Saw Serenity

Loved it; I laughed, I cried, I flinched (more than once).

I really have no idea how it would play to someone who wasn't familar with Firefly. I'm pretty sure that most sci-fi movie-liking bods would enjoy it, in any case. There were only about a dozen people in the movie theatre I went to. Idiots (in Canberra) don't know what they're missing!

I don't think I have too much spoilerish below, but if you're twitchy about such things, you may want to skip the second half of this post.

So, which is better? The TV series or the movie? For me, it's the TV series, because you get a whole story arc. You get more character development and background. I felt like I was missing some exposition somewhere, but that might be alright for people who didn't see Firefly. However, the movie is actually bloody good on its own merits. There was a hell of a lot packed into it. In an ideal world, we'd get at least another TV series and maybe a movie or so more, since the movie format is actually good for showing a period of time when things change rapidly and significantly. It certainly sent the story arc in an interesting direction.

It's definitely in my top five sci-fi movies to watch, with Bladerunner, Gattaca, Strange Days and Aliens. It comes before Minority Report. And Terminator II. Hm, I'm trying to think of other sci-fi movies I actually would see again. All the Terminator movies, as cheesy as they may be in parts. And all of the Alien ones (ok, ok, I like Sigourney). The first Matrix. Twelve Monkeys is ok, despite Bruce Willis. Cherry 2000 is one of my ultimate faves, ever, but I don't exactly think of it as sci-fi (even if the plot device - the Cherry - fits the definition of science fiction, the actual story doesn't rely on technology to be told). The first Mad Max and Tank Girl (lots of cute chicks and cool music, how could I not?). 2001: A Space Odyssey, Akira and A Clockwork Orange (kinda sci-fi) are those movies that one has to have seen, but not ones I need to revisit often, if at all.

Other than those, for me most other SF movies are pretty much either ok entertainment (like Tron and the original Star Wars movies) or complete cliche (the Star Trek movies), or utter crap (Demolition Man, Starship Troopers).

So, getting back to Serenity. I really really liked what they did with River. I quite like chop-socky flicks (I like Bruce Lee and I lurrve Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), especially when it's women doing the chop and the socky. It actually redeemed River for me, and that character drove me utterly insane during the TV series. The dancing-type moves were perfect.

What else? I could have stood to have seen a bit more from Inara and Kaylee. Well, we saw them lots, but they didn't say much. Although what we did hear from Kaylee certainly encapsulated her character. Inara was badly shortchanged, although if non-Firefly fans were paying attention, they would have noticed she wasn't just a pretty face. I don't think someone coming fresh to the movie would have had enough of an emotional investment in Wash, which is a shame. He only did the "floating like a leaf" thing just before the nasty bit - I think a bit more scene-setting there and a bit more of his relationship with Zoe being displayed wouldn't have gone amiss. I thought of them as a physical couple - not that we saw them crawling all over each other in the series - and really, we didn't get a sense of that, although we got their concern for each other in the first chase scene. Also, there was a paucity of the witty dialogue over all. I think there were maybe half-a-dozen good lines in it, which is much less than a typical one-hour Firefly episode. The story has to go at such a pace, though, it's no wonder that some of the tasty bits got sacrificed. Oh well.

The special effects were fine, decent, not over-the-top. As they should be, since it would have been wrong for it to be an "effects movie". The world-building is great, as always. I'm still not convinced by all those worlds in one solar system (it may be possible, I suppose); I haven't come across the rationale for that decision, but I'm sure it'll come on the DVD. The major plot point with the Reavers and so on is great. I think it's an excellent bit of story-telling and I want more.

I could have done without the Star Wars reprise in the generator chamber, although I did like the other wee allusions to other movies (like Cherry 2000!). Perhaps I disliked it because it was a bit of a cliché and went on slightly too long with the mano a mano thing. Not insufferably, though. There were some nice touches, even during that scene. I liked the mirror-image of Mal and the Operative. I liked Zoe being Mal's conscience. I liked the fact that Mal was shown losing the edges of his integrity, but ultimately not doing so. And I really liked the theme of faith or "belief", as they would have it, throughout. I'm hoping that we'll see what happens to the Operative after his losing his faith, and that we see what happens to Mal after (slightly) regaining his.

Oh, and Kaylee finally doing kissy-kissy with Simon, who HAS HIS SHIRT OFF AGAIN. Yummy!! (yes, I admit it, next to Lenny Kravitz, Sean Maher has almost the only male bod I actually fancy). So, it's worth seeing, just for that. I could have done with a bit more there too, actually.

Yeah, this has whet my appetite. I love these characters and the story and the worlds and I want A LOT MORE of them. Soon would be nice.