"Can we start with the part where Jayne gets beat up by a 90 pound girl? Because that's *never* getting old."
So, when I first decided to do a movie recommendation every week, the first thing I did was circle this week for a certain movie. It’s the only week I pre-planned, and it’s for a movie I feel more strongly about than the 99% of the movies I’ll discuss on this blog.
Now, Train has already warned me about this choice and about how this probably won’t go over well (with Goose in particular), but here goes….
3 1/2 Years ago on a network not so far away….
A little show named Firefly premiered on Fox in their Friday night time slot…a move designed for it to die. You see, this isn’t a show Fox really wanted. The shows creator, Joss Whedon, was a hot property following the huge success of his previous two shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (as well as screen writing credits on Toy Story and Speed). So, some studio execs gave him a production deal to create an all new show for them. The wanted more of the same, which is exactly what Whedon was not interested in giving them.
Instead he delivered a Science Fiction show that was unlike anything that had come before it. The critics loved it…but it wasn’t what Fox wanted.
So…they showed it out of order (which is like showing a show like “Lost” out of order), and put it on the worst weeknight they could. And after 9 episodes, this little show was cancelled….
But something happened…the few fans that watched it, and the people that worked on it, stayed with it. They knew that this show was something special and they weren’t about to let it go. When the DVD was released in early 2004, it went on to become the second best selling DVD of the year, and has since become one of Fox’s all time best sellers (It’s still quite popular, and is currently the #5 best selling DVD on Amazon.com, ahead of the likes of Star Wars and Family Guy).
Universal studios took notice, and when Joss came knocking on their door, trying to save Firefly, they took a chance. And so this little failed TV show got to be a big screen feature film.
Quite honestly, a big screen feature film that shouldn’t exist.
Enter "Serenity".
Okay. Now you know the back story…so now I’ve got to win you over on this movie…
First and foremost: You do NOT have to be familiar with the TV show in order to get this movie. It’s written in a way that is geared towards people that didn’t even know a TV show existed before the film. True, if you know the show you’ll get a couple of the in-jokes, but that’s really about it.
In a nutshell, here’s the concept of the story: The Millennium Falcon crossed with a covered wagon headed to the old west.
Now for the concept with a bit more detail and back-story (You can skip this if you want to get to the story synopsis/review)
About 500 years in the future, the earth’s resources are completely depleted, so we began migrating to other planets. Human’s have the technology to terra-form planets, so there’s plenty of places to call home. The problem is these planets are bare. There’s no roads, no running water, no nothing. So…they throw some settlers on the planet to start building everything. Doing this however, gives many of these planets an old west feel to them.
Now that there’s all these planets, a government/corporation (which in the future, kind of become the same thing…i.e “the Company” in the aliens films) decides it wants to create an alliance among all the planets, so that they may all be unified (think Empire here). Naturally, there’s a group of independents who want to be free, and don’t want a government on the other side of the galaxy telling them how to live their lives. This people in this group are called “Browncoats” (which is also what Firefly fans are called…it’s like a less nerdy Trekkie). Eventually Civil War breaks out between the two sides…
…and the Browncoats lose.
Our story picks up nearly ten years after the war is lost.
*End Back Story Bit*
The film of Serenity tells the story of a group of smugglers on a ship (Called Serenity) traveling through the universe. These are not good guys per se. They are criminals. But then again, it’s one of the few professions that doesn’t involve being under the governments thumb.
The captain of the ship is a man named Malcolm Reynolds. Think of him as a younger, funnier, Han Solo that ALWAYS shoots first. Before captaining this ship and leading his crew in their life of crime, he was a Browncoat along with his first mate Zoe.
The rest of the crew is made up of the following:
Kaylee – The ships mechanic. Quite possibly the cutest girl in all of sci-fi.
Wash – The ships pilot played by one of my favorite actors, Alan Tudyk (Knights Tale, Dodgeball)
Simon – The ships doctor. He was a pompous little rich boy, until his sister was abducted by the government. He spent his entire fortune breaking her out and saving her. They’ve been in hiding on the crews ship ever since.
River – Simon’s sister. She was abducted by the government, who tried to turn her into the ultimate assassin. She’s got powers and abilities even she’s not aware of.
Inara – In the future, prostitution is legal and actual is regulated by the government. In concept, they are more like Geisha’s. The hold quite a bit of prestige throughout the galaxy…they’re almost treated like celebrities.
And last, but certainly not least:
Jayne – The muscle of their little operation. This guy is hands down my favorite character on the show. Adam Baldwin (Full Metal Jacket, ID4) plays this guy to perfection. He’s not what
you’d call book smart, but he’s a first class fighter and a man who loves his guns. This guy tops Hudson in Aliens as having the some of the best lines in all of sci-fi. (My particular favorite: “Do you know what the chain of command is? It’s the chain I beat you with until you know who’s in command!”)
Now, I don’t really want to go into too much story, as I really don’t want to give anything away. Basically the movie centers around the government trying to get River back from the crew of Serenity. That’s about as basic as I can make the plot.
This is pretty much how I sum up my feelings about this movie: This is everything I wanted the Star Wars prequels to be. It’s fast paced, it’s engrossing, it’s funny, it’s dark, and it’s exciting. George never really pulled off telling a dark story with good characters and humor (ala Empire Strikes Back). This film has all 3 in spades.
What amuses me the most is the fact that the film was made off a third of the budget of any of the prequels, and yet its effects sequences are just as engrossing. But that’s another great thing about it: The effects aren’t what matters. Whenever they could, they’d use practical means to achieve what they were trying to do, which gives the film more of an organic feel.
That’s not to say that the CG stuff isn’t great. The space battle in the film is spectacular. The TV show and this film used two concepts to really give their space stuff a unique feel. The first is that there is no sound in space. Everything is deathly quiet, which gives everything a much different feel than you’re used to seeing in movies. And the other is that all the CG shots are shot to look like they were filmed in real life. Basically meaning that there are intentional zooms and blurring and camera shakes, and all of the other imperfections that filming with a camera can cause. It’s really interesting.
As for the acting…its top notch. True, it’s a cast of no-names, but they all know their roles inside and out. These actors are so well cast, that I honestly wouldn’t consider recasting a single one of them with a big name.
The great thing I love about this universe is that it feels real. Our hero’s probably lose more than they win, and you really get a feeling that their just fighting for survival in a very rough world. One of Joss Whedon’s greatest talents is that he has the ability to make you feel like no characters are safe. On his previous TV shows he was never afraid to kill off a popular character for the sake of the story, and that still rings true here. Not everyone is going to make it, and there were a couple of points in the film where I even thought that they were all going to die (When Joss ended his TV show “Angel” he did so by killing off just about everybody, so I know what he’s capable of).
And I have to at least say something about the humor. The humor in this film is so witty and fun that it just makes this joy ride that much better. If nothing else, you’ll at least have a few good laughs.
Train can testify that I try and push this series on everyone I know. And everyone I’ve gotten to give it a try has loved it (Train included). If there’s just one film I recommend that you actually see, make it this one. It’s fine if you hate it, but just try it. I really think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I put this on par with the original Star Wars…I know that those are big words, and you probably won’t agree, but if it peaks your interest, than my job here is done.
SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!
Now, Train has already warned me about this choice and about how this probably won’t go over well (with Goose in particular), but here goes….
3 1/2 Years ago on a network not so far away….
A little show named Firefly premiered on Fox in their Friday night time slot…a move designed for it to die. You see, this isn’t a show Fox really wanted. The shows creator, Joss Whedon, was a hot property following the huge success of his previous two shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (as well as screen writing credits on Toy Story and Speed). So, some studio execs gave him a production deal to create an all new show for them. The wanted more of the same, which is exactly what Whedon was not interested in giving them.
Instead he delivered a Science Fiction show that was unlike anything that had come before it. The critics loved it…but it wasn’t what Fox wanted.
So…they showed it out of order (which is like showing a show like “Lost” out of order), and put it on the worst weeknight they could. And after 9 episodes, this little show was cancelled….
But something happened…the few fans that watched it, and the people that worked on it, stayed with it. They knew that this show was something special and they weren’t about to let it go. When the DVD was released in early 2004, it went on to become the second best selling DVD of the year, and has since become one of Fox’s all time best sellers (It’s still quite popular, and is currently the #5 best selling DVD on Amazon.com, ahead of the likes of Star Wars and Family Guy).
Universal studios took notice, and when Joss came knocking on their door, trying to save Firefly, they took a chance. And so this little failed TV show got to be a big screen feature film.
Quite honestly, a big screen feature film that shouldn’t exist.
Enter "Serenity".
Okay. Now you know the back story…so now I’ve got to win you over on this movie…
First and foremost: You do NOT have to be familiar with the TV show in order to get this movie. It’s written in a way that is geared towards people that didn’t even know a TV show existed before the film. True, if you know the show you’ll get a couple of the in-jokes, but that’s really about it.
In a nutshell, here’s the concept of the story: The Millennium Falcon crossed with a covered wagon headed to the old west.
Now for the concept with a bit more detail and back-story (You can skip this if you want to get to the story synopsis/review)
About 500 years in the future, the earth’s resources are completely depleted, so we began migrating to other planets. Human’s have the technology to terra-form planets, so there’s plenty of places to call home. The problem is these planets are bare. There’s no roads, no running water, no nothing. So…they throw some settlers on the planet to start building everything. Doing this however, gives many of these planets an old west feel to them.
Now that there’s all these planets, a government/corporation (which in the future, kind of become the same thing…i.e “the Company” in the aliens films) decides it wants to create an alliance among all the planets, so that they may all be unified (think Empire here). Naturally, there’s a group of independents who want to be free, and don’t want a government on the other side of the galaxy telling them how to live their lives. This people in this group are called “Browncoats” (which is also what Firefly fans are called…it’s like a less nerdy Trekkie). Eventually Civil War breaks out between the two sides…
…and the Browncoats lose.
Our story picks up nearly ten years after the war is lost.
*End Back Story Bit*
The film of Serenity tells the story of a group of smugglers on a ship (Called Serenity) traveling through the universe. These are not good guys per se. They are criminals. But then again, it’s one of the few professions that doesn’t involve being under the governments thumb.
The captain of the ship is a man named Malcolm Reynolds. Think of him as a younger, funnier, Han Solo that ALWAYS shoots first. Before captaining this ship and leading his crew in their life of crime, he was a Browncoat along with his first mate Zoe.The rest of the crew is made up of the following:
Kaylee – The ships mechanic. Quite possibly the cutest girl in all of sci-fi.
Wash – The ships pilot played by one of my favorite actors, Alan Tudyk (Knights Tale, Dodgeball)
Simon – The ships doctor. He was a pompous little rich boy, until his sister was abducted by the government. He spent his entire fortune breaking her out and saving her. They’ve been in hiding on the crews ship ever since.River – Simon’s sister. She was abducted by the government, who tried to turn her into the ultimate assassin. She’s got powers and abilities even she’s not aware of.Inara – In the future, prostitution is legal and actual is regulated by the government. In concept, they are more like Geisha’s. The hold quite a bit of prestige throughout the galaxy…they’re almost treated like celebrities.And last, but certainly not least:
Jayne – The muscle of their little operation. This guy is hands down my favorite character on the show. Adam Baldwin (Full Metal Jacket, ID4) plays this guy to perfection. He’s not what
you’d call book smart, but he’s a first class fighter and a man who loves his guns. This guy tops Hudson in Aliens as having the some of the best lines in all of sci-fi. (My particular favorite: “Do you know what the chain of command is? It’s the chain I beat you with until you know who’s in command!”)Now, I don’t really want to go into too much story, as I really don’t want to give anything away. Basically the movie centers around the government trying to get River back from the crew of Serenity. That’s about as basic as I can make the plot.
This is pretty much how I sum up my feelings about this movie: This is everything I wanted the Star Wars prequels to be. It’s fast paced, it’s engrossing, it’s funny, it’s dark, and it’s exciting. George never really pulled off telling a dark story with good characters and humor (ala Empire Strikes Back). This film has all 3 in spades.
What amuses me the most is the fact that the film was made off a third of the budget of any of the prequels, and yet its effects sequences are just as engrossing. But that’s another great thing about it: The effects aren’t what matters. Whenever they could, they’d use practical means to achieve what they were trying to do, which gives the film more of an organic feel.
That’s not to say that the CG stuff isn’t great. The space battle in the film is spectacular. The TV show and this film used two concepts to really give their space stuff a unique feel. The first is that there is no sound in space. Everything is deathly quiet, which gives everything a much different feel than you’re used to seeing in movies. And the other is that all the CG shots are shot to look like they were filmed in real life. Basically meaning that there are intentional zooms and blurring and camera shakes, and all of the other imperfections that filming with a camera can cause. It’s really interesting.
As for the acting…its top notch. True, it’s a cast of no-names, but they all know their roles inside and out. These actors are so well cast, that I honestly wouldn’t consider recasting a single one of them with a big name.
The great thing I love about this universe is that it feels real. Our hero’s probably lose more than they win, and you really get a feeling that their just fighting for survival in a very rough world. One of Joss Whedon’s greatest talents is that he has the ability to make you feel like no characters are safe. On his previous TV shows he was never afraid to kill off a popular character for the sake of the story, and that still rings true here. Not everyone is going to make it, and there were a couple of points in the film where I even thought that they were all going to die (When Joss ended his TV show “Angel” he did so by killing off just about everybody, so I know what he’s capable of).
And I have to at least say something about the humor. The humor in this film is so witty and fun that it just makes this joy ride that much better. If nothing else, you’ll at least have a few good laughs.Train can testify that I try and push this series on everyone I know. And everyone I’ve gotten to give it a try has loved it (Train included). If there’s just one film I recommend that you actually see, make it this one. It’s fine if you hate it, but just try it. I really think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I put this on par with the original Star Wars…I know that those are big words, and you probably won’t agree, but if it peaks your interest, than my job here is done.
SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!
posted by Casey at 10:42 AM
14 Comments:
feel the passion...MCP throwing out some serious left hooks for this review...and it worked, sounds like a great f'n plot...I'll have to see how's it played out...I do like the fact that they use silence in space...Carl Sagan would be proud...
I will atest to the fact that I am hooked on firefly/Serenity. Janye told me to just have an open mind and give it a try when he handed me the box set. I took it home and thought yeah, this is going to blow cause I ain't a buffy or Angel fan and well Jayne's an uber geek beyond the relm of catagory that includes the Simpson's comic book guy, "worst comic book ever". As I began to watch it started clicking with me. what's better then a Western/Sci-fi? I really can't think of that genre even being tapped. I am a sucker for both of those types of genres. The writing is good and keeps the pace up. The casting is perfect. I have to say I was a big fan of Inara for the mere fact that she puts out and I didn't get that sense from Kaylee ( has the girl next door look). The really kicker for me was the Captain. Yea, I know you were all thinking isn't that the dude from A girl a guy and a pizza place.. yep it is. He makes the show. He's great at the comedic timing and you can really root for him and his ship. Another highlight was the influence of the whole "empire" and everyone is going to compare this to SW but hey Lucas ripped the concept off too, the empire consists of a meshing of the last two super powers - china and the US. So, there is a zen like feel with the clothing and writing not to mention the mish mash hybrid Chinese/English that is spoken. I am speaking of the show of course since I like most of the US didn't see the movie in the Theatre. I plan on buying the DVD if I dont get it for christmas.
All in all the show is a great concept that worked for me.
"About 500 years in the future, the earth’s resources are completely depleted..."
I'm not so sure that this Joss (girl's name, just wanted to point that out) "guy" didn't rip this off of the 80's movie sci-fi classic "Ice Pirates". I'll probably Netflix it someday when I'm drunk.
Nice - Robert Urich reference with Ice Pirates. I got to admit I loved that movie when I was growing up.
Whatever, Narnia-boy. The earth depleted thing is really just back story. It's mentioned once briefly at the beginning of the film, and that's it. It's not a part of the plot, but just the reasoning behind why humans are spread out all over the plce.
And really, depleted is the wrong word, as earth is still around and there are people on it. Bascially the situation is that there are just too many people to sustain life.
