for my moviegoing public - Serenity

[grrgoyl]

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity...


Merry Christmas to me indeed. Serenity came from Netflix. And thoughtful Tery made herself scarce so I could enjoy it properly.

I envisioned this in the theater opening with the well-known, catchy theme song to the uproarious, exuberant screaming of the browncoats fans. Perhaps it did anyway, despite the absence of the theme, but I thought not having it was a damn shame. Or in the closing credits for that matter (just the instrumental version). Does Joss not own the rights to it or something?

Don't get me wrong. It was good to be back with the crew again. Felt like coming home, which I'm sure the actors themselves felt making it. I was afraid there would be endless exposition for the sake of the newbies, but not so much. Although Mal seemed to be a lot more...loquacious than I remember from the series. And Simon a lot more hardcore and dangerous (I liked the new Simon. Very much). Whoa momma, did River come out of her shell, but Jayne was still my favorite. I was so caught up with Inara missing in the beginning I didn't even notice that Shepherd was too.

It was a good story too. I thought the Reavers were the coolest yet sadly most underdeveloped monsters ever mentioned in a television series (second only to the Borg). I was excited when they appeared here, never even expected to go back to how they were created. One tiny nitpick though...as cool as the "barn swallow" maneuver was in escaping the Reavers, it was very hard to understand why the Reaver ship couldn't easily overtake the hovercraft. Must have something to do with all that black smoke billowing out of their engine.

The Reavers also came very close to having a whole lot of buildup for nothing (however, the fight with River KICKED. MY. ASSSSSS). I would have liked to see that sanctimonious prick of an assassin (the "Operative) end up in their clutches though.

My favorite line in the whole movie?

Wash: It's okay. I'm a leaf on the wind!
Mal: What does that mean?

Well, it WAS my favorite line. Until Wash dies 5 minutes later. Why Joss? Why do you take the loveliest, most innocent characters and brutally murder them? Were you seriously abused as a child? Or are you just a coldhearted motherfucker? (I realize this lament is a bit late. I'll never know how I waited this long without stumbling on a single spoiler.) I simply don't know how they could have a sequel without Wash, despite what appeared to be an attempt to set one up (I mean, you could cut the still unresolved tension between Mal and Inara with a freakin' knife). But I loved how Zoe became cold, hard steel and got the job done in the face of her grief.

I adore Mal, but sometimes I can't understand a single gorram word he says. His whole "first rule of flying" speech was a garbled mess to me, and I make a living from listening to people talk and writing down what they say.

So much I loved about this movie. I watched all the bonus features all the way through. The deleted scenes, unlike on most other movies, were actually significant and had pearls of something precious in each and every one of them. According to Joss they were mostly cut for momentum, not for time. Such a damn shame. Especially since my second favorite line (and apparently Joss' first) was among them:

Simon: What will we find on Miranda, River?
River: .....Death.
Simon: Who's dead?
River: (after silent, hysterical weeping bordering on insane laughter)...EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!

Gave me chills.

The outtakes, just like on the TV show, were really hilarious, unfortunately for me because I have a cold this week and the smallest chuckle quickly deteriorates into painful bouts of paroxysmal coughing. My favorite was Inara flubbing a line and Mal miming drinking (liquor) and shaking his head disapprovingly. I'll bet he's wicked fun to work with. I'm saving the best for last, full-length commentary with Joss. He can be awfully full of himself at times, but his commentaries are usually wall-to-wall, no trailing off and watching half the movie in silence (I'm glaring at YOU, Tim Burton).

My biggest dilemma is whether to buy this or not. Cuz if I buy this, I'll have to buy the series. I don't know what's holding me back, I really don't. I 'spect it's only a matter of time before I cave. I just love these characters too damn much.

5 out of 5






You can't take the sky from me.

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