Friday, October 07, 2005
Serenity
When Joss Whedon’s TV show Firefly was cancelled, he said “I feel a movie coming on”. And boy, he wasn’t kidding!
We went to see Serenity yesterday, and I must say, I was impressed. The TV series didn’t last long, not even one entire season, but the story line was good, and generated a following of loyal Whedon fans. The movie definitely does not disappoint!
If you’re familiar with the TV series, you know the characters already. Malcolm Reynolds, captain of the ship Serenity, is a former soldier turned mercenary against the Alliance. The timeline is 500 years in the future, Earth is so overpopulated that we’ve had to find a whole new universe to inhabit. New planets have been “tera-formed” and settlements are thriving. All except one. I don’t want to give too much away, in case you haven’t seen it yet and are planning to. Just let me tell you that the adventure is intense, the characters true to form, and Whedon at his very best. I hope this is first of many.
There’s blood and gore, and action, and unexpected plot twists, and the usual Joss Whedon quick quips and dialog. All the original actors returned for the movie, Nathan Fillion as Mal, whom you may also remember as the psychotic Reverend Caleb in Buffy the Vampire Slayer final season; Adam Baldwin as Jayne, who also appeared on Angel as Marcus Hamilton; Gena Torres, Zoe, you may remember as Jasmine on Angel as well, and Summer Glau, River, was the Prima Ballerina on an Angel episode. Do you see a pattern here? Joss finds people he likes to work with, and he keeps them working. Even if you have never seen the TV show, the movie is easy to get into, with character introductions and development that is to follow. Joss did a great job with this movie, I think I’ll see it again, and then buy the DVD, and the DVDs of the TV series too!
There are a couple of unexpected sad tear jerking scenes, yes actual tears, but there are also lots of funny laugh out loud scenes. This is a great balance to keep you interested for the just slightly under 2 hour running time. Just don’t get the “bladder buster” size coke and you’ll be fine ;-)
I highly recommend this movie to any Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Joss Whedon fans. ¶ 12:22 PM
We went to see Serenity yesterday, and I must say, I was impressed. The TV series didn’t last long, not even one entire season, but the story line was good, and generated a following of loyal Whedon fans. The movie definitely does not disappoint!
If you’re familiar with the TV series, you know the characters already. Malcolm Reynolds, captain of the ship Serenity, is a former soldier turned mercenary against the Alliance. The timeline is 500 years in the future, Earth is so overpopulated that we’ve had to find a whole new universe to inhabit. New planets have been “tera-formed” and settlements are thriving. All except one. I don’t want to give too much away, in case you haven’t seen it yet and are planning to. Just let me tell you that the adventure is intense, the characters true to form, and Whedon at his very best. I hope this is first of many.
There’s blood and gore, and action, and unexpected plot twists, and the usual Joss Whedon quick quips and dialog. All the original actors returned for the movie, Nathan Fillion as Mal, whom you may also remember as the psychotic Reverend Caleb in Buffy the Vampire Slayer final season; Adam Baldwin as Jayne, who also appeared on Angel as Marcus Hamilton; Gena Torres, Zoe, you may remember as Jasmine on Angel as well, and Summer Glau, River, was the Prima Ballerina on an Angel episode. Do you see a pattern here? Joss finds people he likes to work with, and he keeps them working. Even if you have never seen the TV show, the movie is easy to get into, with character introductions and development that is to follow. Joss did a great job with this movie, I think I’ll see it again, and then buy the DVD, and the DVDs of the TV series too!
There are a couple of unexpected sad tear jerking scenes, yes actual tears, but there are also lots of funny laugh out loud scenes. This is a great balance to keep you interested for the just slightly under 2 hour running time. Just don’t get the “bladder buster” size coke and you’ll be fine ;-)
I highly recommend this movie to any Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Joss Whedon fans. ¶ 12:22 PM
