Serenity

On By In Reviewss

Dan Owen reviews

Serenity
Distributed by
Universal Pictures Video As premiered on
danowen.blogspot.com

    Cover

  • Cert:
  • Cat.no: 8239167
  • Running time: 115 minutes
  • Year: 2005
  • Pressing: 2006
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Widescreen: 1.85:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 9
  • Price: £19.99
  • Extras:Joss Whedon Introduction, Feature Commentary, Deleted Scenes (with commentary),Outtakes, ‘Future History’: The Story of Earth That Was, ‘What’s in a Firefly’,Re-lighting the Firefly: A Filmmaker’s Journey

    Director:

      Joss Whedon

Producer:

    Barry Mendel

Screenplay:

    Joss Whedon

Music:

    David Newman

Cast:

    Capt. Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds: Nathan Fillion
    Zoe: Gina Torres
    Jayne: Adam Baldwin
    Wash: Alan Tudyk
    The Operative: Chiwetel Eljiofor
    River: Summer Glau
    Inara: Morena Baccarin
    Kaylee: Jewel Staite
    Simon: Sean Maher
    Shepherd Book: Ron Glass
    Mr Universe: David Krumholtz

Writer-director Joss Whedon is an acquired taste.,

His first foray into movies was the trite Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992), with Kristy Swanson; a failure that evolved into the spunkier TVseries with Sarah Michelle Gellar in 1997.Whedon spent the interim working as a “script doctor”, anonymously polishingthe screenplays to movies such as Speed and Toy Story.

After Whedon’s career skyrocketed with Buffy, he returned to movies bywriting Alien Resurrection (1997) – but the film was also a resoundingfailure. So it was back to TV with Buffy, and later its spin-off showAngel (1999), which only lasted a few years before cancellation.

Whedon stayed with TV for his next project, a sci-fi western calledFirefly (2002), but that show lasted a mere 11 episodes before beingcanned. However, strong DVD sales of the Firefly box-set gave impetus for aretry – with Whedon asked to retool the series for movie screens as Serenity

Serenity focuses on Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds, a war veteran (on thelosing side, interestingly) who now makes a living with a motley crew ofcriminals aboard the eponymous spaceship. But the crew’s lives are complicatedwhen Mal takes on two new passengers — a young doctor and his telepathicsister, who are actually fugitives from a sinister coalition dominating theuniverse…

I’ve never seen Firefly and wasn’t sure if that would influence my enjoymentof Serenity. Unfamiliarity with the TV show could be used as an excuse, butall movies have to be enjoyed by fans and newcomers alike. It’s a balancethat’s very difficult to get right, just take a look at Star Trek: TheMotion Picture (1979) or The X-Files Movie (1998).

So without the deeper knowledge of a fan (or “Browncoat”), I have to declarethat I found Serenity to be enjoyable, but wholly forgettable. Fans of theTV series will champion Serenity outright (it was their support that gaverise to the movie, after all), so they clearly don’t want to be boredwith too much scene-setting.

Whedon did an admirable job in countering these inherent problems, and ithelps that spaceship adventures tend to follow a basic formula. Audiencesunfamiliar with Firefly are aware of Star Trek, so it’s not too difficultto settle into Serenity’s basic groove. This is effectively a variant onTrek, with the crew petty criminals and the universe given an Old Westaesthetic (grimy brown uniforms, sun-bleached desert planets, rustingmachinery and old-fashioned guns with bullets, etc.)

The plot is fun, yet ultimately quite laborious; despite a punchy start andsome intriguing scenes in the first half. There are plenty of well-stagedstunts and Whedon’s trademark smart-ass dialogue comes intact from TV –whether that causes smirks or winces depends on your tolerance for histangled wordplay. The characters are broad enough to make them relatable topeople acquainting themselves to these new faces, but they’re also mostlytwo-dimensional. Only Nathan Fillion and Chiwetel Eljioforget more rounded characterisation, and thus dominate every scene they’re in.

