19/10/2005

The search for Serenity

entry posted by Inquisitor at 21:31 (permalink).
categories: Movies

I saw Serenity last week. Having never seen Firefly, I went into the cinema completely unprepared, with zero character knowledge and just experience of the fandom to go on. This was slightly offputting; "Browncoat" is possibly the worst thought-out name for a fanbase since "Trekkie" (even if it is from series lexicon), bringing out the griminess of the insane edge of SFF fandom in its very syllables. And the fanbase makes every attempt to bring out this aspect of their personality; reading anything Serenity related on the movie message board of your choice (but especially AICN) is a trial of patience, and the Wikipedia entry for Firefly is one of those Wikipedia entries with ludicrously unnecessary amounts of detail in supplementary articles (although not nearly as bad as the Star Wars entries).

But I did see it, and lo, it wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, not all the character interrelationships are set up properly: a big shock late on in the movie obviously works for the fanbase (as can be seen from the many gushing reviews on DVDF et al), but didn't for me at all. And there are various other moments in the movie where, unless you're a fan, you just feel somewhat confused - the characters, with a few notable exceptions, are fully developed before they hit the screen. The same error, of course, was made by Star Trek: The Motion Picture, a movie that only makes sense if you're a massive Original Series fan; by the X-Files movie, too, which is just an overextended, overbudget double episode of the show.

Despite this, it is a really enjoyable movie: even if the plot is basically Han Solo and Crew with a few psychic and kung-fu elements. It's very well shot (by Clint Eastwood's DP), the script is witty and engaging, and the all-round acting is very good: especially Chiwetel Ejiofor as "the Operative" (a ruthless agent on the crew's trail), another fantastic role for him. It's very much worth whatever it costs you for a cinema ticket; especially if you thought a Han Solo prequel would have been much, much better than what we got. In fact, even though Joss Whedon pulls the "guy doesn't die until he's revealed an important bit of information/bit of personal philosophy" overused SFF/horror cliche, recommended.

The Wallace and Gromit movie is fabulous, by the way, so you should all be seeing it. Oh yes.

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