(Non-spoiler review)
September 30th, 2005 dawned, Serenity opened, and Joss Whedon made a case for being one of the best writers in the history of pictures that move. If you’ve watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, or Firefly (the series upon which Serenity was based) then you would likely agree that Joss Whedon has a knack for taking stock characters and previously used ideas and creating unique, dynamic, character-driven and dialogue-rich series.
Firefly was Whedon’s take on science fiction that aired in late 2002. 500 years in our future rapid population growth forced outward expansion and humans set up shop in a nearby galaxy. The prosperous, government controlled central planets were ruled by the Alliance while outer rim planets and moons were terraformed and populated with settlers who had to eek out existence in much the same way America’s early settlers did. This creates a true western-in-space scenario. In this setting a Firefly class ship named Serenity manned by a rag tag crew operates on whichever side of the law will net them quick cash and keep them out of the reach of the Alliance. A random passenger pick-up finds them in possession of a young girl the Alliance is desperately wanting to get back. And it is there that their true adventure begins.
If you haven’t heard of it or haven’t seen it this isn’t surprising. As a series it failed. Fox’s choice to air the show sporadically, out of chronological order, and to only show 11 out of 14 completed episodes went a long way towards Firefly‘s demise. Despite that and due in large part to the faithfulness of those who watched Firefly and the ability to convert fans via the DVD collection, Firefly spawned a cult following which has been rewarded with Whedon’s motion picture follow-up, Serenity.
Serenity begins approximately 4 months after the last episode of Firefly and Whedon does a masterful job of introducing the characters and universe without rehashing a lot of the things that Firefly fans have already seen. I was stunned with how well this was handled. In fact when the movie was over I was completely stunned. I sat watching the credits in awe, proclaiming Whedon as the creator of one of the greatest science fiction movies ever. Whedon has created and populated a science fiction universe with characters that are real, human, and flawed but at the same time can be noble, loyal, and heroic. Whedon writes the characters and dialogue in such a way that you can’t help becoming deeply attached to them…a fact which makes it all the more frustrating that this show is not on weekly. There is so much I enjoy about this series and film starting with the fact that much of the dialogue is an amalgam of old Westerns, Whedon-slang, and Chinese cursing. Yes, they curse in Chinese…it is wonderful. The Asian and Western influences in the look, feel, and dialogue of this universe makes for a unique and entertaining vision of the future.
The special effects are terrific in this film and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a film that balanced action, drama, humor, adventure, suspense, violence, grief, and romance so perfectly. So much happens in this 2 hour film and yet Whedon handles all the aspects of this film so well and doesn’t cheat the viewer in any way. The actors chosen for the various roles in Firefly/Serenity could not be better cast. Each one infuses their character with such life and dimension and you find yourself caring so much about each and every one of them regardless of how sweet or how roguish they are.
This is probably one of the hardest reviews I’ve had to write mainly because I don’t want to reveal anything at all about the film. If you are a fan of science fiction, there honestly hasn’t been a movie this good in decades, perhaps since The Empire Strikes Back. If you are a fan of good film in general then you still need to see this. Its hard for me to know how this film will play for those who haven’t watched Firefly. Reviews I’ve read indicate, and I agree, that Whedon has crafted a truly stand-alone film that scores high marks without any former knowledge of the characters. That being said I appreciate having had such a strong emotional connection to all the characters going in as it increased the dramatic impact of the experience for me.
I was not exaggerating at all when I said that I was stunned at the end of this film. I walked out of the theatre feeling numb…I was so completely taken in and blown away with this film. I still am. I cannot wait to see this movie again. Go see the film. Rent or borrow the DVD’s and watch ALL of Firefly…it builds and has such incredible episodes. Serenity is the science fiction movie that I have been longing to see for so long and I am nearly as impressed as I was when I was a kid and sat being awed by Star Wars for the first time.
If you haven’t seen the film and intend to I encourage you to stay out of the comments section as I intend to make that an ALL Spoilers section. Believe me when I say that you do not want this filmed spoiled for you. If you’ve seen the movie please jump in and lets chat about this thing. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts.
