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Serenity
By TimeLord

Hey Clint,
I was lucky enough to be taken to a galaxy, far, far, away this week......nope, not "Sith", I was one of the few lucky ones who caught a test screening of "Serenity" in Sydney. I know you're a big fan of the show (and anything else Joss Whedon!), so thought you'd like the verdict.

Now, first things first, I'm not a "Firefly" fan - and until after I went to the screening, I hadn't seen the series. The movie actually inspired me to go and hire out the DVD box set AFTER I watched it.

The print reminded me of when I saw 'Men In Black' earlier, some of the special effects had yet to be put into the film and the music was probably just a temporary replacement, but overall, this is near as good as finished, so it's worth a review, right?

So is it like "Firefly"? After now watching the series, I'll tell you - well, yes, it is - besides a couple of little differences. Kaylee looks a little different (thinner?), and so do a couple of the other characters (it has been a while since the show I guess) but mainly it's it's the change of focus from cheeky humour to lots of action with the occasional quip - usually supplied by comic relief, Jayne (Adam Baldwin). But mostly, it's like a full-blown episode of the show with bigger sets, bigger stunts, bigger plot....much in the same way the "Star Trek" movies differed from the TV episodes.

The movie started without any kind of title sequence - strange? - but the audience still seem very hyped, a couple even clapped, and then laughed at themselves.

It kicks straight into proceedings, but unfortunately there's no explanation to what we have missed between the last episode (12?) of the show and the first scene of the movie. I guess they're trying to kick it off afresh, so people like me don't need to know what's happened before - because well really didn't have to. It's pretty self-contained.

The star of the movie, and the lead character is River Tam (Summer Glau) whose still on the run and now wanted by a bounty hunter (this chap's very sinsiter! he's a great actor too!). It looks like the end of the road for River there for a while, but everyone bands together and brings on the fight. There's so much more we didn't know about River that we now find out - she's full of surprises - and just wait till you see what she does at the end of the film. It's amazing! - - too reveal much more would be to spoil one of this year's most surprisingly-fantastic movies!

As I said, it's much more action oriented (there's a long-ish star wars like space battle in ships) than it is funny (which some of the TV episodes were) but mostly, it's about all these characters - they're so well written and detailed and that. Whilst Summer is the new fave, Mal is equally as cool - he's like Indiana Jones in space, full of smart arse comments and the wall anyone has to get through if they want to take on his crew/get to anyone of them. But don't despair, there's still three of four big belly laughs! Jayne could star in his own spin-off I think!

My friend said he saw the trailer and it reminded him of "Supernova", that crappy science fiction thing from years ago, he's so wrong....and I so hope I can get him to change his mind and drag him along to it when it opens...This is the 'Star Wars' movie we've been waiting for. Watch Joss Whedon kick George Lucas's ass with a film that's as good, if not better, than the original "Star Wars".

Two Fat Thumbs Up!

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Hey Harry,

Just returned home from a test screening of "Serenity" in Thousand Oaks, California. I was invited to attend by a friend, who simply told me that he had passes to get to a sneak preview of a science-fiction, action/adventure movie coming out later this year. There was no other information given, so I assumed the film would be something like War of the Worlds or possibly The Island, although the possibility of Serenity popped in my head after I had viewed the trailer yesterday.

To be honest with you, I was a little disappointed when I found out the movie being shown was going to be Serenity. I had watched the trailer on Quicktime yesterday, and while the film looked like it was well made in the trailer, it just didn't appeal to me at all. I'm not a huge sci-fi star-warsy fan, but I'm damn glad I stayed to check out this film.

To sum it up, this film was absolutley incredible. The CG in the movie was amazing, and while the ships and planets, etc. didn't look TOO realistic, they didn't look too cheasy as to take away from the film. Joss Whedon wrote and directed an EXCELLENT film, and the acting was absolutley superb. As I mentioned, I'm not a big sci-fi fan, but the movie appeals to so many different genres. The ladies in the audience gave constant applause and woo's to the countless jokes aimed at the female crowed, and the entire crowd roared at the comedic timing of the jokes. Maybe it was just the crowd I saw it with, but the laughter during many of the jokes would rival that of a Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler movie.

I won't go into too many specifics, I don't want to give away much of the plot, nor do I want to try to verbalize the amazing piece of cinematography that Joss Whedon has put together. Typically, some of the effects weren't done, but for the most part everything looked pretty solid. If marketed correctly, this is going to be a sure-fire hit, and I highly recommend that anyone that has the ability to check out the screenings next week do so.

If you choose to use this, call me Bill. And just for the record, I'm not a "studio plant," nor do I have any association with the film industry whatsoever. Everytime I send in reviews for movies that I'm really passionate about or really enjoy, I always get flamed for being overly positive. But this movie was really really good, and deserves all the praise.

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I read the reviews of Serenity that you posted, and even though one of them spoke of how non-viewers of Firefly would react, he was a viewer himself. So I thought you might be interested in my point of view.

When I saw Serenity at Winnetka on Tuesday I had not seen Firefly, Buffy, or Angel (in other words knew nothing of Whedon). So here it goes (keep in mind I originally wrote this review for a message board, so it has references to that site in it):

Until last night I most definitely could not have called myself a Firefly fan, a browncoat, or a flan (see how fast I’ve caught on? hehe); mainly because I had never seen the show (a very good reason I might add). I had many reasons for not watching the show at the time of airing, the main reason being that the commercials plain out sucked. They made it look like a stupid Star Trek knock-off and completely misrepresented it (as I’ve now learned). Another reason for not watching it was that I simply have had no interest in television in a long time. The only thing that has kept my attention for the past few years has been The West Wing, and even that has gone to garbage now that Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme have left. It was during these years of CTV (Crap Television) that I started to put my Dvd player to great use to start exploring the world of movies. I have since become so obsessed with movies that I have chosen to make them my life and become a filmmaker. Granted, I’m still in high school; but I’ve got my goals pretty squared out.

So - and this is where I will make my point - although I did not walk into the movie theatre last night as a Firefly fan, I most definitely walked in as a MOVIE fan (especially of good ones).

As a movie fan I had read much hype online about Serenity from Aintitcool.com and Comingsoon.net and other movie news sites; so I was definitely excited to see what all the hype was about. While waiting in line I didn’t know what to think. Witnessing such a fan following boosted confidence in my upcoming movie experience, but earlier during the drive to the theater DamnitGirlie had said that Firefly was better than Star Wars, and that is one heck of a high standard for me (I believe in the force - if that is any indication of my dedication to Star Wars).

So to be honest; I was skeptical. I would not believe for one second that a movie could actually be on par with, or be better than, Star Wars. I was WRONG.

I can’t and won’t say that Serenity was better than Star Wars, because they are way too different for me to compare them. But let me put it this way: All my life I’ve envied most adults for having had the experience of watching Star Wars in the theater before it was big. To have had that moment of “Oh my god, this is f**king amazing. Oh my god, this is gonna be huge!” Well, frankly I was jealous - until now. I now feel like I’ve had that kind of experience, and I’ll be able to tell my children that I was at the first public screening (after which they will shoot me confused expressions and whisper “daddy’s a geek” to each other).

Now what did I find so amazing about it? I think the winning factor for me was that it was character driven. Instead of an action packed movie with people, it was a movie about people and how the action affects them. I loved all the characters, and the actors who played the - wait a minute - forget that, I didn’t even remember they were actors till it was brought to my attention afterwards. These characters were so real to me that I genuinely feared for their lives when danger came about. When the reavers came a’knockin I squeezed my girlfriend’s arm tightly.

My one complaint about the characters would be that Mal was too much like Han Solo. Although I think it could be argued that he’s more of an affectionate nod to Han Solo than stealing the whole idea of the character. But for god sakes he had the same gun holster, and he even “pulled a greedo” (for anyone familiar with the Special Edition crap in Star Wars). That’s not to say that I didn’t like the character, I LOVED Mal.

I can’t say much about River without spoiling so I won’t. I will simply say that she is by far my favorite character from the film, and when you see the “money shot” near the end of the film (you’ll know what I mean when you see it) you’ll piss your pants (or something of the equivalent in shaking or gasping motions). I think the true proof that this movie’s characters can hold their own is that I loved this movie with barely any special effects done.

Oh yes, which brings me to a side note. Before the movies started, a focus group woman made a disclaimer speech to the audience about how many effects weren’t done, etc. She actually used the words “When the movie actually comes out, it will be effects driven.” She couldn’t have been more wrong. I don’t think she even knew what “effects driven” means. “Effects driven” would be something like The Matrix Revolutions where there is a 45 minute battle between all CG machines. Serenity is very much the opposite. Yes there are fights. Yes there is a space battle (and quite a fantastic one at that - even though we had to use our imagination for most of it because of unfinished effects). But the effects and action don’t drive the movie; the characters do. I think that is Serenity’s greatest triumph.

Back on the subject of characters; let’s talk about the villain. I absolutely LOVED the villain. I won’t talk much about him because, like most things involving this movie, if I talk about it too much I will spoil. The one aspect that made me absolutely love this villain is that there was an actual explanation for why he did evil things. Most villains are just plain evil and do things for the heck of it. This villain had real motivation and I loved every word that came out of his mouth.

I don’t think I can say much more, my fingers are getting tired and I fear that if I delve any deeper into the movie that spoilers will come about. I would like to mention that as much as I loved this film, there are still a few minor plot problems. I was also part of the focus group, however, and it looks to me like everyone was unanimous on most of the important problems - so they should be fixed by the time you see it. But overall: you will be dazzled, you will be frightened, you will be excited, and you will be out of breath. I sure was.

MAGICDGK

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Tonight, in Chatsworth, CA, I think I stumbled across the geek Holy Grail. Upon the announcement of said Holy Grail, cheers erupted from the crowd… For what we were “the first audience ever” to view was… Serenity.

