Closet Sci-Fi Geek

Firefly fans will be ticked off at what I’m about to say, but so be it. I finally got around to watching Serenity, the movie based on the ill-fated Firefly TV series dumped before its time by Fox. And I have to say, Serenity just doesn’t make the cut as a standalone feature.

This is a shame, because if it had found a voice as its own entity – without the need for an entire TV series worth of backstory – Serenity might not have bombed at the box office.

Now, you may be wondering…if I’m so into sci-fi, how come I never watched Firefly in the first place? Honestly, it was the initial advertising. When they went on about two of the main female characters being a “prostitute” and a “girl in a box,” I was pretty much turned off to the idea. So I missed the first season, and when it was canceled, I didn’t feel the need to rush out and get wrapped up in another doomed show when my beloved Farscape needed help.

Thus, some four years later, I am finally getting around to seeing what all the Firefly fuss was about. And…after watching Serenity, I can say, eh. Eh, as in, if it was on, I might watch it, but I’m not enamoured.

But let me back up for a second and discuss the movie itself. Serenity starts off with a brief history of the world of the future, and then an escape sequence with a young psychic protege (River) being rescued by her brother. After that, the first hour degenerates into a mush of quick dialogue and confusion that would really only make sense to someone who was already familiar with the characters.

(Unfortunately, when I watched the deleted scenes afterwards, there were a few small scenes that would have helped immensely if they’d been left in.)

I have to honestly say I was considering giving up on the film about 20 minutes into it. The characters seemed bland, and the plot wasn’t coalescing into anything discernable, except for a very polite black man with an accent who made for a very annoying bad guy.

An hour into it, Serenity finally found its footing and got interesting. Among the issues explored are the ideal of a perfect society. Without getting into a spoiler (on the off-chance you haven’t seen this yet), I found the central conspiracy to be an interesting commentary on our overuse of psychiatric drugs today.

Several moments in the film stood out – River kicking ass singlehandedly in two scenes, and a hilarious one-liner about something to live for given by a character facing certain death. Otherwise, I wasn’t blown away by the dialogue, effects, or character banter.

I felt, if anything, I was watching an episode of a TV show that was trying to pack in so much action that it missed out on the slower scenes that make for the strong viewer connection and identification with the characters.

I did warm up to Serenity in the end, but more because I could see this world’s potential as being a good basis for a show, not because it was a fantastic movie in and of itself.

As a brand new introduction to Firefly, Serenity is sadly a poor one for any but the most die-hard sci-fi fans. I’m piqued enough to check out the series, but I doubt the average person would be. I’ve read some fan reviews around, and they seem to think Serenity is the second coming of science fiction, topping Star Wars and many other science fiction classics. Sorry – I’d have to honestly say, even Lucas’s worst, The Phantom Menace, was much better.

All that said, I do wish that there was some future for Serenity, as I always think more sci-fi is a good idea. If DVD sales can finally bring some profit to this venture (Serenity was in the red after bombing at the box office), who knows what form this franchise may reappear in?

While Serenity lacks the creativity and wow factor of the likes of Farscape, it has a certain gritty grounded feel that appeals to people who don’t like their sci-fi too weird. As such, it should have a home. I have to say I don’t understand why the Sci Fi Channel didn’t pair it up with Battlestar Galactica, since the audiences would seem to be similar.

Dedicated fans are still working hard at resurrecting Firefly. June 23, 2006 has been designated “Serenity Day,” and fans are being asked to go and purchase the Serenity DVD that day.

I also found an interesting website researching the idea of producing Firefly on demand. While I think that science fiction serials may eventually need to go that route to survive, I am not sure if the time has come yet for this to – ahem – fly. But I’d love to see something like this happen. A successful model could save all our shows.

May 29th, 2006 | Category: Movies, Television | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL