Serenity (2006, HD DVD)

In the fall of 2002, Joss Whedon s newest show, Firefly, began on Fox. Unfortunately the network didn t give the show a chance, airing episodes out of order and cancelling it after only eleven episodes aired. Firefly - The Complete Series was released on DVD, selling better than expected, which helped keep the characters and stories alive. Whedon and the cast were able to return and make Serenity.

Since Serenity was a continuation of Firefly, I want to provide a little bit of background information before specifically discussing the movie.

500 years in the future, Earth could no longer support the population. Humans moved to a new solar system. The central planets were part of the Alliance, a government that wanted to control the entire system. The planets further out in the system resisted Alliance control. People who opposed the Alliance were called Independents. Eventually there was a war between the two groups, which the Independents lost. Many of them, including Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe, continued to resist Alliance rule. Mal bought a ship he named Serenity, put together a crew, and took what jobs he could find while avoiding the Alliance. That became harder to do once Simon and his sister River became passengers on the ship. Simon, a doctor, had given up everything to rescue River from a facility run by the Alliance where she was experimented on. She was very unpredictable because of the experiments. She could be violent and had psychic ability. Mal and his crew also had to avoid Reavers, a vicious group that killed everyone they encountered in horrible, barbaric ways.

When Serenity began, the Alliance hadn t forgotten about finding River. They considered her a powerful psychic and meant for the experiments to turn her into a weapon. A ruthless man, known only as the Operative, was now in charge of tracking her down. On board Serenity, there was tension between Mal and Simon because River would be going on a job. Things didn t go exactly as planned with Reavers showing up, though River was able to help as Mal had hoped. After they landed, River ended up at a restaurant or nightclub. Something there set River off and caused her to do something unexpected. The incident was recorded on video surveillance which allowed the Operative to discover it and River s connection to Serenity. Decisions had to be made about the new threat to their safety.

Serenity spent the first few minutes sharing background information about the solar system and the Alliance. Information about River s time in the Alliance facility, what she went through, and how Simon got her out were also shared. The information was shared in an efficient manner that would catch up people who haven t seen Firefly. The information would also serve as a refresher for people who haven t seen the series recently. I do think that the movie can be enjoyed and appreciated by people who haven t seen Firefly, though it may be more appreciated by fans of the show. I do think certain things will make more sense if the show is seen first. The characters would be more familiar and developed as well. When Firefly ended, there were many loose ends left up in the air since Whedon wasn t able to even finish one complete season. The movie did resolve a few of those things, giving a more finished feel to the story. However, there are still other things that could be explored if a sequel is made or if Firefly returned to tv. I would love it if either of those things, or even both, happened.

Serenity, like Firefly, contained a unique combination of the past, future, and cultures that created the world the movie was set in. The core planets were very futuristic looking. The planets further out in the system that wanted to avoid Alliance control were more wild and untamed like the old west. Mal and his crew did do business that took them to core planets, though they tried to avoid that as much as possible. Mal and Zoe continued to use older looking guns while other characters used more modern and futuristic looking weapons. The culture remained a blending of American and Chinese. During the show, the characters would use Chinese phrases, usually when swearing. I didn t notice that happening as often in the movie. I really don t remember the characters swearing much in English either. Other Chines influences were seen in the backgrounds of different locations. Much of the writing that was shown was Chinese. The blending of the different influences worked like it did for the series. It did seem like the western influence wasn t as strong as it was for the series.

I noticed a few minor inconsistencies in Serenity that contradicted things that had been established during Firefly. The first thing I noticed was when the movie took the time to show how River got out of the Alliance facility. Simon was actually there, able to ask questions about what sort of experiments had been done on River. Then he took part in the escape. During Firefly, Simon explained to the crew how he had made contact with someone who could get River out. Simon and that person met on the planet where Simon and River first boarded Serenity. Simon said more than once how he didn t know what they had done to River and he did what he could to figure that out. From what was shown in an early scene of the movie, it seemed like Simon started off with more knowledge of what had been done to River than he had during the show. That small difference didn t change the basic story related to River and Simon. There was one or two things brought up in the show related to River that were left out of the movie.

Something else I noticed that was inconsistent was that the inside of Serenity looked different. The ship had the same layout, but the different areas didn t look the same. I wasn t sure exactly where characters were a few times because of the slightly different look of the ship. The outside of the ship seemed to look a little newer or cleaner. I was still thrilled to see Serenity fly across the big screen. Several characters were dressed differently as well. In the show, Wash was wearing Hawaiian shirts most of the time. I don t remember seeing him wear one in the movie. He did still have his dinosaur toys on the control panel of the bridge.

The job that Mal and the crew went on should have been fairly simple for them to pull off. Mal wouldn t let Jayne take along any grenades because of that, something he would come to regret once the Reavers showed up. They took off for the ship in what was the first action scene in the movie. Several other action scenes were added throughout the movie, including scenes that had unlikely characters fighting for their survival. The action scenes were very well done and helped to keep things interesting. I was never bored and many times I was all but on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. Several things happened that I truly never expected. Whedon had things happen completely out of left field that worked perfectly. The surprises he put in didn t feel cheap like they have in other movies. I was far from happy about one of those things, but it wasn t cheap. Special effects were used throughout the movie and I thought they were well done. The effects blended in well to make the movie work.

There was violence in several scenes, which I did expect because that happened in the series as well. The violence wasn t extreme, though I do think it was too violent for young children. The movie was rated PG-13. There were some scenes where the violence was hinted at for the most part instead of actually shown, leaving what was happening up to the imaginations of the viewers. The shots changed rapidly when that happened, only giving hints at what was going on. That was very effective. The camera work was a little jerky in a few spots, but not so much that it was annoying or distracting. During a few scenes River demonstrated her fighting abilities thanks to the Alliance. Those scenes, especially one specific shot, really reminded me Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Late in the movie there was a really amazing battle in space featuring all kinds of ships that rivaled similar scenes in the newer Star Wars movies.

I don t feel that Serenity was a comedy even though it made me laugh many times. Overall the movie was rather serious. There were many humorous lines added throughout the movie, including during some very tense, serious moments that helped to lighten the mood. Whedon did that the shows he had on television. The humor was added through lines that aren t necessarily funny on their own, but ended up being very funny with the way the character said the line. All of the characters had at least a few lines that were funny. At one point, Mal turned up in a disguise that was very amusing. One of the funniest moments in the movie happened when Kaylee was complaining about her lack of a love life to Mal. The look on his face at what she said was priceless, along with what he said in reply and how Jayne had to jump into the conversation as well. Jayne ended up with several funny lines throughout the movie. There were a few other sexual comments and references. Two characters did have a make out scene, and while it was clear what they were going to do, the actual sex wasn t shown. There was no nudity, though Simon was shown without his shirt briefly. He looked really good shirtless.

Joss Whedon became well known for the television shows he created. The shows were known for having full developed characters and complex story arcs that took a full season, if not more, to be completely resolved. Whedon is a genius at creating unique situations for shows and weaving together complex plot elements to make rich, fully developed characters that viewers connect with and truly care about. He was on the way to doing that with Firefly when Fox pulled the plug. Even though that show had such a short run, I came to really like and care about the characters. I felt like I connected with them and was thrilled that a movie was being made with them. Whedon continued to make the characters ones I cared about. I even ended up liking and caring about Jayne a lot and he was probably my least favorite character in the series. I felt emotionally invested in the characters. I don t remember the last time when I cared so much about characters and what happened to them.

