An Obituary Rantview: Serenity
- Serenity
- This is where I'd normally give you a one-line reason to see this movie, but it's already out of theatres. Thanks, slowpoke.
The complaint I heard most often from my fellow nerds was how much of an abomination the newest trilogy of Star Wars movies were; all the Vader-wouldn’t-emote-like-that and the Yoda-isn’t-a-Mortal-Kombat-fighter ra-ra bullshit. Nothing could save the three sterling turds that George Lucas had crapped out in the past six years.
However, when these people were given an alternative to the played-out SW mythos in Serenity, a film based off of Joss Whedon’s aborted sci-fi TV series Firefly, most of them turned a collective blind eye to the release and have let it slip into the ‘box-office failure’ category of this year’s releases.
I will clear the air now and let you know that I’m a total Whedon Fag©. I beat off six different kinds of semen over Buffy The Vampire Slayer and while I never got in to Angel quite as much as most other recluse middle-aged women, I enjoyed Firefly. It was flawed, but definitely had the promise of an excellent series to come. I came in to this film biased, but I can spot a lame duck when I see one. In fact, my rampant pop-culture pessimism usually creates low expectations by default (or, as I like to call it, my Matrix matrix).
I can assure you that this film lives up to whatever expectations you could have and pushes past them for one of the most satisfying adventure film experiences you could have at the movies this year.
Serenity picks up some time after the series ended - long enough to allow Whedon to introduce the characters to newcomers and re-acquaint those familiar with the series to the new status quo of their old favorites. Nathan Fillion is Malcolm Reynolds, captain of a Firefly-class space shuttle dubbed Serenity(!). His second-in-command, Zoe, a 26th Century Grace Jones-level badass, is married to pilot Wash, who normally defers to his wife’s dominant personality with typical Whedon wryness. With semi-outlaw Jayne, they perform jobs on both sides of the law just to survive outside of the established intergalactic government that holds rule over the galaxy with an iron fist. Basically, it’s a Western in space, but where the show held more Ford-ian tenets, the film skews closer to the grand space adventure end of the spectrum.
The crew must find out why the intergalactic government is going to such great lengths to recover River Tam, a 17-year-old fugitive they’ve been harboring, who is either the most annoyingly weird character ever or the most explosively badass character ever. Turns out, River knows a secret that the Alliance is desperate to keep under wraps. The crew tries to not get killed by the girl they’re hiding while still avoiding the Alliance. Stuff suitably goes kablooey.
Whedon’s first time directing for the big screen flows fairly well. Some of his visual cues are borrowed – jump cuts, extended shots, etc. – but it doesn’t take away from the story itself. He keeps the energy high and the film never feels like it’s lagging. There are quieter moments but they feel natural instead of just filler material between big time explosions.
The action sequences in this film blend the overly-used Asian kung-fu styles with classic widescreen American drag-em-outs. Whedon knows when to allow the plot to step out of the way in favor of a solid ass-kicking.
If you’re not used to the typical dialogue in a Whedon-penned script, this is a good introductory lesson. It’s probably better than you’re used to for an action-adventure movie this side of the Indiana Jones series, but there are definitely points where most people might feel like they’re on the wrong side of an inside joke (typical of any Mutant Enemy production). Whedon knows how to write compelling character relationships, and Serenity is no different – these relationships feel organic, not just like archetypes thrown together because for sake of the plot. For the most part he keeps the script reeled in enough to just seem like he’s only sorta showing off how clever he can be. The characters sound true enough to who they are while still maintaining a caustic irony about most situations.
For fans of the series, the end is a gut-wrenching finale to a show that had hopes to live on as a movie franchise (more on that in a sec). For regular folk, the script plays catch up in a quick-enough fashion that allows them to ignore the whole show-before-the-film issue with a satisfying payoff for the characters.
So why didn’t this film do better at the box office? I’ve heard people say that it was because of the whole rabid fan-base and TV show beginnings, but that doesn’t sit right with me. Star Trek was in the same situation but turned into a great franchise for Paramount. That’s like saying it’s a bad thing that people care about your product before it’s released. Isn’t that the whole POINT of art? I know the cynical response here is “no, making money for the studio is the whole point,” but you have to make that connection to be able to make the money. You’re not selling a commodity; you’re selling a product. There is a difference.
I think the failure can be more contributed to there being NO marketing behind the film. Released in the tail-end of September, there was nary a commercial to be seen, nor poster to behold until a week before the premiere. This was supposed to be the first in a string of films, but it looks like that won’t be the case – it won’t even make back it’s budget on domestic release. Realistically, this will probably be a huge cult-hit on DVD years from now, much like an Office Space or Napoleon Dynamite or Boondock Saints [though I’m loathe to include that film]. The future of the movie industry seems to be moving away from the collective viewing experience and more towards home theatres, but a movie franchise still lives and dies by its box-office performance.
The disappointment of this film’s performance probably won’t affect Whedon’s next effort - a live-action Wonder Woman film set for 2007 – but it’s just a shame to see the arrival of one of Hollywood’s most unique voices greeted with such a collective shrug.
November 22nd, 2005 at 1:40 am
I agree, about the marketing especially. I only ever saw the previews on Sci-Fi during Firefly (and the Sci-Fi run was my introduction to the series, for which I am grateful).
But I really tend to judge the mainstream effect thing by my mom. She noticed the previews on TV, had no idea what it was all about, and only went to see it because I encouraged her to. She really enjoyed the movie, and will be purchasing the series on DVD.
November 22nd, 2005 at 3:38 pm
Four stars? Is the fact that you are a huge fan taken into account and weighted properly? Somehow, I doubt it. Good review, though.