I'll strongly disagree with you on this one Jaynee.
You did need to watch the TV show. You could not relate or even care about the characters. I tried to watch this movie. At the end I sat back and wondered...
what did I just watch and why should I care? There was little to no character development and I think thats what kills it as a stand alone movie.
Maybe watching a second time may change my mind, but normally being forced to watch a movie a second time doesnt endear it in my heart.
I gotta give it a thumbs down. Seen it. Tried it.
Of course, thats just my opinion, I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Maybe you're just an isolated case, because I really think it's quite accessible to a new audience. I forced (and bribed and dragged) about 7 people who had never seen the show before to a showing opening night, and they all loved it. True, most of them didn't dig it as much as me, but they still really dug it.
And I have to STRONGLY disagree about the character point. I've always found Joss Whedon's two strongest attributes to be his characters and his dialogue. Now, it is true that some characters didn't get a whole lot of screen time (Book and Inara in particular), but I think they were all really well defined characters.
Now, the movie is really centered around 2 people, River and Mal. Do you really think that they didn't have character development? Think about it. Where these two are at the beginning of the film, and where they are at the end of the film is the definition of character development. They were affected by the events in the film, and they evolved because of it. That's the definition of character development. And what I appreciate is it's not done Lucas style (i.e Anakin/Vader turn happens in the space of a scene). Whedon slowly unfolds where he takes those characters.
In the course of three days...MCP's been on the other side of fence with two movies creating great banter...its not easy putting your neck out there...so I have to give kudo's...although I would like all the Empire comparison's to stop...really...can we respect the greatest movie ever made? please? its bad enough what I've had to endure starting with the remake's (although Empire is by far the best) then the subsequent 6 years of hell with the prequel's...
Just wait until '07 or '08. You get to enjoy Empire Strikes Back special edition 2.0.
That's right...he's not done tinkering yet.
I wasn't referencing the Empire Strikes back the film I was talking about that concept of a ruling body over the galaxy.
Train...I got your point...and Jayne, I hope this is your attempt at humor...if not I want more details...
We will have to agree to disagree. I can tell your love of the show clouds your judgement of the movie. I see nothing wrong with that. Its ok to be clouded and passionate.
"they all know their roles inside and out. These actors are so well cast". That shows a pre concieved notion of what you believe. You dont fall in love with these characters like you have without having background.
I didnt like the movie, however the plot wasnt bad. There were definately moments that were funny that the audience ALL could laugh at (Unlike Sin City). Definate wit with Malcom.
Being a David Lynch fan and a Twin Peaks junkie, I love Fire Walk With Me. But it cannot stand alone as a movie. Ooooh Do I see a FWWM Movie review coming soon? Do I open the Door to the Black Lodge within the Black Lodge?
I WANT MY GARMANBOZA
I'm sure you've heard about the 3-D editions of Star Wars coming out in a couple of years...well, when that happens you can expect a few more tweaks to the films. There's only 2 that there is 100% confirmation on:
1. Updating the animation on Jabba in EP4
2. Replacing puppet yoda with his digital counterpart in EP1 and possibly updating the animation in EP2
Beyond those changes it's mostly speculation, but there's a few things that we've heard George is still not totally happy with.
As for Goose and the character comments, I still don't see your point for the simple fact that what happens to the characters in the movie is, by definition, character development.
Character development means the characters evolve and change based on the events that occur during the course of the film, and that occurs here, and I think it occurs rather well. Take Mal, for example (and I'll explain this without spoilers).
At the beginning of the film, Mal is a character who knows to get out of the way of any adversity that appears large. He's this way partly because of losing the war. This is first brought up and shown in two places when the crew goes to do "the job" (basically the first actionsequence of the movie...again trying to stay non-spoilerish). He intentionally doesn't save someone because he knows that being the hero usually means someone dies. There are more examples of this throughout the film, but that's the first time it's really shown and said.
However...at the end of the movie he's come full circle on that stance and that thinking...I don't want to say specifically how, but you know what they decide to do at the end, and it's something he would have never done if given the same choice at the beginning of the movie. If that's not character development, I don't know what is.
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