Movie of My Week: Serenity (2005)
Sunday, May 30, 2010 at 12:01AM 
I have never connected on the whole Joss Whedon thing, but I've been long attracted to the work of Nathan Fillion (particularly his work in "Waitress" and "Castle"). So my sister Cathie visits a while back for son Kevin's confirmation and she insists, if we like great series like "Lost" etc., we have to watch the 2002 single season of "Firefly"--his beloved Western in space (14 episodes, several of which were never aired due to early cancellation).
So after she gets home, she sends us the series DVDs and the follow-on movie from 2005 ("Serenity," named for the "firefly" style ship in question, which in turn was named by its captain Malcolm Reynolds (played by Fillion in his most handsome period) in honor of a losing battle in which he fought for the losing side--the rebels against the "alliance").
We watch the series and I'm hooked maybe three episodes in, especially because the women are so interesting and so hot! Gene Roddenberry, with his original "wagon train to the stars" Star Trek could have learned a thing or two about casting and employing women in strong roles from Mr. Whedon (although Gene did far better in ST: The Next Generation). I especially fell for Morena Baccarin, who now plays the lead alien on "V" (which I may have to start watching as a result).
The great bonus! Ron Glass back from "Barney Miller" in a sweet role that any actor of age would love (very Obi Wan).
But frankly, I lived for the moments when Inara was on-screen.
Anyway, a great frontier backdrop with space travel added in, the stories are right out of "Gunsmoke" or "Wild Wild West"--just done with tremendous flair, a rare discipline on the lack of sounds in space, and that amazing Whedon ability on dialogue, which here celebrates pioneer/Western language.
To wit, from the Wikipedia entry on the show:
Whedon developed the concept for the show after reading The Killer Angels, a novel chronicling the Battle of Gettysburg during theAmerican Civil War. He wanted to follow people who had fought on the losing side of a war and their experiences afterwards aspioneers and immigrants on the outskirts of civilization, much like the post-American Civil War era of Reconstruction and the American Old West culture.[8] He intended the show to be "a Stagecoach kind of drama with a lot of people trying to figure out their lives in a bleak pioneer environment.
How could I not love this?
So we finished the series and then teed up the movie. It was fantastic: suitably darker and faster paced and with the principals in greater dangers, it tied up the series nicely and even had the decency to kill off the most annoying character--in my opinion.
Good sign: I watched with kids on night when Vonne was busy, but I'm really looking forward to watching it again with her before sending the whole kit and kaboodle back to my sister, who is understandably proprietary about the discs.
I include a bonus movie poster just for the neat sight of Inara packing heat (far left):
Reader Comments (5)
Yep, the Inara character was pretty hot..., but I gotta say, Zoe (Gina Torres) was amazing. Though, all of the characters were exceptionally well done. Firefly really was what Star Wars should have been and I dearly wished that it could have held on for another season or two to work some of the details and backstory out. Who was Shepherd Book?
Shepherd Book was, in my opinion, a former operative of the parliament who came to regret his life and then disappeared into religion.
I do agree on Star Wars a bit: Reynolds struck me as a better Han Solo.
Torres was fantastic too. Both my wife and I can't believe we haven't seen her in anything since.
Totally agree with you on the women of firefly/Serenity. Even the guest stars were written well. Check out "Our Mrs Reynolds" and "Trash" from the TV show. You'll recognize a young Christina Hendricks (best thing about Mad Men) as Saffron/Bridget/Yolanda (Mal refers to her character as YoSaffBridge, making fun of her multiple aliases) one of the best TV villians ever.
Great movie. Great characters.
Just wish Scy-Fy would bring it back.
I haven't reached this ep in Castle but there is one where Fillion's character Castle is getting dressed for a fancy dress party,. as his daughter berates him that he always wears the same custom,e the cameras pans back to reveal a costume not dissimilar to his one form Firefly. He deadpans to camera, but I really liked his one.