Serenity

Jon emailed me on Monday morning, saying "I take it that Serenity must have sucked, otherwise there would be something on Quotulatiousness about it." In spite of Jon's provocation, I didn't post a review yesterday . . . or much of anything (as you may have noticed). Sometimes, life gets in the way of blogging. Yesterday was such a day.

The movie? I loved it, but I was already halfway there before the first scene, so my approval may not carry the same weight as if I'd been openly skeptical beforehand. Serenity is deeply involving, even for those who were not fans of the TV series, with just enough action to keep the teenage male demographic satisfied, but with enough intelligence and depth to engage the interests of the post-teen market.

Go see this movie!

I was worried, coming in to the movie, that Joss Whedon may have had to undermine all the great things that first attracted me to Firefly in order to appeal to an audience that hadn't already been exposed to the 'verse. I needn't have worried: he retold just enough back-story so that newcomers didn't feel totally adrift, and he made the retelling fascinating enough to overcome the nitpickers among the Browncoats (those who spend their lives looking for plot holes and authorial inconsistencies).

Go see this movie!

I was also worried that the look and feel of the 'verse would not translate well to the big screen: there are plenty of examples of big movies that do not work on TV, so this was a concern. I also needn't have worried: they didn't spend all their money on gosh-wow-golly special effects . . . most of what they did spend was well chosen, but (unlike other science fiction movies) the special effects are not the story. The effects are good enough . . . they neither dominate the story nor detract from it.

Go see this movie!

With a large ensemble cast, as Firefly had, it was possible for each character to be given centre stage during the course of the series, so that your understanding of the role of the character as well as their depth of involvement with one another could be clearly demonstrated. In a feature movie, this is impossible. Inara, Book, Jayne, Kaylee, Simon, Wash, and Zoe get enough time on screen to be real characters for non-aficionado moviegoers, but they are clearly supporting cast for Serenity. Important supporting cast, but not as central to the story as they were in various episodes of the series.

Go see this movie!

Mal, River, and the villain ("the Operative") are the central characters for Serenity, and the movie does not suffer for this decision: the movie must tell a complete story arc (completing one of the loose ends from Firefly, but leaving others unexplored). Nathan Fillion (Malcolm Reynolds) does a great job as the male lead: he portrays the Captain in a much darker, more intense, much grittier fashion than in the series. I was impressed that Fillion — whose acting strength always seemed to be towards the comedic rather than the dramatic — managed to take his character into such dark places without losing the essential humanity that made the original role so appealing.

Go see this movie!

Summer Glau (River Tam) shows her amazing flexibility, both as an actor and as a gymnast. Her character requires carefully gauged performance: too over-the-top and you lose audience sympathy, too guarded and controlled and the audience doesn't realize what torment she's going through. Glau did a wonderful job of the extremes needed to highlight the pain and terror, without losing sight of the fact that she's just a teenage girl. For my money, the "teenage-girl-kicking-ass" motif can be overdone, but I'm sure that played well with the under-20's in the audience.

Go see this movie!

The Operative (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is horrifyingly good at being bad. He's a monster, in the same sense as the cultured, educated Nazis who organized the "Final Solution" were. He is a true believer in his cause — to create a "better world" — at whatever cost is necessary. He is consciously aware that such a perfect world would not have a place for a man like him, but he believes so intensely that this is no handicap to him. He is totally without conscience or scruple in pursuit of his goal.

Go see this movie!

Am I being subtle enough with the inter-paragraph subliminal messages? If not, I'll say it again: Go see this movie!

Update: Colby Cosh liked the movie, although you have to read right to the bottom of the article before you discover that. He's much less taken with the Browncoats, however, and the cult of personality he perceives around Joss Whedon.