From a humble TV series Firefly by the man who made Buffy comes a full-blown galactic space adventure. The TV series was cancelled before completion, whereas the movie successfully erupts amid a fanfare of glory.Serenity secures an emotional investment from audiences in the first few minutes. The child psychic, River Tam is already questioning the conditioning, which the ruling alliance of planets imposes. Her talents are spotted and she is probed in a laboratory for military use. Her brother frees her, and she ends up on a rogue scavenger ship called Serenity whose crew, having lost the <more> galactic war with the Alliance, try to eke out a living with shady deals.Even before opening credits conclude, we know and like the Captain, the lovely bad guy, the rebel without a cause. The woman we've seen since she was a victimised child has a temporary haven and our hearts; but she's such a big liability it's in everyone's interests to kill her. Futuristic settings look convincing, dialogue is sharp and gritty, and acting is played for adults. There's no shortage of excellent special effects and superb characterisation. Writer-director Joss Whedon's method of dry humour keeps it crackling mostly by stating the obvious line and then turning it on its head. One fist-happy member of the crew remarks, "I'll kill a man in a fair fight," then adds, " . . . or if I think he's gonna start a fair fight." When a scene could look excessively reminiscent of a Star Wars light-sabres duel, the Captain pulls out the only weapon he has a tiny knife to do battle with an enormous sword. Sexual innuendos are fair game one female crew member complains it's ages since she's had anything between her legs that didn't need batteries. For monsters, the Serenity crew face the horror of the Reavers, cannibalistic half-humans that attack with incredible frenzy.Having been knifed by Fox for making a superb TV series, Joss Whedon and the cast deserve a round of applause for getting Serenity made at all. Artistic freedom in America doesn't come cheap, and the original series was far too hedonistic for a family values USA. Fans bought up the DVDs in such numbers that studios couldn't afford to ignore the dollar signs. Whedon is a brilliant writer and his cast have done the characters justice. Serenity is a great sci-fi action film that is well worth seeing.Shortcomings? Firefly was a very ambitious project and is hard to live up to. It was low on special effects but high on emotional drama and moral challenges that kept you thinking. It wasn't just the 'sci-fi' angle that pulled people in. With Zoe and Wash, the 'couple' on the ship, she outranks him and is also much smarter, posing a challenge to his macho image. Inara Morena Baccarin is the most controversial character of all: she is a 'companion' a highly trained, highly qualified escort, commanding respect and attention almost like ancient geishas. She is the 'VIP' onboard and gets the captain and crew into places they would not be admitted and out of scrapes for which they lacked the finesse. In Serenity, Zoe and Wash just call each other 'Honey' all the time any ranking is minimised and Inara's role is completely dumbed down sadly I thought, as it was mostly the dilemma of her character that got me hooked. A passing remark is made but her job is never explained - if you haven't seen the series you probably wouldn't know she was a 'lady of the night'. There is no attempt to challenge deep seated beliefs and stereotypes in the way that Firefly did and probably killed by Fox, who preferred action over psychological drama . But are Universal the good guys? They're a studio, and they need to make money if they're investing wads of it, so a film that will upset the 'moral right' of the USA is needlessly cutting profits in half.I challenged Joss Whedon at the premiere about maintaining the artistic integrity and vision of the original over the next three years, but he replied that everybody had taken pay cuts just to get it made. I don't doubt their dedication too much, but I don't want to see a formularised part three just because it's gotten out of their control or they've had to lower their sights. Unlike Fox, I could manage with one or two less spaceships and big action sequences if anything needs to be cut from the budget and more drama. I want someone probably not Universal to give Joss Whedon the money to make part two as in-your-face as Firefly was. I want a movie that prompts more questions than it provides answers. I want science fiction that stretches my brain, not just my eyeballs, that challenges convention and, most of all, makes use of the incredible talent that Whedon and his fabulous cast have between them. If not, given what they can do, they should jump ship for more independent funders, the way Boyle or Tarantino or even Ridley Scott did when they started. Firefly set the hearts and minds of fans alight with one of the best science fiction stories ever made, a story that asked questions without giving simple answers, a bold excursion that breathed life into well-worn starwars tales, adult drama that wasn't afraid to upset people. Serenity has more action, more battles, more spaceships, but manages not to ruffle the waters of universal conservatism. Ironically, given the ultimate plot, one wonders if the civilising influence has not been overdone. It's such an enjoyable and well-made movie that it's nitpicky to say this, but in the welter of enthusiasm it could get lost. Keep fingers crossed and fanmail pressure up, to ensure a trilogy not only sees the light, but lets the light of inspiration shine stronger than studio doctrine. <less> |