Not Peaceful, Not Serene. Serenity (Serenity (DVD))

Name: mattygroves10

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Product:	Serenity (DVD)
Date:	01/11/05 (180 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cracking, action filled, yet thought provoking film

Disadvantages: Of perhaps limited appeal to non-science fiction fans. Violent in places

Ever seen a series called Firefly? There's a pretty good chance that not only have you not seen it, but until this year, you'd never heard of it. That's because it only ran for 15 episodes (including the two part pilot...which was actually broadcast last), despite generally good critical reception and fan appeal. However, soundly beating Star Trek to the prize for 'movie based on a series with the shortest broadcast run', this autumn Serenity came to our screens. (As an aside, if you live in the States, you can see Firefly on Fridays on the Sci-Fi Channel. It's also out on DVD as a box set with the full run of episodes).

Whilst Serenity is not only based on, but, in fact, is a direct sequel to Firefly, it is not necessary to have seen the series in order to understand and enjoy the film. I have seen part of one or two episodes - certainly not enough to enlighten me before seeing the film as to the characters, worlds and basic plotline, and yet, I enjoyed Serenity immensely. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.

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The Setting aka Backstory
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Imagine a corner of a galaxy inhabited by humans (no aliens in this SF flick), where, in the central worlds (the ones that are 'civilised') peace pretty much reigns, and everyone appears to be happy - it appears utopic, and, in many cases is. However, this alliance seems to believe that everyone is best off as part of the alliance, and that the alliance is safer if all participate. So sometime before, there was a war to bring the less 'civilised' and more chaotic outer, frontier worlds to bay. The rebels lost. This happened in the past.

In the now of the film, the frontier worlds are still less than civilised (by alliance standards), and appear very much like the old west (there is a very interesting mix of 19th Century and future props in evidence). Into this setting, we meet Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds (played by Nathan Fillion) - captain of the ship Serenity and his seemingly ragtag crew of nine (although we quickly learn that two are more of the working passenger variety).

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The Story - The Here and Now
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The story itself really is quite simple. River (played wonderfully by Summer Glau - as another aside, there are quite a few unusual names amongst the cast list) is a 17 year old girl travelling on Serenity with her older brother as her protector. She is fragile, and frightened, and psychologically damaged. She is also extraordinarily dangerous. She is somewhat psychic, incredibly fast and strong (especially considering she apparently weighs 90 pounds), and she is a superb fighter who, when she gets started, will not stop. She was conditioned by the 'powers that be', freed by her brother, and is on the run. The alliance badly wants her dead. She is, as mentioned earlier, dangerous, and she knows far, far too much.

The alliance is represented by 'The Operative' (as imdb name him - he's never named in the film), played extremely menacingly by Chiwetel Ejiofor (he was in Dirty Pretty Things, amongst others). He is an English-accented, softly spoken and completely amoral assassin. Add to this mix some revoltingly unpleasant Reavers (great quote regarding the Reavers: "But eating people alive, when does that get fun?"), some thrilling action sequences (both in space and on land), a government cover-up, and that's pretty much the plot in a nutshell.

Sounds simple, yes? Well...it is, yet superb despite this (or, as I believe, perhaps because of its simplicity).

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The Characters and Cast
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The story focuses largely on the crew of Serenity, its passengers and the bad guys. In addition, we have a couple of smaller roles that are nevertheless important.

Every character (to the best of my knowledge, and I have looked) is played by the same actors in Serenity as they were in Firefly (if they appeared in Firefly, of course). Many of the actors will have you scratching your head wondering 'where have I seen him/her before' - none are hugely famous, but many you will recognise. Wash (Serenity's irreverent pilot, and the husband of Zoë, the second in command) is played by Alan Tudyk. It drove me NUTS during the film, wondering where I'd seen him before. He is probably best known for playing Sonny in I Robot - however, you'd only recognise him as such if you've seen a making-of feature on TV or the DVD. He brings a boyish charm to the role, and is seemingly completely the opposite of his wife, the stately Zoë, played by Gina Torres. You may have seen her in a few episodes of Angel (no real surprise, there, as Serenity was written and directed by Joss Whedon, who of course is responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel).

Ron Glass has a small role (though I gather he was a regular in Firefly) as the Shepherd Book (he's sort of a reverend preacher kind of man). He brings a wonderful dignity to the role of the 'western' preacher with a hidden past. I recognised him immediately from the 1970s sitcom Barney Miller, though British viewers may not be so familiar with this. He has also guested in a couple of episodes of Friends, and an episode of Voyager.

All in all, I cannot fault the cast or indeed the casting. Adam Baldwin (no relation to Alec) as Jayne Cobb (unfortunate name for a macho bloke, who has a real fetish for hand grenades) brings a tough grittiness to the film, whilst Summer Glau's River is graceful, fragile and dangerous all at once. Kaylee as played by Jewel Staite (I told you there were some strangly named actors in this flick) is, on the outside a country farm girl type, though not all is exactly as it seems.

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The Direction, Special Effects and other Techy Bits
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Serenity is not an avant gard film noir - we don't get a whole lot of 'fancy' camera work, but it is elegant and effective (there is some very good steady cam work). The space effects are largely CGI, but the CGI doesn't shout COMPUTER GENERATED at you as it does in some films (such as Spider Man). The Reavers are truly frightening, even though you don't actually witness their worst excesses. And the very dead bodies look...very dead.

As mentioned earlier, the setting is sort of a space western, and the interiors of Serenity itself (particularly the lounge/rest room) and the exteriors of the more frontier worlds (such as Haven) have a real retro western feel to them. The guns used are guns, with bullets (not a ray gun in sight), and there is even a bank robbery ala old west.

Really, apart from the space ships, much of the film has no technology we wouldn't find here on earth today. We see (briefly) some of the so-called civilised areas, and they have a more 'Star Trekky' feel, but overall, this is not a film about high technology. It is instead an action/people film. So, for example, whilst there is interplanetary travel, and therefore presumably some sort of faster-than-light drive, it's never mentioned - in the same way we don't mention the internal combustion engine every time we drive to the shops.

The music is haunting in places, with fiddle, guitar and banjo in places. From what I understand, there is less of that evocative score in Serenity than there was in Firefly, but it is nevertheless effective and scene setting.

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Matty's Recommendation
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Yah. I liked it. You may have worked this out. Serenity rocks. It has humour and pathos; action and reflection.

However, in the interest of fairness, I will note that this film probably would not appeal as much to those folks who don't enjoy science fiction. It is full of action, and has some violence (though I personally don't think it deserves the 15 rating). It can be confusing, especially in the first half hour, to those who have never seen Firefly - and especially to those who have never heard of it. Some people might find the Western settings and language a bit hokey.

The film is about 2 hours long. I did not, however, find the time dragging, and I didn't look at my watch once. I am very pleased I saw Serenity in the cinema on the big screen, as it is big in scope and panoramic. Having said that, I surely hope that this comes out on DVD in the not too distant future.

In short, this has been the best science fiction film I have seen in a very, very long time (even beating most of the Star Trek franchise, would you believe!)

Summary: Serenity ROCKS. A follow up to Firefly, yet knowledge of Firefly isn't necessary. Great film