My thoughts on Serenity *SPOILER*
POSTED BY: j6ngo1977
UPDATED: Thursday, December 29, 2005 04:26
VIEWED: 9293
PAGE 1 of 4
OK I watched Serenity tonight for the first time. Good christmas present :). First off I'll say I really love it. I watched it as an objective Browncoat. I'll point out what made me love the film and also what made me be a bit negative.
The characters have not changed from Firefly which was the biggest worry I had. The characters have transposed to the big screen very well, as Kaylee would say, 'they are just filmed in a fancier way'. Joss has also done a very clever thing by using good dialogue snippets that had been used in previous Firefly episodes. I don't see that as cheating I see that as a good way of talking to both the Browncoats and the None Browncoats.
I love the SFX. Very gritty and very real looking. In King Kong I may think 'Yeh but King Kong looks CGI' but in Serenity that thought never trespassed over my shiny mind.
The Story was good. From a none Browncoat point of view it is drama, comedy, action and tears all the way. However for a Browncoat it can be a bit ropey. Firstly is that Serenity that hauls Simon and River from the Alliance test facility? If so? how can that cannot be?????
Sheperd is not part of the crew. I can understand why they did that. However Sheperd is then killed off. I think most Browncoats are not happy about this. However it suits the none Browncoats to feed Mals anger against the Reavers.
Wash was killed. Ok that was the biggest no, no. Wash getting killed was done for movie shock value. 'The lovable, funny guy making a joke and then gets impaled' it's text book. I love Wash, like many do. So that saddened me.
For River I felt alot more empathy for. She seemed to be a bit more in touch with the crew than in Firefly and sometimes I just wanted to hug her and protect her like Simon does. As for River showing her true ability....what a treat :) It's like Joss Whedon said to his Fight choreographers 'Ok I want this to be like Buffy fighting but on steroids'. Summer Glau pulled of not just a great acting performance but also great fight sequences.
Last but not least. The end dialogue Mal makes to River in the cockpit absolutely tore me up. Yes a grown man with tears rolling down his cheeks. That was me :). I can see why that would effect myself and other Browncoats so much, but its such a good scene for most people not to be choked about.
Well there you go. As a Firefly fan I would score this as an 8.0 The reason why? is plainly, if I was on a desert Island and all I had was a DVD player (ok unlikely but imagine a waterproof, samsinite case with DVD player etc) and a choice between 1 Firefly episode and Serenity I would pick 'Out of Gas' every time.
If I had never watched Firefly in my life I would give Serenity 9.0. great story, great action, great acting. Nice job Mr Whedon.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Nice review j6ngo.
I give it a 10, though, for the turnaround Mal went through- finding 'himself' again.
My only real complaint is the lack of Greg Edmonson's lovely tunes, that would have made the gold twice as shiny.
P.S., that was a 'faction' shuttle hired by Simon :)
Chrisisall serene
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Ohhhhh thanks Chris. I knew Joss, or hoped, Joss wouldnt do something stupid like having Firefly pick them up. OK I'll up my Browncoat score to 8.5 :D
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
After the River slaughter of the Reavers, how does she open the door???
The only thing I can figure is that she kicks a Reaver head to hit the door button. Why will it still open Kaylee fixed it not to open from the outside. OK River is smarter then Kaylee, but that would have to be pretty quick to stand in front of the door at the end.
Now this does not ruin the movie for me but I am sure none BC's will ask and I need to give a good answer.
Help
Keep Flying!
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
River is past opening doors. You are getting too mechanical. Doors have no meaning to River. C'mon you are here , on a firefly fan site, you must know how powerful River is?
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Sheperd is not part of the crew. I can understand why they did that. However Sheperd is then killed off. I think most Browncoats are not happy about this. However it suits the none Browncoats to feed Mals anger against the Reavers.
Close, but not quite. It wasn't the Reavers who did Shepherd Book in on Haven, it was the Alliance (on orders from The Operative). Hence, his death was necessary to inflame Mal's anger against the Alliance into a hard, forged spear of fury. And to make Mal "believe" in something, as the Shepherd had so succinctly pointed out to Mal in their prior meeting.
As for Book not being part of the crew, that was answered as well. He says (as he lay dying) that Mal can't give him orders anymore; he's not one of the crew. Mal corrects him, telling him he IS part of Serenity's crew. Like they say, once you've been in Serenity...
I know a lot of people have been (and still are) upset by two of the deaths in the movie. Usually, they'll forgive Joss the one (Book's) death, allowing as it *might* be needed to drive the story forward - as well as to show just what lengths The Operative and the Alliance are willing to go to in order to retrieve their weaponized little girl and protect their secrets. The biggest problem the true Browncoats seem to have with Serenity is Wash's death, and that it seemed utterly unnecessary to so many viewers. All I can say is this: If you watched Joss's earlier works, you know that death can come for anyone, at any time, and there is no such thing as an "unnecessary death" in his storylines. Tara's death in Buffy was a huge shock to most (myself included, and I didn't even like her that much!), as was Jenny Calendar's. There were shocking deaths in Angel as well, so it wasn't out of the question for one or two of our BDH's to shuffle off this mortal coil for (seemingly) no good reason.
I say we give Joss the benefit of the doubt on this one. My feeling is that Wash's death WILL prove to have a deeper meaning than what we've already seen, and will be used to advance the story arcs in new ways. And it DID serve a purpose in the movie, in that once that happened, you had no idea if ANY of the rest of the crew were safe or not! Admit it: you were on the edge of your seat from that moment until the very end, wondering if Zoe, Simon, or Kaywinnet Lee - or even Mal Reynolds himself - were actually going to get out of there alive. That's tension for ya!
Mike
Grrrrr. Arrrgghh.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Book's death was not unlike Obi-Wan's, and did serve a purpose (not that I LIKED it, but knowing Joss, people die- it's just the way of things...)
Chrisisall, shedding a tear...
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Tholo:
After the River slaughter of the Reavers, how does she open the door???
The only thing I can figure is that she kicks a Reaver head to hit the door button. Why will it still open Kaylee fixed it not to open from the outside. OK River is smarter then Kaylee, but that would have to be pretty quick to stand in front of the door at the end.
Now this does not ruin the movie for me but I am sure none BC's will ask and I need to give a good answer.
Help
Keep Flying!
I don't think Kaylee rigged the door in the end, I don't remember seeing her do anything to the door or the button.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Tholo:
After the River slaughter of the Reavers, how does she open the door???
Now this does not ruin the movie for me but I am sure none BC's will ask and I need to give a good answer.
As much as I loved seeing River framed in the doorway holding the axes (what a great shot!!), I had the same reaction as Tholo - didn't Kaylee fix that door not to open from the outside? Also, how did River open it while standing in the middle of the room, with, um, her hands full?
My theory is that the Alliance ship that was just outside the wall transmitted a code that overrode all of the internal locks in the complex. Seems like the type of technology that the Alliance would have had added to locks in the 'verse. Then, since the main entrance was still blocked by the Reaver ship, the troops busted through the outer wall and… well, we all know how that ended…
----
www.BrownQuote.com - customize your Google search homepage with a random Firefly quote!
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Cool answer Mike. thanks for letting me know it was the Alliance who killed Book. I know Mal always thought he was 'one of the crew' but i felt he was filmed as a secondary character which is not the case.
To be honest I've never beeen interested in Buffy or Angel (burn me later, im a witch .LOL), never thought they where bad shows but I trust what you say with Wash's death. However the guy was impaled. He's a list A. Firefly character and can't understand why Joss did that. However its the only canceled TV show thats gone to a major motion picture
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME