I’ve decided that when there are weeks that I have been unable to see a movie that I will review some of the movies that have come within the last ten years. This is the first for Serenity , next week I hope to see a new movie, if not it will be a review of Clash of the Titains.
Joss Whedon is one of my absolute favourite writers and directors, he created a little show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was the genious behind the best show that was ever cancelled: Firefly. After years of harping on production companies they finally realized that the fan base could still make the proporty proffitable, so in 2005 Serenity was released, it was essentially season 2 of Firefly. The premise of Firefly was that 500 years in the future Earth had become far too populated and people left to go become the pioneers of space, after suitable planets had been found people terriformed them, settled them and expect things to go smoothly from that point forward. The Alliance rose up and started trying to take control and become the government of all the settled planets but a small group of rebels rose up to oppose them, The Browncoats. Our Hero Mal Reynolds was one of these Browncoats. Right at the peak of the battle of Serenity Valley, The Browncoats called a cease fire and they gave up, much to Mal’s dismay. Fast forward six years, Mal and his war friend Zoe have a ship of their own with a cast of very different individuals, The Serenity.
The movie picks up an uspecified amount of time after the series ended and Joss Whedon has said that it acomplishes everything he wanted to say if season two of Firefly ever got green lit. The movie shows a hired killer trying to hunt down River Tam and tak her back to the Alliance for a reward, she has been a wanted fugitive since the first episode of the show. The crew of the Serenity work hard to avaid capture and try and loose the assassin. This makes for some for some great fight scene and on amazing space flight/fight scene near the end of the movie.
The cast from Firefly was brought back for this movie and they did a great job being together again, their performances were great and they had a fun time making this movie. If you watch the special features of Firefly you see how heart broken the entire cast was that the show ended up being canceled and they said even there that if they got the chance to do the show again they would drop everything and be there for Joss in a heart beat. That shows commitment to a series and just how much they loved the rich world that was created and the characters they potrayed. That comes off on screen every second of the movie. Joss did a really good job at the beginning of the movie familiarizing people who had not watched Firefly with the crew of the Serenity and their places in the universe of the story. If you listen to the audio commentary of the film you learn a lot about what Joss had planned for the show and just how well it was able to come to life on screen in front of you; it seems like everything he had dreamed was done in Serenity.
Honestly there is nothing that I disliked about this movie, from the movie itself to the acting, from the score to the CGI, from the commentary to the outtakes reel (watch it, you won’t be sorry). The movie is just a lot of fun and enjoyable to watch if you are a fan of the series or if you’ve never seen the show before. Check it out, it’s a trip you won’t soon forget.
I give Serenity 10/10.
The Ubiquitous Gentlemen 