The universe Serenity inhabits remains somewhat sketchy throughout and thediversions to other planets and characters in Act II often seem superfluousto the main plot at times. It’s a problem The Chronicles Of Riddickalso suffered from, introducing the audience to so many new characters,concepts, planets and relationships that it becomes a little distractingand, ultimately, distancing.

At heart, Serenity is too much like a TV episode to really be successful onthe silver screen. It has moments that deliver a cinematic experience,mainly from some cooler-than-TV effects sequences, but little else. Thereare imaginative scenes that hint at greater things, but the fact remainsthat the story is difficult to invest in or care about. Perhaps familiaritywith Firefly helps matters, but… I’ve already said that’s no excuse.

By the time the credits rolled, a few things were obvious to me: NathanFillion was the movie’s shining light (a Han Solo/Kirk hybrid that worksbrilliantly), the special-effects were unexpectedly strong, Eljiofor (the”woman” in Kinky Boots!) made a brilliant villain, but… I didn’tparticularly care about any of the death scenes, the mythology with the warand Reavers made little sense to me, and overall this seemed more likehalf-decent television episode…

I’m not hungry to play catch-up with the Firefly DVD box-set after seeingthis movie, nor do I think a sequel is warranted, but I’d definitely havegiven the series a whirl on TV if this was its first episode. If that’sfaint praise, then so be it…

Serenity may have bombed at the box-office (budget $40m, box-office $25 inthe US), but DVD is where the TV show was embraced by fans, so it’s nosurprise that the Serenity DVD release is given a fairly extensive packageand great transfer.

The 1.85:1 widescreen anamorphic picture is very good, with decent levelsof details throughout and some well presented campfire scenes without muchsmearing of the image. The best moments of the disc are undoubtedly withthe dazzling exterior landscapes, with brilliant sharpness and clarity.

For the sound there is strong DD5.1 sound work, particularly with the Reaverchase sequence. There are lots of directional sound effects thrown around thespeakers and sharp gunfire. The dialogue occasionally seems lost, but that’sprobably not due to any fault with the audio transfer. The music is alsoimpressively balanced with the effects mix.

The extras are as follows:

  • Director’s Commentary: Joss Whedon gives a fantastic commentary to the movie, quite essential forfans and refreshingly frank about the aspects of the movie. A real highlightof the extra’s and Commentary tracks in general.
  • Deleted Scenes: 9 scenes are scooped up from the cutting room floor; ‘Extended LilacEntrance’ (a few seconds of talk from River), ‘Extended Kaylee and Jayne’ (1minute of extra exchange between the pair), ‘Inara and Sheydra’ (2 minutesof Inara teaching companions and denying the rumours that she had an affairwith a pirate), ‘Operative Tracks Mal’ (2 minutes of the Operative learningmore about Mal and Serenity), ‘Extended River and Simon/Haven Opening’(also includes some more of Shepherd Book), ‘Escape from Companion TrainingHouse’ (Mal and Inara fool Alliance soldiers on their way back to hershuttle), ‘Mal and Inara Shuttle Chase’ (a few seconds of humour), ‘Maland Inara Quiet Moment’ (a touching couple of minutes between them)and ‘Extended Mal and Operative Coda’ (just a few extra words).
  • Outtakes: 6 minutes of goofs, with the cast clearly enjoying the experience of makingthis movie.
  • ‘Future History: The Story Of Earth That Was’ Featurette: a 4 minute piece with Whedon explaining the backstory to the sci-fi universe.
  • ‘What’s In A Firefly?’: a 10 minute featurettes with Whedon and the cast talking about theoriginal TV show’s cancellation and their hopes for the movie.
  • ‘Joss Whedon Introduction’: a great intro from Whedon himself, made directly to the Firefly fansthat made Serenity possible. Perhaps a bit too long at 4 minutes, though.
  • ‘A Filmmaker’s Journey’: a good 20 minute featurettes about the making of the movie, again showingthe level of fun the cast had on set.

Overall, this is an essential purchase for fans, and an entertainingdistraction for everyone else. The DVD neatly exploring the love andaffection for the project in its extra’s, while ensuring the visual/audiotransfer is top notch.

OVERALL
Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2006.

Loading…

No related posts.