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copyright ©1999-2006 |
Plot synopsis
Based
on the short-lived TV series Firefly,
Serenity follows the motley crew of the spaceship Serenity,
including Captain Mal Reynolds, first mate Zoe, pilot Wash, engineer
Kaylee and strong man Jayne. Picking up odd “transport” jobs (read:
smuggling) on the far edges of the populated galaxy, they’ve been
doing their best to scrape by and stay under the radar of the
ever-watchful and creepy ruling Alliance. The latter is a task that
seems particularly difficult of late; Mal and Zoe have long been on the
outs with the regime (having fought as members of the rebel Browncoats
who lost the war that brought the Alliance into power in the first
place), but Serenity’s standing with those in power has become even
more tenuous ever since the crew managed to pick up two fugitives whom
the Alliance is desperate to get back into their custody. The wanted
pair are a young doctor named Simon Tam and his mentally unstable but
brilliant younger sister River. River, it turns out, was once the
reluctant center of a super-covert government-sponsored program that
experimented with her genius-level mind and turned her into a deadly
weapon capable of reading minds, and killing on command. By the time
Simon broke in to rescue her, she’d already been driven to the point
of insanity; on board Serenity, it becomes ever more obvious that
River’s hopelessly scrambled brain is hiding some deep secrets, and
that these secrets make her dangerous to the Alliance … and possibly
her fellow shipmates on Serenity as well. When the Alliance sends one of
their best men to catch River, Mal and Co. find themselves torn between
protecting themselves, and fighting the good fight to bring the Man down
and let the truth -- whatever it might be -- finally come out. Review
Like
many Firefly fanatics, I came to the series long after it
disappeared off TV, and was crushed when I reached the last disc of my
DVD set only to discover that thanks to the series’ premature
cancellation, I would never get to find out what happened to this team
of space cowboys who I’d fallen madly, head over heels in love with in
just fourteen too-short episodes. When talk started brewing of a
potential Firefly movie, I was simultaneously thrilled at the
idea of revisiting some of my favorite fictional characters ever, and
petrified that the movie would fail to live up to the brilliance of the
show. Much to my relief, all worries turned out to be for naught; Serenity
perfectly showcases the witty dialogue, rich, quirky characters, cool
aesthetic and intriguing storylines of the original show, and ends up
being a very fun sci-fi adventure that would have been satisfying even
if didn’t have the legacy of a much-loved TV show to back it up. (So
even those poor souls who’ve never heard of Firefly will have a
good time watching this.) The entire cast is all-around wonderful and
charming in their roles, though the movie does end up having to relegate
a few characters that were key in the series to background roles. While
this is certainly a little disappointing to us fans, it works well in
the context of the movie, allowing River’s character and story to form
the compelling core of the film’s storyline, and giving us a
delightfully kick-ass heroine to root for. In fact, several viewings
later, there’s only one flaw I can really find in Serenity.
See, at the end, when those credits start rolling, I inevitably find
myself feeling a little sad as I think, That was so great… now give me
more! In the end, as well-made and enjoyable a film as Serenity
is, I still miss the show.
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