All nine main characters from the series were present in the movie. There were more time restraints with the movie than there were with a series, so some of the characters did seem to get short changed and didn t have very much to do. Book and Inara were actually missing completely from the ship, though they did turn up later in the movie. Book talked to Mal while keeping his past a mystery. I would have liked to have known more about his secrets. Ron Glass didn t get the chance to do much, but he was still good in the part. Inara had left Serenity to instruct future companions. She and Mal did get to have a few exchanges similar to ones they had during the show. It was nice to see them banter again, and there were some funny lines exchanged between them. Their relationship was complex and continued to have hidden undercurrents. Some progress was made, though it wasn t a lot. Morena Baccarin brought the same elegance to Inara that she did during the show.

Of the group, Mal seemed to be the main character. He was the captain of Serenity and in charge. He decided what they were going to do, though he did listen to the others at times. He did seem to show a new side of himself, making the character that much more complex and developed. I think Nathan Fillion fits the part perfectly. Zoe was still a strong woman that had a soft spot for her husband Wash. He was a very talented pilot and his flying skills helped the crew out again. I really like Wash. Gina Torres and Alan Tudyk were great in the parts and were believable as a married couple. Kaylee remained a fun, perky character, though she did show a more serious side as well. She continued to have feelings for Simon. He was still devoted to doing whatever he felt was best for his sister. There was some resolution to what was going on between Kaylee and Simon. Jewel Staite and Sean Maher did fine with their roles.

Jayne continued to be gruff and mostly concerned with money. I think he did get more funny lines to say. He still acted like he wanted River and Simon gone, but there were times when he seemed to be concerned about them. Of course he would probably beat up anyone that even dared to suggest that to him. Adam Baldwin was perfect in the part. I still believe that River is a very complex character, mostly due to what the Alliance did to her. Her psychic abilities were explored more and actually able to help the crew during a job. She was perfectly calm after the job went bad, only telling Simon that she d swallowed a bug. River still had surprises to reveal, like when she took out everyone, and even beat up Jayne once. Summer Glau was very impressive in the part.

Mr. Universe and the Operative were the only new characters that received any sort of attention. Mr. Universe was someone that was connected to all media broadcasts. He was able to tell them what set River off and that the Alliance had seen the tape of what happened. His part was very small. The Operative ended up being very involved throughout the movie since he was determined to find River. He was single minded in his pursuit of her and wasn t going to let anything stand in his way. Chiwetel Ejiofor did a good job with this part. The Reavers were shown more than they had been during the series, though it wasn t like any of them were developed as characters.

CAST

Morena Baccarin - Inara
Adam Baldwin - Jayne
Chiwetel Ejiofor - The Operative
Nathan Fillion - Mal
Ron Glass - Shepard Book
Summer Glau - River
David Krumholtz - Mr. Universe
Sean Maher - Simon
Jewel Staite - Kaylee
Gina Torres - Zoe
Alan Tudyk - Wash

Joss Whedon - Writer/Director

****POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILER ALERT****
I want to talk about the only thing that happened in the movie that I really didn t like. I m still going to be vague about exactly what happened, but people may be able to figure out what I am referring to, especially anyone familiar with other Joss Whedon creations.

There were two things that happened during the movie that I wasn t happy about, but I was more upset by the second one. I thought that there was a small amount of warning before the first one, so I was prepared for it. I didn t like it, but it wasn t extremely upsetting to me. The second event was completely different. It was totally unexpected and instantly had me in tears. I honestly don t remember ever reacting that strongly that fast to something in a movie before and I have gotten emotional during other movies. I even heard other people reacting to what happened. It still makes me sad to think about it. I hate that it happened, but such a strong reaction does show just how good Whedon is at creating his stories and characters.
****END OF POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILER****

I absolutely loved Serenity even though I hated one thing. It offers so much more than science fiction movies that just try to dazzle viewers with effects and action sequences. The movie has rich, full characters that I cared about. This is really one of the best movies I ve seen this year. I wouldn t hesitate to go see it again and I will be buying the DVD as soon it is released. Fans of Firefly should enjoy the movie. People who haven t seen that show can also enjoy the movie.