Since this has been the subject of much banter on this site and I’m sure there will be a million of other reviews, I’ll skip any other touching stories about the screening. But I will tell you that I am not a hardcore Joss Whedon fan. I’ve seen a handful of Buffy and Angel episodes (and enjoyed them) and I admire his dedication to his online fanbase, but I’ve never seen Firefly and I’ve never totally bowed down to him. No hard feelings, just haven’t been so totally familiar with him as to realize his genius.

My bad.

This movie rocked. While it seemed a tad too long, that just means more gold for the DVD. Anyway, I don’t even know what they could cut out because just about every scene kept the movie moving along. Before I contradict myself again, I’ll just get to the meat.

Whedon has created such incredible characters and dialogue in this movie. What has always struck me about most science fiction movies is that no one speaks normally, it’s almost as if space has stifled their sense of normalcy and rammed a giant stick up the characters’ asses. Well, as most of you will already know, Whedon can put his characters in the most unimaginable and incredible circumstances and still give them personalities, wit, and true emotion. It doesn’t sound like much, but between the dialogue, the characters, and the visuals (effects were unfinished, but you could tell what will be in store for the final product), I believe that he has really not just elevated the genre, but has transcended it.

The characters are as fleshed-out as most Whedon fans would probably expect, but I was not prepared for this. Nathan Fillion (a guy I ashamedly say I only really recognized from Two Guys A Girl and A Pizza Place) is a great addition to the heroes of the big screen. He’s the best Han Solo since… well… Han Solo. The rest of the cast, filled with people I kind of recognized, seemed so comfortable and so natural. Their rapport with each other was perfect. It really shows that they all spent time together on a TV show… albeit a short-lived one.

But the best character (and I think she was new to the troupe) was a waifish girl, Fiona Apple look-alike, named River. The story centers around her. She’s a mentally unstable psychic who is also a trained killer. The government (here, called The Alliance) has been doing tests on her for years, utilizing her psychic abilities and building her killing skills, until her brother rescues her. This is the set up for the prologue, which blew everyone away. Months later, we see that they’ve been on-board the Serenity and her brother is being used as an on-board doctor and she is being used for her psychic skills as an asset on their money-grabbing runs. I’m sure someone else will have a more detailed synopsis. As for me, I’m going to boil it down because it wasn’t what really impressed me about the movie. Bottom line is that, The Alliance is trying to find her. Led by an assassin (who, of course, was written beautifully and with great complexity), they know that she’s on-board Serenity. Despite being tracked by these folks, Fillion and his crew keep her around for her skills, out of curiosity of what she’s all about, and because Han Solo has a heart. You see, what makes her so interesting and what kicks ass most about this movie is that, when she whups ass, she whups ass! I’ll honestly say that her fight scenes blow away anything I’ve seen on Buffy, in Kill Bill, or just about anything I’ve seen in a long time. I found myself hoping for more fight scenes when, much of the time, she was in her crazed psychic state… and then the fight scenes came. Whedon knows what his audience (old fans and, like me, new ones) like.

The final fight, by the way, will not disappoint anybody, if you like air battles, check. Gun fights, check. Attacks by nasty ass villains (the Reavers), check. Hand to hand, check. Swords, check. Battles of wit, check.

The audience was filled with old Whedon fans. And they seemed quite ecstatic about the whole thing. The cheers didn’t just erupt at the beginning, they were all throughout. There were actual screams at points. These would break out with little bits of dialogue from familiar characters, after the fight scenes, during space battles, at looks characters would give each other, and, of course, at the end. I’ll be happy to drag my uninitiated friends to this when it comes out and I just may feel like I’m a little more on the inside this time around. But no matter… it’s a great movie, none of this horseshit Steven Sommers-type popcorn movie, this is a great movie.

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Originally posted by rklenseth:
Just came back from Serenitymovie.com. Don't go over there if you don't want to be spoiled for the movie. It seems that there are a core group of Browncoats who, yes, hated Serenity. Most of them for the same reason which you'll find out when you see the movie. But it does not bode well for us Browncoats when other Browncoats have come right out and say the movie is horrible and that they aren't going to recommend it anymore.

Now there are just as many Browncoats who loved it though but just to see that there are Browncoats that hated the movie sort of pulled me down a few knotches.

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Originally posted by BlackoutNights:
I'm afraid it might be that a character dies — which is OK by me because I can't stand unrealistic plotlines where everyone lives. Even good guys die. Hell, everybody knows that.

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Originally posted by ecgordon:
I saw Serenity last night. To call it an emotional rollercoaster is a huge understatement. You will laugh, you will cry (several times within the same scene) and you will fear for the safety of not only every crew member but also for Serenity herself. But in retrospect you will relish every minute and want to see it again. The only negatives I would have to mention would be what Chris Buchanan spoke of, the cleaning up of the light, contrast and color balance.

While it may be true that non-fans can appreciate the film, it would still be better for there to be many more converts to the series beforehand, so keep pushing the dvds. If we can do that, I think at least Serenity 2 is a sure thing, but if it comes to that I believe Universal will solicit two more films shot concurrently.

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