Serenity Blasts Off
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” creator Joss Whedon thought he was going to make it three for three with the 2002 Fox sci-fi series “Firefly.” Goodness knows critics thought so, his multi-character space opera one of the most buzzed and talked about before its first episode even hit the airwaves.
But Fox wasn’t so enthusiastic. First off, they ordered Whedon to film a new pilot. Next, they proceeded to market the series as a second cousin to the gung-ho action-heavy theatrics of “Star Wars” or the more recent “Star Trek” spin-offs, choosing to ignore the fact it was actually an eight-person western about distaff smugglers out on the universe’s frontier. Finally, every time it looked like the show was going to catch on, the network preempted it for one reason or another, never allowing “Firefly” to get its legs and take off.
After eleven (some markets only got eight) of its original thirteen episodes had aired, many of them out of sequence, the show was unsurprisingly canceled by the network. But that’s just the beginning. Here’s where things get interesting. In this age where DVD has changed the home viewing landscape and shows that once looked dead and buried now find new life amidst the wonderment of a digital landscape, “Firefly” became – for a brief moment – one of the top selling TV DVD compilations of all time (300,000 copies as of last report). These through-the-roof sales gave Whedon pause. Was there the possibility of more for his beloved new cast of characters? Would their story continue?
Universal Studios thought there might be, banking a few millions on the series’ rabid fan base and Whedon’s skills as a storyteller to rope in audiences. Suddenly the cast of “Firefly” found themselves standing on the deck of “Serenity,” reunited and reinvigorated. It would be a chance to prove Fox wrong, to show that they sent “Firefly” out to pasture far too early. But successful theatrical adaptations of acclaimed TV shows are few and far between, and as Whedon’s choice to make his theatrical debut “Serenity” presented a minefield even his famous vampire slayer would have trouble navigating her way through.
No worries, Whedon made the right choice. This just isn’t the best science fiction film to hit movie houses since the original “Matrix,” it’s also one of the best, most exciting and intelligently written features I’ve seen this year (it also makes “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” look like child’s play, but that’s whole other conversation). An astonishing blend of action, comedy and drama, this sci-fi-western-mystery-thriller-adventure hybrid puts nearly every other big studio thrill ride – save Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” – to shame. In fact, Whedon proves himself to be one of the most nimble, eccentric, witty and most breathlessly talented engineers of popular entertainments since a certain guy named Spielberg unleashed a giant shark upon an unsuspecting populace.
In all seriousness, while I’m certain “Serenity” will not have either the success or the cultural impact of “Jaws” it is still first-rate entertainment of the highest order. Nearly everything doesn’t just click it soars, every beat and every note in such fine tune Whedon proves to be a composer so in control not an instant feels forced or out of place. Quite frankly, I haven’t seen a TV-to-film adaptation this good since “The Fugitive,” equaling that action classic in quality craftsmanship in almost every way.
Picking up a few months after the series’ final episode, the crew of Serenity is still trolling the outskirts of space picking up jobs when and where they can. This time they’ve been contracted to rob a small backwater mining outpost’s security payroll. Ship captain Mal (Nathan Fillion) decides to take the ship’s most unusual passenger, the mentally unbalanced River Tamm (Summer Glau), with him on the mission thinking her peculiar cognitive abilities might come in handy. Her brother and ship’s doctor Simon (Sean Maher) thinks this is a bad idea. He and River are fugitives, hunted by the political establishment, the Alliance, and taking his sister out on a job might call attention to the duo.
Mal disagrees. To him, it’s high time his most unusual passenger started earning her keep. What no one realizes, however, is that the Alliance has decided to up the stakes in regards to the Tamms, enlisting the services of a ruthless top secret operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor, turning in his best performance since “Dirty Pretty Things”) to bring them in. Why? River was the guinea pig in a series of experiments designed to transform her into the perfect spy and assassin. Problem is, before being broken out by her brother the diminutive young woman learned more about the Alliance and their plans for the universe than they wanted. It’s information that torments River’s nightmares; it’s information that could get the crew of Serenity killed.
This is danger, danger unlike Mal, second in command Zoe (Gina Torres), pilot Wash (Alan Tudyk) and the rest of the crew could ever imagine. Not only is River unstable, apt to take out an entire bar of thugs with her bare hands as she is to hide under a bed wilting in fear, the brutal operative dogging the ship’s every move isn’t above little things like genocide to inch closer to his target. But the secrets River knows will lead Mal and his crew to a place none of them could ever have anticipated, and once they know what she knows none of them will ever be the same ever again. Heck, this gang of smugglers, thieves and reprobates might just even turn out to be the one thing they’d never thought possible: Heroes.
I admit, walking into “Serenity” I was both excited and worried. “Firefly” was a remarkable show, but how do you make a smooth transition to the big screen and retain both the character-driven melodrama and explain the complex backstory to a mass audience not knowing a single thing about either? To my amazement and Whedon’s credit he answers both questions almost immediately, using the villain – if you can really call him that, the line between hero and villain remarkably thin – to do it for him. Smoothly, the operative explains this 500-years-in-the-future-world, catches everyone up to what’s happened until now and sets the stage for what’s going to occur next. Forgoing the usual clichés, writer-director Whedon submerges the audience into his world with remarkable ease. Not only is the operative (he never is given an actual name) immediately scary, the crew springs to life beautifully (in one of the most astonishing tracking shots I’ve seen this year) whether you know who they are or not.
From that point on Whedon propels the picture forward breathlessly, maneuvering his complex narrative with stunning self-assurance. His script touches on a failed rebellion, political charlemagne, cannibalistic space wanderers (the freakishly unsettling Reavers), western-style shoot-outs, two unfulfilled romances, one marriage, a humungous space battle, daring escapes, barren lost worlds, shattering drama and a slew of the filmmaker’s famously wise-ass one-liners. While it probably works a little better if you’re familiar with the series, “Serenity” is so well written, acted and directed that the separation in enjoyment by those in the know and those who are clueless is virtually negligible.
A case could be made that too much is actually going on. Some of the show’s most beloved faces, most notably alluring professional Companion Inara (Marena Baccarin) and the mysterious Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), are given a bit of a short shrift, while another new character, tech-savvy know-it-all Mr. Universe (David Krumholtz), is more convenience than human being. Annoying, yes, but really that’s about all there is to complain about (David Newman’s score is only okay, I guess, but that’s minor problem). Everything else isn’t just good it’s nearly perfect, and very rarely have I had the pleasure to see such giddily exuberant excellence from a pulpy genre-centric (and genre-busting) Hollywood production.
Will this be everyone’s cup of tea? I can hope so, but the answer is unfortunately a rather depressing probably not. As much as I want “Serenity” to be a smash hit, the reality is a movie based on a cult phenomenon with a complex backstory and a multitude of main characters with no movie stars (or recognizable faces) is facing an uphill battle at the box office. What those that choose not to go will be missing is one of 2005’s most irresistible pleasures filled with strong performances, breathtaking action sequences, remarkably effecting melodrama and surprising twists and turns.
For me, I’ve come to the conclusion that less is more where trying to convince people to go see “Serenity” is concerned. It is superb entertainment, spinning and twirling in directions both unforeseen and marvelous. Funny, exciting and moving, Joss Whedon has splashed into theaters with a bang crafting one of the best and most blissfully entertaining movies of this, or any other, year.
Film Rating: êêêê (out of 4)
