Serenity
Directed by Joss Whedon
Written by Joss Whedon
Rated PG-13: for sequences of intense violence and action, mild language and sexual references
By Erik McClanahan
About halfway through the science fiction/western concoction that is “Serenity,” I began feeling like an outsider at a comic book convention.
The movie is set 500 years in the future, when people begin to migrate to other planets because of over-population. The crew of the space ship Serenity is a bunch of cowboys who take on any job legal or not.
The crew is led by Mal (Nathan Fillion), the Han Solo-esque hero who loves his ship and his crew. “Serenity” tells the story of Mal’s crew uncovering a secret from a government-tested girl named River (played by Summer Glau).
“Serenity” is the brainchild of writer/director Joss Whedon, who’s been nominated for an Oscar (for helping write the screenplay for “Toy Story”) but is probably best known for creating the cult television shows “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spin-off “Angel.”
Around 1999, Whedon had an idea for a television show that mixed two popular, but very different, genres. The result was 2002’s short-lived series “Firefly,” which was canceled after 11 episodes due to low ratings.
Whedon didn’t give up on the material, and thanks to impressive DVD sales of the first season, he was given creative control to continue the “Firefly” story as a movie and the end result became “Serenity.”
The clever writer/director deserves a lot of credit for sticking to his guns and not sacrificing his material for Hollywood (the cast from the T.V. show remains intact here, which I’m sure pleases devout fans very much), but “Serenity” is a hard sell for anyone with little knowledge of the back story.
Having never seen a minute of “Firefly,” I did find myself a bit puzzled on who was who and the significance of certain plot points in the movie.
For fans of the show, all this is a good thing of course because they don’t want to be burdened with details they already are familiar with, but “Serenity” will have trouble converting new fans because it expects the audience to know a lot going in to the film.
Maybe that’s exactly what Whedon’s intentions are here, and if that’s the case then I applaud him for making a movie for his devoted fans.
As much as the film wants to be a new kind of “Star Wars,” I couldn’t get over the fact that almost the entire movie is ripped off from that brilliant sci-fi saga. From the beat-up ships to the cocky hero to the detailed space battles, “Serenity” offers very little in terms of original action and plot.
Being the die-hard “Star Wars” geek that I am, I would usually scoff and disregard any movie that copies the story of Luke, Leia, and Darth Vader. But seeing that George Lucas borrowed from numerous films and genres to create his “Star Wars” universe, I can’t hold much against Whedon for doing the same here.
“Serenity” feels like it came from a television show, though. The acting is decent at best, the special effects are impressive but we’ve all seen better, and the story feels incomplete.
The film is filled with nice bits of humor and snappy dialogue, something that’s rare in the science fiction genre.
Whedon is definitely a talent to watch. He has a knack for creating funny characters, surprising story developments, and he is not afraid to kill off important characters.
“Serenity” isn’t a bad film, but it isn’t all that great either. Die-hard fans will no-doubt love the film but movie-goers who haven’t heard of “Firefly” will be a little lost.
HDFEST grading scale
-Serenity-
Story C
Acting C
Visuals C+
Originality B-
Enjoyability B
Overall Grade B-
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