Serenity Now!
Earlier this evening, after a somewhat stress-filled day, Beth and I went to see the new movie, Serenity. It's based on the now-cancelled TV show Firefly. I caught the pilot of Firefly when it first aired, and didn't care for it at all. Still, people seem to froth at the mouth about it quite a bit, so I decided to start watching the reruns on SciFi. I can't say that I have a great affinity for the show yet, having seen 8 or 9 episodes, but it's definitely entertaining and getting better with each episode.
So what about the movie? Read on for spoiler-filled discussion. You have been warned.
I'd read online (perhaps in hindsight from the frrothing fans) that the movie was great, so I went in with somewhat high expectations. Unfortunately, I left feeling like "meh." It wasn't bad by any stretch, but I would be reluctant to classify it as good.
For starters, what little plot there is seems to push forward out of convenience. As an example, Inara is explained as having left the ship some time before the movie starts. But naturally, contrived circumstances draw her into the movie and onto the ship, where she spends the rest of the movie doing exactly nothing. Honestly, what little role her character had didn't serve the plot in any important way.
This is a criticism that I believe can be repeated many times. The mechanic, Kayley, has one role in this movie: to get some lovin' from the doctor. Beyond that, her part is completely irrelevant. And the doctor? He's filler, being pulled through the movie by virtue of having been in the series. In actuality, there are really only 2 characters from the series who have roles of any importance: the captain and River. What's more, two characters actually have only one purpose: dying, and one of those deaths is pretty much completely random and lacking any sort of emotion or drama, other than the shock value of happening suddenly, like out of some kind of horror movie. It was interesting to see River turn into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it also felt out-of-place.
Near the climax, the captain decides to take his ship and crew through an incredibly dangerous part of space to visit a planet to get some answers. The reason he's going to that planet? River mentions its name in one of her incoherent rants. The captain knows nothing about the planet, and has no reason to visit it other than it was mumbled. And the kicker: he's an asshole about it. In the series, he's one of those roguish types with a heart of gold. Here, he's just a dick.
I've still got some episodes of the series to watch, so maybe things will make more sense later. As it stands now, I feel like this movie didn't really match up to the series I've been watching. Beth made the observation that Firefly is at its best when Joss Whedon isn't the sole writer for an episode. Since he wrote and directed Serenity exclusively, there may be some truth to that; I haven't been paying that close attention.