makes the most sense and then forget about it and enjoy the ride.

 

[ScottSF]

oh, I really don't actually know if a planet further out would necessarily be more dim. Any astronomy mayvens know?

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

I can't believe anybody liked this suggar coated piece of . . . I'M KIDDING! I can't even pretend to not like it. I like it like I like Fruity Otie bars that make a man out of a mouse and make women burst out of their blouse. There's an easter egg that shows the whole comercial that makes river flip out. I don't remember how to get there, someone on the speculative vision forum told me how.

my only real gripe is that it doesn't always make sense for them to be flying around a single solar system. Would a furthest planet out look as bright as palm springs on the surface? Also a term like "edge of space" doesn't make much sense. Edge of the Solar System? Edge of the Galaxy? Edge of the Universe?!" I just have to interpret it in my head in a way that makes the most sense and then forget about it and enjoy the ride.

Well it's the furthest out from the "Core Planets" of the Alliance, not necessarily the core of the Solar System but I agree it was a bit of a faux pas to make all the planets part of the same solar system. I suppose it was just a way to avoid the "warp drive" which every other sci-fi show has to have

Oh, and to find the easter egg on the DVD it's on the right hand side of the main menu

 

[Carolyn Hill]

my only real gripe is that it doesn't always make sense for them to be flying around a single solar system. Would a furthest planet out look as bright as palm springs on the surface?

Here's a link to an article by Wil McCarthy that offers eight possible (well, sort of possible, only not really plausible, but it's fun to speculate) explanations.

http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue439/labnotes.html

One caveat: The article talks about "100 planets," so it's bit off, because as we all know, the system is described in Serenity as containing "dozens of planets" and "hundreds of moons."