(no subject)

[mamculuna]

Actually, theferrett has pretty much said what I thought about Serenity. I loved it, of course--Mal is Mal, Kaylee is Kaylee, etc. And best of all, Serenity is herself, even in disguise as a Reaver ship. There's wrong done because not doing it would be even wronger. There's Chinese cussing. There are deals made with smarmy characters. There's dialogue only Joss could do, and lots of nice references to things we know from the series. There's Mal with his shirt off. Much more is revealed about River, and Summer Glau gets a chance to show her range, as well as kick awesome butt. And all the original characters at least have a cameo, while the new character, the Operative, is a fine addition. If this had stayed on TV, he could have been a wonderful Inspector Javert, hounding them through the Verse. And I truly loved Mr. Universe.

There were also references to Buffy, in my mind: the robot girl friend who gives away the secret, the incredibly strong and skilled young girl easily slaying hordes of gruesome beasts--although River's a much darker version, Chosen by the wrong ones. That shot of her standing with dripping axe (familiar looking axe, too) over the bloody bodies--won't forget it soon.

Nits I'll pick: Too much fighting, not enough character; especially not enough to help people who haven't memorized the TV series. Why is is so important that Kaylee and Simon finallly get it on (but sure loved her line "To hell with this, I'm going to live!"), and who are Shepherd Book and Inara, and what's going on with Inara? I can imagine them asking. In a movie, I can see why the focus on the River plot was maybe the way to go, but I really liked the daily interactions among the whole crew, the Kaylee-Inara girl talk, the good marriage of Zoe and Wash (wonder how his death hit people who don't know the rest), etc.

Most of all, I didn't quite think that River's secret, when revealed, stood up to all the lead-up. If just knowing that your leaders had done evil things were enough to bring citizens to topple an evil empire, we're be living in a different Verse, ourselves--and it didn't get rid of the Reavers, either. But it did kill the River plot line, along with two of my favorite characters, as well as the Simon-Kaylee tension.

So that makes me think that the worst thing is that this is the end of Firefly--but even if it's not a perfect end, it's a fine one. Thanks, Joss.

Comments

[wombatina.livejournal.com]

i think it's too hard to second guess how non watchers will take the whole thing. we'll just have to wait and see if the shepherd and anara and the love stuff doesn't make sense. it felt rushed to me because all of this could have been an entire season. imagine the fun that would've been. i don't think wash getting killed would irk people as much as fans (did you bring your kleenex?) but, who knows. interesting about the buffy connections. i didn't make them, but you're right.

and i did love mr. universe.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

You're right about not trying to think how others would see it. and especially that it should have been a season. Indeed. If only we could have seen some of the others of the Alliance make the plans--and some great sub-plots with other characters.

But not killed any. Sob.

[ann1962]

Yes I agree. And thanks was what I wrote too.

[wallynotorious.livejournal.com]

Is Serenity the Firefly movie then?

[wallynotorious.livejournal.com]

Duh, you said that already.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

It is indeed, and a good one.

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

I was with a pretty good mix of people - a couple dvd-owning fans, one casual watcher when it aired, and one complete newbie (well she is a Buffy fan). All loved it, especially the newcomer, she said it was the best sci-fi movie she's seen in years and loved all the characters.

I love Joss, now more than ever, but plotting is still not his greatest strength (the pacing however was fab) - and I was thinking that Jeff Bell deserves a bit of a butt-kicking for using the secret of Miranda for last year's Alias finale. I think that River's secret worked in the context of the movie, but yeah after the series' build-up it was far too easy.